for more information on this topicThe Forum RecommendsHow to Stop Your Labrador Pulling on the Lead Hello All, My boy is 11 months now and getting stronger. He is getting absolutely awful walking with a leash. I have tried everything, whether it be training, slip collar, choke collars, reading books, videos etc etc. When he sees other dogs he pulls for his life to go say hi to the other dog. Bottom line is I am having a difficult time controlling him especially when there are other dogs around. He gets basic socialization with other family dogs since the dog park next to my home has many many aggressive dogs. Therefore I decided not to take him there anymore. Is this an age thing? Socialization? When we are alone is ok 95% of the time, except when he gets his curious spells. I have returned to basics many times with him. Professional trainers are charging thousands of dollars for 2-3 sessions in my area. Any recommendations? Thanks
Hi Johnny. No, neutering has nothing to do with it at all. Neutering only affects sexual behaviours, which this is not. Most Labs will pull, given the chance. There is one sure-fire way to get it to stop, but it takes patience and absolute consistency. All you need to do is stop the pulling being rewarding for him. He is pulling to get somewhere. If he gets there, he's been rewarded. Bingo, pulling works and he's going to do it again. So, you need to stop that happening. The second he starts to pull, stop dead in your tracks. Don't move until the lead goes slack again. Once it does, move off again. Set him up for success with training this. Don't try and go "for a walk" while you're training. Just pick a boring patch of ground with no distractions and walk up and down, or round and round, using this method. Once he's got the idea there, you can extend the area a little bit, to up the distraction. Slowly, slowly, start to introduce distractions, but you must always maintain complete consistency. Do not, once, keep moving when he is pulling. He obviously has a strong history of pulling already, so it's going to take longer to train out than if you start this method when the pups are tiny. If they are never allowed to get rewarded for pulling, it's a lot easier, but he has had a good history of being rewarded for it. So you need to be patient and, as I said, set him up for success. Get it out of your head that he has to go for long distances on his walks; training will wear him out far quicker anyway. You might also like to make it rewarding for walking next to you. Get some good treats and, whenever he is walking nicely on a loose lead, even for a split second, click (if you use a clicker) or say "Yes!" and give him a treat. Again, he's been rewarded loads for pulling in the past, so if you can double the whammy of reward for not pulling - that is, he gets to keep moving forward and he gets a tasty treat - then you're going to get where you want to be faster. Here is an article that goes into more detail: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-stop-your-labrador-pulling-on-the-lead/
I'm an inexperienced dog owner and I managed to get Jessie our puppy to walk fairly nicely in around 2 weeks using the techniques described above. But this was always being consistent. She was a bit younger than your dog, around 7 months at the time and we had been practicing heal walking prior to this. She is now pretty good with most distractions apart from dogs and people when she gets really crazy. I found a double ended lead that attaches to a harness at the front and back has given me more control over her whilst we work through this. Our trainer suggested a halti head collar, but I didn't get in with it, but that might be work a try? I hope things get better. X
We are in the process of learning loose lead walking all over again. For a year we were in a city environment most of the time with walks on lead multiple times daily. Then we came back to our home in the country and running free again. I'm having to return to the stop and wait and treat for nice walking again. It still works and thankfully is progressing more quickly this time. I've learned my lesson in that I am going to have to make sure to find opportunities for on lead walks to keep him from regressing again.
