dog pulling on lead

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MiCsarah

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Anybody got any good recomendations for contraptions for helping my eldest boy walk on a lead without strangling himself? unfortunatly he was lame for the first 6 months of his life so we never got the lead walk sorted before he was to big and just pulls. No matter what I do it doesnt work. He couldnt care about food when hes out on walks as he just wants to run,run,run! Really need to sort it as the 17wk old puppy is great on a lead and just worried he will pull if we walk to often with his elder brother. Plus it kills my arm
 
Gentle Leader

My boy is fine walking on a normal collar except in exciting situations (ie meeting up with a doggy friend for a walk!). Little bit of work getting used the GL and walked like an angel!! Hardly need it in any situation now. Just carry it around in my pocket and it goes on if he needs a reminder.
 
Depending on what he reacts best to, a headcollar as suggested or a slip lead.

TBH nothing works as well as putting the work in and training the dog that the best place to be is beside you, but I think we'd all be lying if we said none of us used a bit of power steering to get control back :)
 
a halti collar
i bought one for my dads wolfhound last year and its the best thing ever. she isn't often on a lead and doesn't tend to pull but if she sees another dog I'm just nowhere near physically strong enough. you do need to get the dog used to them, but she will sit and push her nose through it now.
i was sitting on the beach with her once and she saw a dog and lunged to go play with it and it just stopped her straight away. she now walks along beside with a loose lead and is good as gold!
 
HOURS spent either stopping as soon as he pulls, and waiting for a slack lead, or turning in the other direction.......... can make walks very dull, I didnt make it out the end of my road for 30 mins once (it is about 400m away!).... does work.

Gentle leader is also a really good option, and like CC says gives nice power steering!
 
The turning and changing direction trick - every time he gets ahead about turn and walk the other way for x amount of steps (differ the amount) worked at treat on our spangle who'd never been trained
 
lexiedhb said:
HOURS spent either stopping as soon as he pulls, and waiting for a slack lead, or turning in the other direction.......... can make walks very dull, I didnt make it out the end of my road for 30 mins once (it is about 400m away!).... does work.

Gentle leader is also a really good option, and like CC says gives nice power steering!
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This is my method too. I perfected it with my old girl, Xara - she is an RSPCA mutt, so wasn't fully lead trained when I got her as an adult dog.

The younger dog, Salem is 10.5 stone so I'm not prepared to be dragged along by him and I resent the disrespect of it too.

I simply stop and he is expected to return to my side. If he doesn't click on to me and carries on looking ahead, I will walk backwards until he does.

It may take a while to get down the road at first...but it's very effective.

I also do the 'silent recall' off the lead.
If I stop walking, they are expected to return to me...only then will I move. It's a way of keeping their attention on me when they are off, sniffing.

When Xara was younger, she would get carried away and go too far away from me. So I would hide - totally freaked her out!

Solving lead pulling is a part of the bigger picture.
 
I used the change direction method with rox last night, looked extremely stupid but as soon as she attempted to pull we turned and after 10 mins she was walking 90 x better than before and by the end she was almost perfect with the exception of 5 mins walking down our road with fire engines lights flashing which shes never seen and them using cutting equipment when we returned
 
use a long training lead, make a loop, drob the loop and turn in opposite direction and walk, it worked for ours and didn't take long for her to learn, seen it on dog borstal
 
Teaching a dog to walk properly on lead takes time and effort. There are no quick fixes for this. All the methods mentioned above are effective but do take time. Montydog started pulling like a train until I spent the time training him before the pulling became established. It took me an hour to do a 10 minute journey once as I used the 'brakes on' method every time he went to the end of the lead. Eventually he got the message and can walk alongside me offlead now.
I won't recommend collars or headcollars for attaching a lead due to the injuries they can cause. I would recommend a well fitting harness especially if it has a ring on the chest part so the dog has nothing to pull against as when it does it's whole body is turned around toward you rather than have it's head yanked round with a headcollar.
 
What injuries?

I used a 'no pull' harness and my dog just leaned into it and rubbed all the hair off his chest and from under his arms.
I was at my wits end, I had put my back out, I was worried I was hurting my dog.
So I just put the work in with lots of directional changes and stopping as mentioned with a boring old slip lead and the dog no longer pulls.
When I got my new pup I put a lot of work into teaching him that the best place to be, is beside me, and he rarely pulls.

If you want a dog to pull you uphill, you would put on a harness, not a collar, right? So what is the difference on the flat?
Harnesses are attached to huskies to pull sleds. They offer little control on bolshy dogs and for aggressive/reactive/obsessive ones, they allow the dog to direct their head and neck to the object of their attention.

I've used collars of varying kinds for years and I have yet to break a dog.
However I do appreciate front-leaders are more useful.

Sorry for going off on one but I meet so many people who are frustrated and going nowhere and their dog big strong dog is dragging them all over the country because they have been told that using a collar or headcollar is cruel and will hurt their dog. A collar never worse all the hair off my dog's neck.
 
