Pulling on lead ....

[LennyBalls]

I know all dogs are different and pick things up at different speeds but how long did it take your dog to not pull on lead after training ?

My nine month old doesn't seem to be picking it up at all.

Have taken her loose lead training and have been very consistent but she's still pulling.

What I do is when the lead tenses I stop and wait for her to walk back to me but when I start walking she pulls again and doesn't seem to be making progress.

Also, am training her to go to bed. If I have a treat in my hand she will go but if I tell her to go to bed when the door goes or without a treat she just ignores me.

Hopeful bump ...

Please let me know if you figure it out! Mine is still a nightmare. I too stop every time DDog pulls. It often makes no difference and every walk is painful. I've tried training with a treat in my right hand. As soon as he's walked well enough to get the treat he then shoots off again... And we go back to the start. It's exhausting

Mine is almost three and he still does it! I’ve tried all the tricks of the trade and some days are definitely better than others. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that he’ll be more interested in sniffing than walking beside me on some walks and I’ll have more success on others. Fortunately he’s only 10kgs so I’m not dragged along, but it’s a pain. I’ll watch this thread with interest. In case there’s something I haven’t tried.

The moment she takes the tension on the lead, before she pulls, turn around and walk in the other direction. That tells her that you're in charge of the direction and speed of travel, not her. To start with you might only walk a few metres one way and then back again for 30 minutes but at some point she will start to look at you rather than her making the decision. As soon as she does then praise her like mad and give her a treat.

It takes consistency and patience but it does work, once it does, it's for life.

Mine pulls STRAIGHT AWAY though. I might not make it out the car park 😂

About to do pre bed walk so I'll give it a go.

I’d say mine was a year before we cracked it , 80% of the time. One of the biggest things we learnt was engagement, and treats, and lots of them.

If dog is pulling, I call him to heel, and reward when he furs, rinse and repeat. He could be having a treat every metre initially. Eventually, you space the treats out.

Also, every time he looks at you, treat , as he’s engaging with you. Ie. Treat for being good.

I would also add a few turns in to get him in position and/or break the pulling.

Don’t use a retractable lead as they learn that if they pull, you’ll release lead to make it longer, so pulling is good.

Also, talk to your dog. Can be about anything, the price of carrots for example. They need to be interested in you

And's that's fine. Stay in the car park tonight. If you have to do the same two metres backwards and forwards so be it. She/he will figure out that pulling achieves fuck all so it will stop being worthwhile.

One way to stop pulling straight away, is to get them to sit before you set off. Ie you control the narrative. If they then pull, you get them to sit again. Only when they relax and don’t pull, do you move. Maybe add a command such as ‘steady’ so
They associate the gentle walking with a command.

And I agree, you may get no further than the end of your drive. I walked up and down the same bit of pavement (felt a bit stupid at times) for ages. I was glad when we progressed to going further afield.

Mine was nearly 2, and we train(ed) EVERY FUCKING DAY 😭 He still pulls for the 3 minutes it takes to get to grass on his morning walk, but that's because he wants a poo. He stops pulling after that thank God!

@Eyesopenwideawake a good walk! He pulls much less in the evening anyway as he's tired but we did it. I turned around every time he pulled and then went a different way. I was definitely more 'in charge'. Did let him sniff whatever he wanted. Lots of tiny treats for good walking and while he waited to cross the road etc.

Real test will be daytime road walking tomorrow!

Any tips on barking and lunging at cars?!

Sorry to overtake your thread op!!

I totally agree with you - train every day, and pulling fur a poo. My dog is better after that (most of the time).

Get a halti collar - solved mine pulling.

It might not be the recommended way, but I always did lead training after my dog had had a good walk and a poo, so that he was less giddy and excited, and more likely to focus on me.

Then as he grasped the idea, we started doing it from the house and now he's pretty solid at not pulling.

Will Atherton has some good videos on YouTube. My two were decent on-lead (we do off-lead heel as well) but I sharpened them up that way.

What sort of collar/lead/harness do you use?

I've always used a t touch harness and double ended lead which I find good but a lot of people use a figure of 8 lead that goes over the nose that they find effective.

Other than that a gentle leader that goes over the nose - but remember to de sensitise her to it gradually rather than just Chuck it on (there will be videos available showing you how to introduce it gradually)

Avoid a harness when in the early learning as dogs will automatically use the chest muscles to pull against the harness.
Use a 2 metre lead and get the dog used to having the lead shortened when they need to be close.
A loose lead and a collar are better for training the dog that it should respond to pressure on the lead when it is shortened. Ths is obviously done when well away from all distractions and other dogs.
Well it worked for me.
Do avoid extendable leads plus harness as they make lead training much more difficult

I've resigned to teaching walking heel off lead first. Like another poster already suggested, after a good walk.

I do this by having treats in my hand that I dropp at irregular intervals. - small dog and don't like the constant bending down or dog jumping up. Plus it's unpredictable so dog has to stay by your side!
In the beginning it's a good dog heel... later on I say heel when they stray to far ahead... in that case I wait a few steps before dropping the treat.
Once they have masterd this, I do the same principle on lead.
But as already mentioned, it tastes time! Mine needed about 18 months to crack it!

I don’t know if it will work but ddog knows nose touch so last night I started calling him back for a nose touch and treat every time he pulled away. I’ll let you know how it goes ! He’s not yet five months. Sometimes he walks really well (when tired) but other times he pulls a lot. It seems like when he gets a treat for being by my side that then spurs him on to rush forwards again 😂

Another tip is to practice at home. Walk around the garden or lounge with dog next to you (doesn’t have to be on lead). Reward them when they’re in position and also for looking up at you. Ie establish the correct walking position (also useful indoor stimulus game on rainy days).

Don’t treat when they pull away. You’re rewarding him for pulling them. Reward when he’s next to you.

(guess you’re treating so he returns to you, but he may think the trigger for treat is the pulling away. Hope that makes sense).

Dogmatic head collar. Went from being a aggressive, reactive rescue dog who would lunge at anything and I genuinely worried I may lose control of, to within a week or so a dog who trotted happily by my side who I could walk with 1 finger. Cannot recommend enough.

Don't use a head collar, they are cruel especially for smaller dogs.

I know it's from 2020, but this article explains it well in layman's terms.

What it does not mention is the possible damage to neck & spine if you try and move their heads. (This is also true for collars in small dogs that pull= collapsed trachea.)

https://dogstodaymagazine.co.uk/2020/05/18/headcollar-vs-harness-which-is-better-for-our-dogs-welfare/

Teach your dogs to walk properly, go to regular group training classes if your dog is reactive, nervous or just in need of some stimulation beyond a walk.

Honestly it will make a massive difference to you and your dog.

No idea. We tried everything. Mine is now 10 years old and is otherwise very intelligent and trainable, but he still hasn't got it! He wears a halti, which makes him pull less, but he never learned not to do it.

He's gone now, but if dogs could laugh, he would have laughed at the suggestion that his head collar was cruel! He literally jumped all over the place in excitement when he see it

I taught my girl to trust and play with me with kibble and a ball rolled back and forth from about 16 weeks. I used ‘wait’ as the buzz word.

I then taught ‘Wait’ (without the ball) at home with treats / ‘GOOD GIRL’ / kibble - she knew the word so I was able to stop / ‘control’ her indoors.

I then used ‘Wait’ with treats / ‘GOOD GIRL / kibble from the second we left the back door into the garden on her lead.

We only went Out Out once she stayed close and didn’t pull in the garden.

Shes 14 now (💔) and loves a slow sniffing walk.