... we have bought a headcollar for puzzle, not what we wanted to do as we would like a dog that would walk nicely with us, without any 'accessories' on, but puzzle is proving one tough nut to crack. When we are walking, she is just on a mission, literally and goes deaf to everything, no tugging, pulling or treats on nose will work, we have been using the clicker and when she is walking nicely she gets a click and loads of praise, but then she just charges of again, tried stopping when she pulls, she will come back to heal then 1 step forward and she charges of again. At home, at classes and in the garden she is brilliant, but when she gets outside she goes deaf, especially if we are walking with barley. At a show the other weekend, we won junior handler as she was paying attention to me and walking really nice, but out of the ring it was a different story, charging here there and everywhere. We went for a headcollar instead of a harness because, i prefer headcollars, as they lead the head, and not turn the whole body around , and i don't like the harnesses that pull under the front legs, as it looks very uncomfortable for the dog, and i want her to enjoy walkies. The next few days we are just going to spend time getting her used to the headcollar, before we start walking her on it.
Re: To save my sanity... Annabelle you are far more experienced with dogs than I am even though I'm sure I'm 3 times your age ;D Puzzle is only young so if you keep working on the clicker and rewarding her good behaviour it will improve with practice.....i know ,because Dexter was ( and still can be if not reminded ) a truly dreadful puller.A lot of it was my fault because through inexperience I allowed the harness I put him on to mask the problem ,thinking I'd solved it.....I got a big shock further down the line.use the head collar to help you but persevere with the training too and one day you will get nice,well mannered walking. Congratulations on Junior handler by the way...another rosette,well done x