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that was a very interesting video. Thanks for all the advice. Will give it ago today. He walks alot better when hes knackered but is really strange to walk on the lead.His tail in clamped and just leans and switches off but need to crack it so he can come beating with me
 
Hmmm, now about to do a COMPLETE u-turn and disagree with myself, sorry K&B :p :o have you tried him on a harness? What does he be walked on normally? Type of collar and lead? He does sound like he is shutting down for some reason.
 
CaveCanem said:
What injuries?

I used a 'no pull' harness and my dog just leaned into it and rubbed all the hair off his chest and from under his arms.
I was at my wits end, I had put my back out, I was worried I was hurting my dog.
So I just put the work in with lots of directional changes and stopping as mentioned with a boring old slip lead and the dog no longer pulls.
When I got my new pup I put a lot of work into teaching him that the best place to be, is beside me, and he rarely pulls.

If you want a dog to pull you uphill, you would put on a harness, not a collar, right? So what is the difference on the flat?
Harnesses are attached to huskies to pull sleds. They offer little control on bolshy dogs and for aggressive/reactive/obsessive ones, they allow the dog to direct their head and neck to the object of their attention.

I've used collars of varying kinds for years and I have yet to break a dog.
However I do appreciate front-leaders are more useful.

Sorry for going off on one but I meet so many people who are frustrated and going nowhere and their dog big strong dog is dragging them all over the country because they have been told that using a collar or headcollar is cruel and will hurt their dog. A collar never worse all the hair off my dog's neck.
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THIS- used correctly collars and head collars do not cause injury. IMO harness' have their place- i use one for having him on a long line in case he decides to run
 
Well, I am considering using a halti on mine. She is not a big dog but when she wants to get to another dog, as well as the barking, she pulls and if i get her on a tighter lead or try pull her back she resorts to standing on her hind legs (still pulling) and that leaves me with nothing. I am experimenting with the stopping and the turning and at dog training they have suggested waiting until after a couple more sessions to see if we can rectify it before having to out a halti on. I have no issue with them though as I think if I have control of her head then she can't get into the standing on hind legs stance!

I do not like harnesses on dogs medium sized and over to be honest (unless they are pulling a sled!) as I feel they give little control. I much prefer a collar and have a half check on mine as this also prevents her slipping it!!
 
sometimes with all the training and time in the world there is one who is not reliable and for safety reasons it's good to have something to enable you to regain control. One of mine is now 6 and most of the time WILL do as he is told and walk nicely. Believe me, Ive put hours and hours and hours of work into this dog but he is the most headstrong and highly wired strong boy you could find and he loses his head and lunges. Having had to have treatment to my shoulder/neck following one of these incidents and now being pregnant it's just not worth the risk. So when we go out he wears a headcollar. Ive tried just about every one on the market but recently got one of these and it is FAB:cool:

http://www.southwestagilitygoods.co.uk/headcollar.html
 
CaveCanem said:
Hmmm, now about to do a COMPLETE u-turn and disagree with myself, sorry K&B :p :o have you tried him on a harness? What does he be walked on normally? Type of collar and lead? He does sound like he is shutting down for some reason.
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He does just seem to shut down. He doesnt wear a collar and is just in a sliplead which really makes no difference. Never tried a harness on him
 
I use a harness on my old girl.

When I first got her she was a bit wild and would wriggle backwards out of a collar!

I've always found a harness works well for her.

They are no good for the big lad - he's a mix of sled breeds and tends to snap harnesses in half
lol.gif


It's whatever works best for the individual dog :)
 
I tried a Halti on my dalmatian. She was brilliant in it to start with but after about 2 days she developed a knack of pulling on that - she kind of put her head down and just went for it. I found a harness worked much better for her. I did use a kind of rope harness to start with (can't remember what it was called). It tightened if she pulled and slackened if she didn't. It was brilliant and it didn't take long before I could change to a normal harness and she never pulled again.

Incidently we had already tried endless hours of stopping every time she pulled or turning and going the other way. She just thought I was bonkers and if anything made her pull more and not to get any where in particular - I've always done circular walks to prevent that.

I do have to be careful of my current dalmatian in her harness though because she has found that she can wriggle out of it backwards but I would never go back to putting a lead on a collar.
 
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Any training aid can injure if used incorrectly - headcollars, flat collars, harnesses, slip leads, half-checks - anything!

As CC says (baahhhhhh said the sheep) there's nowt wrong with a bit of power steering and I certainly still whack the gadgets onto Henry in certain situations where he tends to pull.

Changing direction while the lead is still loose can be very effective -a longer training lead helps with this, many normal leads are quite short, so the dog gets to the 'pull' stage quickly. You want to give the dog a chance to get it right by walking on a loose lead, so you can then reward them.

Get your dog's attention onto you, don't be afraid to use treats or a favourite toy. You will not need them forever, but they can help at the start.

