Help puppy pulling on the lead...

R

rema

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 September 2005
Messages
6,273
Location
somewhere in pasty land
Visit site
Can anyone help me please.My nearly eight month old Collie pup is really coming alone with his training but our only snag is pulling on the lead especially when someone is walking towards us.It is pure excitment on his behalf,he just wants to say hello to everybody.Can any of you guys give me some hints or tips to help us.I dont like having to keep on at him to heal or pulling him back because someone is walking towards us.Cookies and a large wine to all.
grin.gif
 
ours did this, she walked beautifully to heal off the lead but would pull and pull on the lead, we have spent a lot of time teaching her not to do this, shes now 2 years and has got the hang of it, has done for about 6 months now, but walked to heal very earyl on....
when she started pulling we would stop, pull her into our heel, say heel, clearly and loudly and then change direction, we did this about every 2 seconds lol, but it really has helped!
good luck, its such a pain as it makes walking them no fun...
oh and if you have another dog? tie the puppy to that one, we did this with ours and it helped a lot, as the older dog walks to heal, and so now she thinks that its the right place to be because a) hes there and b) she had to walk there the whole time because thats where he walks so its not just drilled into her mind...
we only did it when walking along a rode or something though, let them off in feilds etc.
 
Thank you for your reply.He is brilliant off the lead,and when he was a young pup he walked to heal nicely but 'most' of the time he will be happy to walk a foot in front of you and if i praise him he takes the mick and walk further away.We are taking him to Badminton this year and i dont want to spend my time pulling him back and scolding him because he is pulling like a train to get over to people for a pat..
 
I have exactly the same prob,
off the lead, say heal, its perfect
On the lead its like all knowledge etc goes straight out the window! especialyl if someone is coming to them OR another dog walks past!

I keep getting told perseverence is the key, although I agree it feels like it isnt! hehe

Sure he will behave at badminton!
 
I'm an animal behaviourist and dog trainer - I pretty much echo what perdy has recommended. It will feel like you're getting no where at all for a week or more but it does work - some dogs "get it" quicker than others. Collies can be quick to get it or ridiculously slow. Lol. One of my collies "got it" straight away, the other took yonks.

Do stick with it though. Sometimes if it isn't appropriate to change direction altogether when the dog puts pressure on the lead (e.g. walking along a pavement) it can be sufficient simply to stop the minute there is tension on the lead, say "NO", then walk backwards for a few steps. (About a metre and a half or two metres is usually sufficient). Then say "Heel" and walk forwards again. Again, it'll feel like you're (literally) taking more steps backwards than you are forwards but stick with it and you'll see the rewards in the end.

Good luck!

Try not to get into the habit of having to use a Halti or other "No Pulling Guaranteed" contraptions. As they ultimately are never 100% guaranteed and if a dog has learnt that he/she can pull then they'll pull no matter what you dress them in!
 
Thank you all for your help.Excellant suggestions as always.I dont like the idea of the quick fix gadgets.Although i do understand they can/do work for some people/dogs but i would rather do it the hard way so to speak.I have tried the stop and walk backwards out on our walk tonight and i think he gets the idea of it as he looked fed up stopping all the time..So thankyou.
grin.gif

How do i deal with the pulling towards someone approaching us?.Is it the same method of stop and reverse?.We are off to Badders shortly and i dont want him to have a bad time of it with being scolded or him driving everyone up the wall and tripping people up.....
 
TBH a situation like Badminton will probably be a godsend for you. There will be LOTS of people walking towards him and he will probably find it too intimidating to want to say hello to everyone!!
grin.gif


Otto goes bananas trying to say hello to everyone we meet out walking, but he has been to Rugby matches, inside shops and Horse sales with me, and completely ignores everyone!
 
Yeah thats exactly it, like The_Henmeister says, a situation like Badminton will probably do him the world of good. He'll probably act up for a short while in a kind of "waahhhaaaayyy, look at all these people to fuss over me!!" kinda way but once he realises most people are completely ignoring him, he'll probably quickly lose interest.

Between now and then though, what I'd suggest would be to deliberately take him somewhere where you know you're going to bump into other people walking towards you (ideally also with dogs - kill two birds with one stone!) The instant he starts to pull, you could try the pulling him backwards and/or changing direction trick along with the usual "NO" then "heel" command at the appropriate times as mentioned earlier. But, often it is more effective simply to make him sit (push his bum down if necessary if he's too excited to listen to the verbal command). Make him sit and keep him in the sit position til the people have passed. Again, it won't be a quick fix but he'll get there in the end. He'll suss out that if he pulls he's made to sit and still doesn't get to meet 'n' greet them all anyway so he might as well not bother pulling in the first place. :-)
 
I echo what has already been said. You need to be more exciting than the object that pup wants, yes can get a little embarrassing but that soon passes
smile.gif
 
You lot are stars.Thankyou.I am getting really excited about taking him to Badders.I hope he enjoys it as much as we do...I am hoping the XC day will cream cracker him out.Our walks are getting longer and longer...He is still wanting more at the end and i need oxygen lol.
 
He will love it at Badminton and I agree that there will be so many people there you will be 'saturating' the problem.(is that the right word?). If you are anything like me, the people turned out not to be a problem but the burger and chips dropped on the floor was a nightmare!lol.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top