Springer Pulling on the lead !!!!!!!

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bensonthewonderhorse

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I'm sure this has been done many times before but.....
I would love to hear peoples tips on training a springer to walk well on a lead. I have tried lots of different methods with mine (now 2 and a half) been to several different trainers but nothing seems to work, various gadgets help for max a week then she just learns to pull with these too. One of the main probs for her is concentration, she's very nervous and seems to zone out and doesn't really listen to me when out? She does most days get a good run around for atleast an hour at my stables but sometimes I can't do this so would love to be able to walk her without having my arm pulled out of it's socket.

Any suggestions would be gratefully recieved.
 
Hand feeding, as mentioned in the post above, is basically feeding by hand, works great if the dog is a scranner. Do not feed the dog before your walk or training session. Make sure the dog is hungry. This is not cruel, it is just a different way of feeding your dog.
Decant the dog's food allowance into the pockets of an old jacket or body warmer. Feed from there, with your hand, not a bowl, either into the dog's gob or dropped on the ground. So that YOU are the source of food. Makes you a whole lot nicer to be around.
As above, dog on your left.

You could also use a toy or ball if the dog has a ball drive, under your armpit or in a breast pocket, if she walks alongside for a short burst, pull it out and have a game with her, tease her with it etc.
 
This does work, but you need the patience of a saint and you need to accept that you won't be going on any real walks for a couple of weeks at least:

Pop the dog on a normal lead and arm yourself with plenty of really tempting treats. Make a start and the moment she runs ahead of you, making the lead tight, stop. Do nothing, say nothing. Wait until she finally turns around to look at you (this may take ages), as soon as she does praise, reward with a treat, turn around to the opposite direction and get going again. The moment she overtakes you and tightens the lead, stop and repeat. You will go nowhere fast, it will take ages, it will be frustrating, BUT if you can keep at it with complete consistency she will figure out that pulling frustrates what she wants, i.e. to go faster in her chosen direction, whereas staying with you gets her what she wants, as you can then keep walking.

Good luck!
 
Thank you some really interesting ideas, I'm not sure she is greedy enough (I know unusual for a spaniel) for the treats to work but I think the message here is consistency, it's all to easy to get frustrated and give up and continue to be pulled along.

I will have a go though and let you know how I get on. I'm just about to start maternity to leave so will hopefully have plenty of time to perservere with her, babies don't take up that much time right!
 
with the rescue cocker i actually took the lead off as no amount of pulling him back or anything else worked - and taught him to heel without one - that seemed to work well - he now doesn't pull on a lead at all if i ever put one on
 
My big lad is much better without a lead and hopefully the pups will be too cos currently they're ruddy awful on them! Food is very helpful if they're interested: big dog wasn't so a bit of a swine to get him to be good on the lead. Frankly, I like the canny collar. Marvellous thing.
 
Mine isn't overly bothered about treats either when he's out and about. Even a favourite throw toy can be ignored in favour of The Interesting Thing Over There. For what it's worth I taught heel and basic lead manners separately. Heel was done off lead with treats, for short bursts in the house to begin with (so that there wouldn't be anything more interesting around than my bit of chicken). Once he figured it out I introduced it outside, but I still only do short bursts.

Basic lead manners I found a bit easier. He's allowed to walk ahead of me, but as soon as there's any weight against the lead I walk backwards. I probably look pretty odd, but by walking backwards he has no choice but to turn around, look at me (in that special doggy WTF mum?! way :D) and ultimately start walking towards me. As soon as he gets near enough to my side I walk forwards again. If he shot straight forwards, I went backwards again.

It's probably not the best way to do things :o But it worked for us as it means that he doesn't have to focus on me/food/toys when we are out and about with all the other More Interesting Things happening. On the other hand, he doesn't pull towards them as that means going backwards. He's figured out himself that walking near my side on a loose lead is the best place to be. It did take a week or so for him to get the message though, and he does still need the odd reminder. But generally these days he will naturally fall back in to step with me if he feels pressure on the collar. Just as well given his size and how heavy he'll be when he's all grown :o
 
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