I find putting different types of turn in helpful with Henry - so turns where he walks around me, ones where he walks back on himself, ones where we both turn on the spot - a good trainer can teach you these and their commands. Also, 'puppy recalls' - walk backwards from the dog, calling his name and encouraging him to you, praise him when he gets there, then walk on. Basic, but effective. You want your dog to think 'hmm, this person is a bit unpredictable and not boring, I shall keep an eye on them as they may change direction or do something interesting'.

ETA if you are going to use a headcollar you need either two leads or a double ended training lead - it's like using double reins, you only want to use the headcollar 'rein' when the dog pulls, then release the pressure. The other end of the lead goes onto the collar for security against escape.
 
MiCsarah said:
Anybody got any good recomendations for contraptions for helping my eldest boy walk on a lead without strangling himself? unfortunatly he was lame for the first 6 months of his life so we never got the lead walk sorted before he was to big and just pulls. No matter what I do it doesnt work. He couldnt care about food when hes out on walks as he just wants to run,run,run! Really need to sort it as the 17wk old puppy is great on a lead and just worried he will pull if we walk to often with his elder brother. Plus it kills my arm
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Have you tried a shock absorber?
They're quite cheap and very useful. I have used one with an ordinary leather collar/lead:)
Lots of heelwork too!
 
Do you not find the shock absorber doesn't actually stop pulling, it just makes it easier on your arms/the dog's neck - does it actually solve pulling or just hide it? Not slagging because I have never used one but that is how it has seemed to me and am interested in their success rate.

Apologies again to K&B for going off on one yesterday, I appreciate harnesses work for some dogs but they didn't for mine and I do resent people being told that using anything else will hurt their dog.
You can usually tell if I have eaten or not by the tone of my posts :o
 
I think the husky harness analogy applies to the shock absorber as well - we use shock absorbers in the lines when running in harness, it makes it easier and more rewarding for the dog to pull.

I use harnesses and bungee leads every day when I want the dogs to pull but plain collars and leads if I don't want them to pull (or a slip/choke if there's something specific I want to achieve). Make of that what you will. :p
 
CaveCanem said:
Do you not find the shock absorber doesn't actually stop pulling, it just makes it easier on your arms/the dog's neck - does it actually solve pulling or just hide it? Not slagging because I have never used one but that is how it has seemed to me and am interested in their success rate.

Apologies again to K&B for going off on one yesterday, I appreciate harnesses work for some dogs but they didn't for mine and I do resent people being told that using anything else will hurt their dog.
You can usually tell if I have eaten or not by the tone of my posts :o
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Hey, you slag away if you want (I find it strangely validating:cool:)
If I read correctly the OP had issues in the first six months of the dog's life, so I'll just accept that and deal with the fact that her arm is hurting and he's a big dog.
If someone else has walked my dogs and allowed them to pull I find the metal SA invaluable in reminding them of their manners without having to jar them.
That's all:)
 
I much prefer the Canny Collar to the Halti which I found rode up into the eye area, the Canny Collars drawback for me was when you let them off lead it was so fiddly.

Because I walk my dogs so rarely on the lead(im straight out the back door into open fields) if I do want to walk up the road I use a choke chain which gets a lot more respect. If you have a 40kg dog and you are 5ft 1ins you need something dependable. I have done lots of training with them, Darcy is no problem but big boy one brain cell Diesel is another matter.
 
MiCsarah said:
Anybody got any good recomendations for contraptions for helping my eldest boy walk on a lead without strangling himself? unfortunatly he was lame for the first 6 months of his life so we never got the lead walk sorted before he was to big and just pulls. No matter what I do it doesnt work. He couldnt care about food when hes out on walks as he just wants to run,run,run! Really need to sort it as the 17wk old puppy is great on a lead and just worried he will pull if we walk to often with his elder brother. Plus it kills my arm
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Re the 17 wk old pup...walk it separately....that way it won't have the opportunity to copy its older brother and you won't end up with TWO dogs that pull! :)

Re the older dog, he pulls because it works. If it doesn't work, he won't pull. Simple. He pulls because he wants to get somewhere....to some particular smell or destination or another dog. If he doesn't succeed he won't do it. Check your own body language.....I often find that a dog that pulls with one person won't with someone more experienced and detached from the dog. (Not having a poke, just stating a fact.) Don't allow him to succeed. Separate exercise from lead training. If you need him to free run, shove him in the car and take him somewhere where you can open the boot and let him out. Then on lead training sessions, do not plan to go anywhere and make sure that you are not time constrained. If you only mange 5 yards without pulling that is a result to start with and build on!

Also, consider teaching him to heel off lead, then to put the lead on and wrap it around his neck, leave it trailing and then finally for you to carry it! Sounds barmy I know but it has worked on some dogs I know.
 
gunnergundog said:
Also, consider teaching him to heel off lead, then to put the lead on and wrap it around his neck, leave it trailing and then finally for you to carry it! Sounds barmy I know but it has worked on some dogs I know.
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That is genius!! Why had I never thought of that? Harley only pulls when excited, but I can actually get him to heel off lead fine, put a lead on and the he bounces! Definitly gonna try that!
 
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