# Pulling!!



## HavAPuppy1 (Oct 24, 2010)

We use a harness with Amelia. I know that this may encourage pulling but we absolutely do not feel comfortable just having her on a collar. Of course being 7 months and on a harness, she pulls pretty often. I'd say she walks well 60% of the time and pulls 40%. We took the time to switch directions everytime she pulls - this was a tip from a trainer. It is very time consuming, but seemed to help a tiny bit. We have worked alot with being on a leash, but she continues to pull and also to take off thinking shes not on a leash only to be jolted back. Needless to say this is dangerous. So after doing some research on here we purchased an easy walk harness, which fits her perfectly. I was so excited to try it today...=( She chewed on it, and spun out several times after trying to run off/pull. Did anyone else have this problem with the easy walk? Did your dog get more comfortable with it? I am hoping she just needs some time to get accustomed to it. Otherwise I guess we are back at square one..::sigh::...


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

For every dog trainer there's a different method and type of collar /harness. I like this article the best. http://petcentraldogtraining.blogspot.com/2009/06/whos-walking-who.html


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## Anne Streeter (Apr 14, 2009)

I switched to an Easy Walk harness a month ago and I am very pleased - much less pulling than with a collar. She just turned two so maybe some of it is just settling down from puppyhood. She now walks nicely by my side except when there is someone to greet or a bunny to chase. I am enjoying our walks a lot more and I feel a lot better about her precious little neck!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Great article Dave. I think the two most important messages are that different devices can help in some cases, but it takes PATIENCE and consistent TRAINING to get a dog who has great leash manners.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

yeah Karen I agree. Some of the head halters will lessen the pulling effect but they alone don't teach the dog to walk with a loose leash. I think people with small dogs put up with it simply because they are still able to control the dog somewhat. But it definitely isn't good for the neck when these little guys are pulling full tilt with a flat collar. The trainers are really split on this topic. Some argue that anything that helps getting the people out walking their dogs is a plus. These halters are definitely a great tool for leash reactive dogs, and that's where most trainers agree. I think why not do it without any pulling. But you're right when you talk about patience and consistency. If you let them pull you forward you are training them to pull. I remember back when I started training Molly, geeze , it took us an hour to go a half mile. LOL. But it works if you are" PATIENT AND CONSISTENT."


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> yeah Karen I agree. Some of the head halters will lessen the pulling effect but they alone don't teach the dog to walk with a loose leash. I think people with small dogs put up with it simply because they are still able to control the dog somewhat. But it definitely isn't good for the neck when these little guys are pulling full tilt with a flat collar. The trainers are really split on this topic. Some argue that anything that helps getting the people out walking their dogs is a plus. These halters are definitely a great tool for leash reactive dogs, and that's where most trainers agree. I think why not do it without any pulling. But you're right when you talk about patience and consistency. If you let them pull you forward you are training them to pull. I remember back when I started training Molly, geeze , it took us an hour to go a half mile. LOL. But it works if you are" PATIENT AND CONSISTENT."


What also amazes me is how different the same dog can be with different people. Kodi walks very well with me, because I have NEVER put up with pulling, from day one. OTOH, my husband has never corrected him for it, and the result is, that Kodi pulls like a freight train with him. So when the two of them go out together, Kodi has to wear a harness.  If we walk together and Dave hands the leash back to me, Kodi immediately is at my side, walking nicely. Dave thinks it's "magic".ound: (and yes, we've had talks about how to fix the problem, but that "patience and consistency" thing gets in the way.:frusty:

Oh, I also wanted to mention another "trick" that I've found works really well with Kodi now that we're 90-95% of the way there. There are times when Kodi gets excited about something, and when he's excited, his legs just go faster. That's the only way I can explain it. When he gets in this state, he has a hard time remembering to match his speed to mine, even if I'm walking briskly.  So he'll start to pull ahead a bit, I'll stop, he'll come right back to heel (because he DOES know that's where he should be) but the minute we start moving, those fast little legs will get him ahead of me again.

