Dog has hurt me

[Dirtydancefloors]

We have an American staffy type dog. He is only 2 so still young. Very sweet natured. People always assume these dogs are mean but he is lovely with kids and other dogs. Dogs have gone for him before and he's never shown any malice and never once snapped at anyone.

But....he pulls on his lead terribly. He is very strong and I struggle to manage him. Yesterday he pulled me clean over on the pavement and I've really hurt my side. He tends to just get carried away if he sees people and wants to rush towards them. We have tried harnesses and collars designed to stop pulling but nothing works. I feel like I can no longer control him and my husband will have to do the dog walks which is a shame as I do enjoy it when he behaves.

Is it worth taking him to training lessons for this? Has anyone had any other success with certain techniques?

If he’s pulling when you leave the house then maybe he’s already overdue a walk?

I would work on tiring him out a bit at home before taking him out for a walk while you’re training him not to pull. Lots of games and puzzles and training tricks to work his mind really hard.

Also this stood out for me: ‘He is of course always on a lead’
Does that mean he never gets off lead time to wear himself out? I get that you don’t want to let him off the lead if you dont have control over him - but could you use a long line until he’s trained?

@LittleLongDog unfortunately he gets very little time off the lead. I'm not prepared to take the risk because if we see someone/another dog he will bolt and although I know he wouldn't hurt anyone, other people don't know that and probably wouldn't appreciate a dog like him jumping all over them and licking them!! He does have an extender lead and if we are somewhere really remote then occasionally he gets let off. His recall is good but only with no distractions.

Since dh has gotten better from his bug and resumed the dog walks the dog seems a lot better. Maybe he just prefers being walked by him. We are trying the stop start method and also bought a harness which makes him easier to control.

Have a look to see if there are any indoor dog parks near you (here in South Wales we have Action Petz, for instance) or alternatively a secure dog walking field www.dogwalkingfields.co.uk/

It would at least help him burn off some excess energy

Gosh you must have to walk for miles and miles to wear him out on lead! Is it worth getting a behaviourist in to help with recall? It would make your lives so much easier to have a reliable recall.