Puppy worse after kennels

[Cantwineitherway1]

At Easter we rehomed a really lovely but very boisterous puppy (5 months old). He is coming up to 10 months old now. He has always pulled on the lead, we bought a non pull harness which helped at first but no longer does. He is a lab German shepherd x so a big boy. We have just come back from a week away and he has been at the kennels. He was naturally very excited to come home, but he has almost completely forgotten how to behave on a lead! He is really digging in and dragging me which is hard to handle with 2 under 6's.

Any advice? He is unneutered, if that makes a difference.

Thanks!

10 months old is still a challenging age anyway with them so expect previous training to fall on deaf ears. So they are liable to regress in areas until they stop being a difficult teenager.

All you can do is keep reinforcing all the positive training you did as a puppy.

Have you tried a Halti head collar? Our last dog pulled (large breed) and it completely stopped the pulling. He wore it for a few years then didn't need it any more as he'd learnt by then to walk by our side. Made walks so much more enjoyable though.

It's probably a combination of being at that 'teenager' stage where training tends to go backwards, and having had a week where his previous training hasn't been reinforced. FWIW if adult DDog stays with DF for a week or more his training goes backwards as DF doesn't listen to a word I say about training!

Back to basics I'd say, e.g.

Do be wary of these no pull harnesses, and halti harnesses. They all tighten when the dog pulls and cause discomfort. Not only is it not considered to be a particularly modern training method, but the dog can then pull to get away from the discomfort... if you want to use a harness, then a Perfect Fit (body) or Dogmatic (head) is a better alternative.

PS neutering won't change it. It should be done anyway at some point to avoid accidents with a bitch in heat, but the only behaviour neutering reliably reduces is scent marking.

What kind of lead to you use? The only thing that works with ours is a Halti. It's not one which is designed to tighten, but it has two connection points, one on the back and one on the front. We use a Halti lead and connect each end to the two points, if that makes sense? So the lead is like a loop and it gives us more control.

We've tried no end of "no-pull" leads and harnesses and nothing else works for our pup. He's six months and getting it really changed our walks - he still pulls when he's excited but otherwise he just trots along nicely now, it was like an overnight miracle!

We tried a halti (I think) which went over the nose. He got distressed so the lady at pets at home recommended one without the head bit. Is it worth trying it again?

I might have to look into puppy training classes as he doesn't seem to respond to treats, just pulls me along!

Thanks everyone!

You need to get him to classes.

It's not just for them - it's for you as an owner. They'll teach you how to read their cues and how to work to their strengths.

But make sure they use positive reinforcement, none of this pack theory/dominance bollocks.

Personally I'd give a head collar a go again. You can get different brands, dogmatic, gentle leader, halti, maybe try some different ones and see if your dog gets on with any of them. You need to use them with training and positive reinforcement.

Classes though, training for you and for the dog, would be good.