Dog Pulling on Leash

abrewer5

Good morning! I know a lot of people get help from this board so I figured I'd ask here.. I've worked with a trainer before on how to get my dog to stop pulling her leash and I've tried her suggestion, of changing direction and pulling on the leash to get her to stop, to no avail and I've also tried a walking harness. The walking harness helped a lot, but she is able to squirm her way out of the walking harness even when it's properly adjusted so that it's not too tight but not too loose (2 fingers rule), which is dangerous because she's an extremely fast runner and we can't catch her if she gets away. She'll come back but not until she's gotten a few laps in and we live near a residential road which scares me. We've also tried her regular harness, but that doesn't help. She continues to pull on the leash to the point where she hacks up a lung.

Does anyone have any other suggestions to get her to stop pulling so much? Or suggestions on a walking harness they've had luck with?

 

Edited to fix an error..

chrisnjay05212010

It may be a good idea to work with another trainer- for both you and her.  We were taught that once they start pulling to stop walking and make the dog sit down next to you and wait.  We were also taught to give them a small pull and say a command of our choosing (heal, easy etc) . 

My guy is 115 lbs so we use a prong collar, which was suggested by our trainer. A harness and a regular choker are not effective on his size. This gives me alittle bit more control if necessary. 

abrewer5

chrisnjay05212010 said:

It may be a good idea to work with another trainer- for both you and her.  We were taught that once they start pulling to stop walking and make the dog sit down next to you and wait.  We were also taught to give them a small pull and say a command of our choosing (heal, easy etc) . 

My guy is 115 lbs so we use a prong collar, which was suggested by our trainer. A harness and a regular choker are not effective on his size. This gives me alittle bit more control if necessary. 

Thanks for the feedback! I'll give these suggestions a shot and see how it works out. I've been searching for a good dog trainer in my area because I think she'll do really well with regular training, she's smart and VERY high energy. Is group training ok or is one on one training a better option for most dogs?

abrewer5

I'll also add that she is only 14 pounds so her pulling isn't uncontrollable but it would make for a much nicer walk if she just wouldn't pull. I especially find she pulls a lot when she sees people or other dogs. She's very friendly so I know she just wants to meet them but a lot of people think she's acting out of aggression when she's pulling like crazy and hacking up a lung to see them.

Caz1221

How long have you been working with her on this skill?  It can take a long time to teach proper loose-leash walking, and you need to be absolutely 100% consistent all the time.  The techniques I found useful for both of my 18-20 lb. pugs (who walk with regular, flat buckle collars) are: doing a 180/reversing direction any time they pulled (you don't get very far at first!); stopping and standing still if they pulled and only moving forward once the leash was loose, and they were in proper position; giving treats/rewards any time they were in the correct position (right next to me, not pulling) with tons of treats at first and then tapering to fewer treats as they got better at it; and teaching the watch me/look command (if you have an issue with her pulling towards other dogs, people, etc., I highly recommend teaching this) - I have them look up at me and get a treat every time another dog passes by; eventually, they started doing it automatically.  Also, if they pull towards another dog or person, they do not get to meet that dog or person - we turn and walk in the opposite direction to show them that pulling doesn't get them what they want.  HTH!

chrisnjay05212010

@Caz1221 gave great advice! I forgot about the treat part!!! We did do some of what Caz suggested in our lessons as well.

We did our training through Pet Smart and it was a group lesson.  I think either group or private could work it just depends on what you think she'll do best with. It sounds like she might be better off with private.

abrewer5

Thank you ladies! I will take these into account and get H on board.

We've had her for about a year and a half. A couple months after we got her we met with the trainer who recommended pulling the leash to get her to stop, we've been doing this consistently since then with no stopping. About 6 months ago I got the walking harness which helped the pulling, but she can squirm out of it so that was nixed. So I would say we've been consistently trying to get her to stop since then. I will try the treat thing especially when she sees other dogs/people. I'm hoping this will help.

She is very socialized having spent almost her first 9 months in a shelter, so I'm glad she's not aggressive or afraid of other dogs, but sometimes I wish she wasn't so overly friendly haha

doeydo

Have you seen The Dog Whisperer?  

http://www.cesarsway.com/tips/thebasics/problems-on-the-walk

aggiebug

Is she a short nosed dog? If not I highly recommend the gentle leader, is she is then they don't work well and the easy walk harness is the best. If she can wiggle out then you can add a collar and a safety clip that attaches the harness so that you have a secondary control.

Many other great suggestions in the thread but I don't recommend the dog whisper his methods are generally not recommended

formerlyGDaisy09

we've had luck with both the gentle leader and the freedom-walk harness (different from the easy walk).

bpphoto785

We did the same stop when he's pulling and reward with treats as the other ladies and it works for everything except for other dogs. He just goes nuts. What works best for our dog is actually to just stop. If we're not walking he's better able to control himself. I don't know why, but that's what works best for him. 

ShellD13

Our trainer recommended the stop in place when our pup starts pulling.  Then as soon as he turns back to you, loosens the leash he gets a treat.  But I think I'm going to switch that up to a treat when he is sitting at my feet as PP suggested.

I will say we are thrilled with the trainer we found and her classes are offered through our local recreation department.  I will say I researched her pretty thoroughly and her background included over 10 years of dog training with a nearby pet store that has an excellent reputation.  So it was a great option for us - we got a knowledable trainer without having to travel too far away from home.