Someone suggested that I put the leash behind my legs, held in the opposite hand when he does this. It's amazing. Just the very light, bump, bump, bump of my legs walking, against the loose leash seems to remind him to stay with me. Once he's settled in again, I can move the leash either in front of me or into my left hand again. I don't think this would work, though, with a dog who wasn't already pretty reliable about loose leash walking, and just needed a little reminder.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

That's funny about your hubby. It's amazing to watch a good trainer show loose leash walking to a person and then hand the dog back to the owner to try. It's like the dog has something against the owner ,and says hell with you , lets go, and immediately starts pulling the owner. LOL . Little did we know that dogs have a memory. LOL Thats where the consistency comes in . As soon as your hubby lets Kodi put any pressure on the leash and advance ,he's losing the battle. ound: Men have no patience Karen, didn't you know that. ? That's why eighty percent of dog trainers are women. LOL I do let Molly pull when she's allowed to "go sniff". On our walks I spend half the time letting her" go sniff". and when I want to walk again , I say "lets's go" and she goes loose leash again. I think the walk should be fun for the dog. And she has the most fun sniffing.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> That's funny about your hubby. It's amazing to watch a good trainer show loose leash walking to a person and then hand the dog back to the owner to try. It's like the dog has something against the owner ,and says hell with you , lets go, and immediately starts pulling the owner. LOL


In my many years of teaching and training horses, it happened all the time... a horse was being "naughty" with it's rider, I'd get on, and couldn't MAKE the horse repeat the mistake. So, was it the horse being "naughty", or the rider's inability to communicate clearly what s/he wanted?:brick:



davetgabby said:


> . Little did we know that dogs have a memory. LOL Thats where the consistency comes in . As soon as your hubby lets Kodi put any pressure on the leash and advance ,he's losing the battle. ound: Men have no patience Karen, didn't you know that. ? That's why eighty percent of dog trainers are women.


He's the same with our kids... I think it's more a consistency problem than a patience problem. He's a total push-over for WAY too long... and then all H--l breaks loose.:biggrin1: Actually, he never gets mad at Kodi like that. Kodi has him totally whipped.ound:



davetgabby said:


> LOL I do let Molly pull when she's allowed to "go sniff". On our walks I spend half the time letting her" go sniff". and when I want to walk again , I say "lets's go" and she goes loose leash again. I think the walk should be fun for the dog. And she has the most fun sniffing.


Maybe as Kodi gets older, he'll be better able to handle going from LLW to doing his own thing and back, but not yet. Right now, if I let him lally gag on lead, I have a VERY hard time getting him back in loose leash mode again afterwards. And he does SO well if we stay in our groove, I hate to ruin a good thing.

We have three different "modes". Out in the yard on the flexi, with me standing in one place means, it's potty time... get down to business. On a regular 6' lead means that he needs to be at my side on a loose lead. When he's off lead, he can do what he wants as long as he comes back to me every time I call. (which is frequent, treat and release) Almost every walk includes some time either in the woods or at the beach, where he can be off lead and do his thing, so he gets plenty of scamper-around time, often with another dog or two. One of our beaches is used as an "informal" dog park. There are no fences, so only the owners of well behaved dogs tend to go there, but there's usually a group of nice dogs down there almost every late afternoon. We also go out frequently with his German Shepherd friend.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

I hear you there Karen. I love taking Molly where she can run loose. It's a joy to see that extra smile on her face.


