Pully dog on the lead, can this be fixed with a harness?

[PullyDog]

Today we've been to the kennels to view a dog, 2 year old, medium sized. She's adoreable, playful, lovely in every single way except she really pulls hard on the lead.

Whilst taking her for a walk around the grounds she almost pulled me over a few times. She's very strong!

She was on just a normal lead + collar, and they told me they've just introduced her to a gen con collar which has helped her pulling alot. But they didn't have it available to let me try with.

I only have 24 hours to commit and I'm hoping I can get some success stories really quickly, what kind of harness would fellow dog owners recommend and is there hope that we could fix / get a trainer to help with this or no hope?

I'm really taken with her and my children are absolutely smitten, she's great in every other way, so chaotic but gentle, but if I can't walk her then I can't have her.

Thanks in advance, heres hoping for some advice :D

My first comment would be that any rescue putting that level of time pressure on you is a bit of a concern. Do they offer full rescue back up? I.e. will they take the dog back should it not work out for any reason? Also why wasn't her usually walking equipment available?

Pulling on lead normally takes a lot of time and effort to sort as pulling is very rewarding for dogs - they get where they want to go faster, get more smells, and naturally walk faster than people so it's actually an advanced skill to match a human's pace.

2 posh 2 pull! Absolute game changer!!! My 7 yr old can walk a 30kg dog now.

In my (small) experience you need to put the work in with the dog to teach them not to pull. Dog trainers on Instagram give lots of examples. We have a 6month old labrador puppy in the family and he pulls more on a harness. I've just bought a slip lead to try and see if that makes any difference as he is already too strong for me to walk on a normal lead.

You're asking the wrong question.

The question should be: is this a terrible idea?

The answer is yes. Dog in kennels, not in foster, and 24 hours to make a decision? Disaster waiting to happen.

Please don't use a slip lead. You could really damage your dog's trachea.

Is it a spaniel? I've given up and never use a lead now. I tried everything, but now he just goes in the boot of the car for 5 minutes to the best places I can walk with him off lead (I'm rural so it's easy to find walks/woods etc.). His recall is excellent, and I hold his collar if we encounter anyone. He mostly walks closer to me off lead than he ever did on his lead.

Id be more concerned about a rescue expecting you to make a decision within 24 hours 2 days before Christmas.

Hi the 24 hours is a grace period of just coming home to really think about it I believe.

The dogs normal lead wasn't available as it was being used on a different dog at the time, I believe.

Yeah they will absolutely take the dog back if needed, they just had a returned dog today actually. I do believe they have some in foster and some in kennels.

I can name the rescue? But don't want to look like I'm trashing them - I promise I'm not.

They've been very lovely

Harnesses often encourage pulling, as the dog throws its weight into its shoulders.

Headcollars work well as training aids but I would be concerned about several things about the 'rescue' organisation. Why on earth didn't they have the right equipment for walking the dog to hand?

The make a decision is just decide if we want her or not, not to go pick her up and bring her home etc.

She's due jabs on the 27th so we wouldn't be getting her for a week or two anyhow. It just stops them letting others come to view her afaik

You just have to train it. Anything else is just the dog not pulling in order to avoid pain. Not ideal.

ETA. We use a harness and he’s been trained not to pull wearing it

We use a figure of 8 lead which is a slip lead of sorts but goes over the snout and around the neck our 30kg dog can be walked (assisted) by my 3 year old niece. A harness won’t stop pulling. A figure of 8 lead takes a bit of getting used to but our girls walk amazingly on them now.

I'd ask to do another visit with the correct equipment available. I foster for a rescue and would always make sure they have what they are used to because that's the only way the potential adopter can make a considered judgement. Also have 4 dogs of my own, they are always walked on harnesses, perfect fit is a good make, as we've also had a Labrador previously who had a collapsed trachea from someone yanking a collar.

A harness can be used in a way that the dog can't pull but it's not ideal. Any headcollar, slip lead, harness etc that stops a dog pulling is just a temporary fix as none of those teach the dog how to walk without pulling.

She's young and can be trained but please use a trainer who uses non aversive measures. I've seen plenty use slip leads which appear to have a miracle effect of working immediately - they don't, they just cause the dog pain or discomfort. You want your dog to want to walk by your side, not be restrained there by discomfort.

So, yes, if you're otherwise happy with her, pulling on the lead can be fixed with training, especially reward based training or with positive reinforcement.

Problem is, it's a 6 hour round trip for me to go again just for a different lead. I could however but I don't want to delay her and I can't do it this week.

I'm worried if I don't commit they'll just pass her to someone else and I swear we are all so taken by her part of me wants to just say yes and worry later, but I do have to be somewhat sensible

I wouldn't mind paying for a trainer to help but really I just wanted to know if at 2 years if it's too late for her to change how she is really

Thanks everyone for the super quick replies too. It's most helpful to me. This would be our first dog, I should add that in too.

The dog is not ready to be rehomed.

Can you say you want her then visit for a walk with harness before you actually take her?

I do some dog walking and dogs that constantly pull make it miserable IMO. We had haltis with our old rescues that were bad pullers and it definitely helped, although neither of them liked it so we used it as little as possible. One also learnt to brace his neck so he could still pull against it a bit.

Slip leads are horrid IMO, they don't stop the dog pulling IME they actually encourage them to pull because they are trying to get away from being choked by the lead.

I can't believe you travelled all that way and they didn't have the appropriate lead! I think I would have waited for the other dog to come back from it's walk tbh. You really need to know if you are going to be able to manage her before you take her on, returning her when the kids are even more attached would be awful for them and her.

