Or does anyone else find it hilarious when people's dogs take them for a walk?

[YoureBeingADick]

I see this quite often. People 'walking' their dog by attaching a lead and then leaning back at a 45degree angle before yelling 'moosh' ( or however it's spelled) and taking off down the street almost on their backside. Well at least that's what it looks like they've done. Why dont people learn how to walk their dogs?

NC, they loved each other to bits, chalk and cheese and yes, I suspect we did all look hysterical walking along. I tried a double lead once, poor Bob had a look of shock as he was dragged along with Jack Didn't repeat that particular exercise.

Not a day goes by where I have to resist the temptation to go out and buy another Scottie Pup, but Bob is 13 now and even slower than before so I don't think he'd cope.

Reading your story made me smile though NC, a lady up the road from me has a lovely golden lab pup called Scooby who I see most nights pulling his owner along. If he sees someone in the street he'll stop and refuse to move until he's been stroked

The one that amused me was when BiL took our (well behaved non-pulling) dog for a walk and got lost - so he just followed ddog with the expectation he'd go home . . . They did, but ddog wanted to go for a 2 hour walk first

My dog is like that lab, JuiceOrtiz.

He is very handsome, if I say so myself [unreasonable preening - I don't think I gave birth to him!] and he fully expects every passer by to exclaim over his good looks and give him a good pat at the very least. The words "leave it!" can't quite convey to him that yes, you are very gorgeous but many people see you as a hairy, smelly, very large beast.

There is a large dog round here that takes its male owner for a walk. One day he started to talk to a female neighbour and the bloody dog started to sniff around her feet, then went behind her and began to shag her

Me and dh were splitting our sides laughing whilst ds2 was going "why is that dog attacking that lady mum?"

BionicEmu- my dog was like that too. If I turned round he just immediately lunged to the end of his lead in that direction. If I stopped still, he'd stand to the end of the lead happily wagging his tail. I took him to training classes and the leader couldn't get him to walk to heel either. I tried various different collar, harness and lead combos, including the Halti and canny collars. In the end we settled for a Halti collar and anti shock lead, at least with that he didn't yank your arm quickly, more of a sustained gentle pull.

It's weird, because in other aspects he was very trainable, we did flyball and agility, he just could never get the hang of lead walking.

My spaniel does this and it's a pain but it's also useful when she comes running with me and she pulls me up steep hills. My dh takes her out skateboarding and it's great fun for her pulling him along.

There's an explanation for this, and it is due to poor training. The dog thinks it's the pack leader, and will take charge, dragging the owner along.
The dog needs to understand that the owner is the pack leader. If the dog walks slightly behind the owner, then this is the ideal situation - the dog is not in control and the owner is.

Umm my dad does actually shout moosh at his dog. But it IS a husky...

I've got a puller. Thankfully I'm actually quite strong and can control her. She used to be really good and knows exactly what to do, thanks to dog training and my early efforts. She does settle down after a while too.

However, DH the lazy git takes her to work with him every day and she gets to rag around the fields with another dog so he rarely bothers to walk her as she's knackered by the end of the day. He could quite easily walk her to work and back (15 mins) and get some training in, but prefers to stay in bed longer and load her into the car instead.

Consequently, on a day he has to be out and about for work, it falls on me to walk her (usually on the school run with the baby in a bank carry) and it is a tad embarrassing. Following rounding up the children tends to make it worse, as there often isn't enough time to stop and train properly, although I always do on the return journey.

Seems to be spaniels are the worst culprits for pulling? I don't have a dog (getting our puppy on saturday) but have been dog sitting for a young cocker spaniel this week. When I read your OP I thought you must have seen me being dragged down the road today I really hate it as I was worried she was going to strangle herself or do some damage. She was pulling that hard she was nearly flat on the floor. Once she has had a race round the park off her lead she is a lot calmer walking home.

MrsDeVere, I have a staffy who doesn't pull. I think she is a rarity though. She hasn't been trained not to pull, I think she just doesn't want to be away from me.

Yanbu. It is hilarious to see. Less hilarious when you are the one being dragged though!

For those struggling with persistent pullers I'd really recommend dogmatics. They don't tend to ride up into the dogs eyes like a halti does so dogs aren't inclined to hook them off with a swift paw to the face!

Select is correct. The dominance theory is a load of rubbish and trying to 'dominate' your dog into behaving is likely to cause serious problems. Being confident and assertive is fine, but very different to dominance training techniques. Dominance theories are based on the behaviour of wolves. Dogs are not wolves nor do they have anything like the same social hierarchy as wolves. Look for a trainer who practices positive reinforcement, not one who follows dominance theories which include physically attacking the dog, making the dog fearful and unable to trust the owner, and more. You don't have to be an expert to see that doesn't foster good relationships.

Shouting 'mush' at most huskies in this country won't get you very far, the word is 'hike' or 'hike on'. Gee and haw for right and left.

Mine pull like stink in a harness (attached to me by a waist belt or various wheeled vehicles) but walk on a loose lead on a collar after many months of sweat and tears.

No pack leader or dominance nonsense needed, dogs pull because it gets them where they want to go.

Sorry BionicEmu I'm in Devon,

I would also recommend the going backwards tactic , don't turn round, stop, (with me) walk backwards,for about ten yards , holding hand on thigh, you can add a 360 degree turn, stop and start again.

I do recommend a well walked dog, most dogs are really under walked, so are gagging to get out and about,

Dogs that do the same walks all the time, are always desperate to push boundaries, as they need new information, to a dog if you do the same walk all the time, it the human equivalent of being give the same copy of chat magazine every day, it would drive you insane, dog's confidence is built on their knowledge, they need lots of new information, to feel calm and settled.

Build a complete mind smell map, explore every inch of the surrounding area, your dog needs to know where the fox goes after the it crosses the road, it needs to know what going on around the corner you never go round.

Walks and excise are two very different things, dogs need to have at least of three twenty minutes of hard excise a day, that is when they pant hard because they are working hard.

Walks are information gathering, it's their news and TV. They need at least two really good ones a day at the minimum.

I saw an old woman mooshing today with a tiny jack russell, her arse was inches from the floor, and they were doing about 50

I am thinking of getting blinkers for my dog. because he can be walking beautifully, but then he spots a squirrel/cat/another dog, and suddenly thinks he is a tiny pup again, stops dead, and loses his sense of direction. he sarts walking forward, but looks behind him so he ends up in a tangle.

Yep my dog takes me for a walk!

Quote that is a really good way of thinking about walks.

My use of moosh was based on a very vague recollection of some movie i watched as a child about huskies so apologies for any and all inaccuracies there, i really didnt mean i see people saying moosh

Glad this thread has been a source of some good advice for a few posters struggling with pulling. As i said- i have been there and know how awful it is but i had just seen another man doing the 'moosh' walk and it just looked so funny. I know how lucky i am that my boy doesnt do that as i am quite small an would be no match at all for his 45kg if he decided to use it- thankfully he is too lazy and will happily potter at toddler pace most of the time