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## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

I have to step in here and brag on Rosie a little. As you know we had to stay at a hotel some this week so Rosie had to be on a leash. We ran into friends of ours also dog lovers and they had heard of the havanese breed and wanted to see Rosie. Larry went and got her out of the car (we were in the parking lot). He led her around the parking lot for them to see her "prance". Rosie put on a show for them. My friend turned to me and asked if she had been in the show ring. I was so proud of my baby! Rosie got a 10 or 15 minute session of leash training in the parking lot at the office when she was a baby and that was it. She seldom ever goes on a leash as our yard is fenced and I don't let her out at the office because of the stray dogs around. Just had to brag.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Aahhh Lucile, that Rosie is a dear. Too bad we couldn't have these dogs offleash all the time.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Luciledodd said:


> I have to step in here and brag on Rosie a little. As you know we had to stay at a hotel some this week so Rosie had to be on a leash. We ran into friends of ours also dog lovers and they had heard of the havanese breed and wanted to see Rosie. Larry went and got her out of the car (we were in the parking lot). He led her around the parking lot for them to see her "prance". Rosie put on a show for them. My friend turned to me and asked if she had been in the show ring. I was so proud of my baby! Rosie got a 10 or 15 minute session of leash training in the parking lot at the office when she was a baby and that was it. She seldom ever goes on a leash as our yard is fenced and I don't let her out at the office because of the stray dogs around. Just had to brag.


Yay, Rosie! That's worth a brag!:whoo: Many don't catch on that easily!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> Aahhh Lucile, that Rosie is a dear. Too bad we couldn't have these dogs offleash all the time.


I was wishin' Kodi WASN'T off leash today! We were in the woods, with him doing his usual thing...ranging ahead then running back to me. We got to a fork in the trail, and he fell behind for a moment. We walked on, talking, until I realized he hadn't run past us. I turned back to see him rolling in... something. I went back to collect him and he was rolling on a very dead, very flat weasel!!! uke: Needless to say, walk time had to be followed by a bath!!!


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

aaahhh Karen, what are moms for?ound:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Well, at least it was pretty mummified by the time he rolled in it. But it was REALLY flat, and there are no vehicles that go though there. So I suspect it had already been rolled on by a succession of larger dogs... some when it was a lot "juicier" than when we found it!:biggrin1:


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## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

That would make me want a cigarette bad!


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

ound:, Lucille..

I'm sorry, Karen 

Gucci is a bad walker, but I have to say she pulls LESS with me than with my DH, she WALKS HIM.....

Its sad, I really wish I would've gotten a better hold on training HIM to train her earlier, but he won't listen to me, he's stubborn....so is Gucci, she belongs in our stubborn bunch for sure......ound:

Kara


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Thumper said:


> Its sad, I really wish I would've gotten a better hold on training HIM to train her earlier, but he won't listen to me, he's stubborn....so is Gucci, she belongs in our stubborn bunch for sure......ound:
> 
> Kara


Ha! We tell people our kids got a "double dose" of stubborn genes... I'm sure glad that passed Kodi by!

And Lucile, you're right. It made ME want to smoke, and I've never smoked in my life! Better yet, I wanted a big STRONG drink!ound:


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

Karen, we have a lot of frogs around here with a pond and a river! There are always flattened dried frogs on the street and if I see it first steer Abby away since they are a favorite thing to roll on!!!

About the leash walking - Abby is usually very well behaved but we went for a walk yesterday (first in a long time) and she was unbelievably bad. She kept pulling and choking herself and since I had McGee in a shoulder carrier and it hurt (!) I was losing my patience with her. I think we just need to get on a regular walking schedule now that the weather is warm. Our very first dogs (pre-children) were so well-behaved and it has gone downhill from there. Abby & McGee are treated like grandchildren and DH is much worse than me!


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## luv3havs (Jul 27, 2007)

It seems that lots of husbands are "bad" when it come to training. Mine drives me nuts, undoing all my hard work grrr!:frusty:


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

luv3havs said:


> It seems that lots of husbands are "bad" when it come to training. Mine drives me nuts, undoing all my hard work grrr!:frusty:


Yes, why is that?? :frusty: Its like they are the fun ones and we are the meanie strict ones.. Its kind of the other way around with our kids, I"m more laid back and he's more old fashioned and strict in his thinking.

Karen, you are lucky if the stubborn gene skipped the Kodi generation. 

Kara


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