From what you've said so far she's not the right dog for you as a first time owner. You need to be able to hold her on the lead, and she's pulled you over. Therefore there is absolutely no way the kids could walk her, and you will struggle too. This means fewer walks and she's a young dog, so you can expect behaviour at home to get worse. You've already said she's chaotic (and this will seem worse at home in a confined space). She sounds lovely, but reading between the lines she's the wrong dog for you at the moment. X

I still think my previous statement still applies, even with your caveats about not having to pick her up tomorrow. I help with my local breed club rescuing and re-homing, so it is a lot smaller (10-12 dogs a month).

We would absolutely expect the family to meet the dog at least a half-dozen times before we would commit to them taking the dog home. And that's even more important with children (how old are you children?) in the family. Children and rescue dogs need careful handling.

If the dog did pull - which some of ours dog - we would 100% make sure the correct equipment was available and, I'm sorry, I just don't believe any responsible rescue would say the dog requires 'X' piece of equipment and then have it with another dog just at the time you were there. Unless you randomly rocked up, they would have known you were coming.

Everyone falls in love with every dog they meet, particularly rescues. It doesn't mean you're ready to take them or they are ready to be re-homed. The problem is, lots of big rescues know this (the 'Big Five' are particularly crap for it) and the play on your desire to do 'good' and it results in lots of dogs going to homes before they are ready or, in a worst case scenario, homes they are not suited for.

Did they tell you about her history? Why she was re-homed? Any bite history? Any shadow chasing/resource guarding/food aggression/reactivity/anxiety/ separation anxiety/toileting issues/recall issues/jumping/lunging/ barking etc? Is she spayed? Has she whelped a litter? What food does she need? Does she have an allergies? Can she be groomed? Does she mind people touching her ears? These are all things they should categorically have made clear to you before you even took hold of her leash - did they do any of this? These are all things you should know the answer to, ideally before you even meet the dog, and if you can't answer those questions and they want you to make a decision on whether to take her home you need to say no.

I have to be honest, a few hours (how long was it?) in a rescue dogs company is not enough to be able to say hand on heart 'adorable, playful, lovely in every single way'.

I've got 2 spaniels OP, and they both pull like trains in spite of intensive training/every harness known to man. Individually, they walk like angels but together they are horrors. Like the PP with a spaniel, we avoid lead walks like the plague and thankfully we're rural as well so it's only a short hop out the door to a footpath. Both have had cracking recall only the old boy is now on a lead all the time as he's deaf. I think my right arm is a good 2" longer than the left one....

The likelihood is that you're choosing a 2 year old that hasn't had any training. You get what you give with dogs and their behaviour - I would find a good trainer right away and don't expect rainbows and unicorns with a rescue dog.

We stayed for 4 hours before it was bedding them down time. We had driven 3 hours to get there so wanted to stay as long as we could ofc.

But I get that completely.

My kids are 5, 7 and 15 and are in no way expected to walk the dog at any point - my 15 year old did however, and he didn't have any issues. But he is much stronger than I am, of course!

They don't know much about her history she was picked up from another rescue who had her as a stray but was going to have her PTS due to no room/takers for her.

I've been emailing back and forth with the rescue about her before viewing as they wasn't keen on small children, due to her jumpy up nature. But they relented and let me come visit. The jumping up is fine, she listens to down.

Yes I had asked about food / allergies / all kinds of preferences of toys, bedding, and such.

They made me aware of her jumping up and such multiple times before letting me near the lead, I promise I do believe they did it all correct, information wise.

To be fair I should have thought to ask before the second walk if her lead was available.

She walked better the second time because she was worn out from a few hours play time, but it was still quite a pull and on muddy fields - not ideal.

I should say she didn't actually pull me over, I managed to reel her back in but yeah, it wouldn't be fun if every single walk was like that at all. It's why i'm here for some advice / hope.

Appreciate you, thanks

The shelter already tried to say she wasn't the best fit. No history, hesitant to home with kids, you yourself said 'chaotic'. Are you wanting a dog that needs work, a bit of a challenge? Do you have the time? Or would a dog that fits into your family more seamlessly be better?

It would be a shame for her to be returned because she needs training, or because she may have issues the shelter can't pick up on. Just think what you want from the dog and if you'll resent having to put a lot of time and or money in, if she doesn't meet your expectations.

I appreciate your questioning, it's a difficult one because I can see as a first time dog owner it would seem a bit daft to get a dog that isnt perfect but honestly, I have wanted a dog for years but kept needing to put it off until my daughter was less of a dick.

As a family we've been talking about a dog and everything that comes with it for easily at least 2 years, I've wanted one a lot longer though!

I really don't mind paying for training, I don't mind putting time and patience in & I really don't mind that she is overly playful, I don't 'need' a chilled out sit on the lap kind of dog, although if that was the dog I felt connected too it would of been grand as well, my kids know and I know that we would need to adjust our life styles to fit the personality of whatever dog we got and luckily, we're in a position to do that. Nothing in our lives are so set in stone that it can't be changed :)

Since coming to us Eva has been nothing but a super affectionate, friendly, if not a little excitable, loving girl who relishes in all the fuss she can get! She does jump up, mainly for fuss resting her paws on your waist but she might not suit younger children as she would likely bowl them over accidentally.

This was part of her bio which I did follow up in email, it wasn't that she couldn't be with young kids - just I suppose, not ideally. But actually the jumping is no problem to us. It's the pulling.

On the lead she was very strong however we have introduced her to a Gencon headcollar which took some adjustment but she is now walking beautifully!

This is what they said about her walking. But again, I didn't get to use it