Dog pulls on walks - advice please

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Martingale prong collar, properly adjusted so it sits behind her ears, not low on her neck. It's not "mean", it's effective. Used properly, they're great tools because they work. They communicate, in dog, "we're stopping now" in a way that makes it a clear directive and not an invitation the dog can (and will) decline.

Buy a good one (Sprenger), not a cheap one, so you don't get overly-sharp prongs or cheap metal that will break or rust.

Do not use a prong collar on the dog. It's cruel. There is the potential for puncture wounds, for starters.

There is zero potential for "puncture wounds" with a properly-fitted, high quality prong collar. If you buy $10 crap off Amazon that has sharp points, maybe, but the brand PP suggested isn't going to hurt anything.

So much ignorance in this forum these days...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You will need to train her. You say you have tried stopping whenever she pulls, but you need to truly stop when she pulls. Which can mean an hour before you even get out of your driveway, if you get more than a few feet from your house at all. For a long time. But eventually they learn.

Hire a trainer to help you, you aren't likely to succeed on your own.

This is effing mental. Maybe for a tiny puppy, but for an adult dog? There's "gentle" and there's ridiculous, and this is well over the line into nonsense territory.

It isn't "effing mental." It can take a long time for a pulling dog to learn if it isn't very biddable. You take a step, they pull. You stop. Take a step, they pull, you stop. That usually means not getting very far for quite some time. And regarding your "maybe for a tiny puppy" comment, it can be more challenging with an adult dog, who has already trained the OP to allow the pulling.

Are you the OP? If so, this attitude is likely part of how you got here.

No, not the OP, just someone who has trained hundreds of dogs. Treat pouch and a prong collar and this problem is solved in a week or less.

If you want to waste your time standing around instead of walking, be my guest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Martingale prong collar, properly adjusted so it sits behind her ears, not low on her neck. It's not "mean", it's effective. Used properly, they're great tools because they work. They communicate, in dog, "we're stopping now" in a way that makes it a clear directive and not an invitation the dog can (and will) decline.

Buy a good one (Sprenger), not a cheap one, so you don't get overly-sharp prongs or cheap metal that will break or rust.

This is the way. Also, if your dog is food motivated, get some high value treats and carry them in your hand. Show the dog you have them, and have the dog walk at your side, nose to your hip. If the dog follows, give a bit of the treat.

Incentives for what you want, quick and clear corrections for what you don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we used a trainer and they recommended the stopping approach. actually, not just stopping, but turning around and going in the opposite direction when the dog pulls. and then rewarding when dog heals. it was very tedious but worked.

Decades of dogs in my life and trainers [individual and in group classes] used choke or martingale collars [nylon with chain section]. No prongs. Dog on left in a sit- left hand on part of shortened leash held in right hand. Stops with you and sits, walks next to you. All sorts of turn combos including having the dog circle you and sit.

You need a trainer to teach you how to use the collar. Note- on 2 herding breeds the puppies were so trainable we and trainer said no on a martingale.
Those collars and correct training worked on so many puppies- mine and others. Labs, GS, etc. You had 4 years of this? Normal timeline for abiltiy to walk on lead without a mess for us was 4 months.

[Anonymous]

a dog trainer they have leash training classes it worked for my dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She might like pulling like it’s an activity for her. Sometimes I hook up a red wagon to my dog and let him pull it as an activity. He doesn’t pull on our regular walk anymore. He’s a lab.

I have a pully lab and never thought of this, but I bet he would love it.

[Anonymous]

Get a really long leash -- a training leash. Let her go all the way to the end of it and then when she pulls, reel her back in and make her sit. Just keep doing that. She'll quickly learn to stop before the end of the leash and no longer pull.

[Anonymous]

Can those of you suggesting a dog trainer or training class recommend the one you used? We’re in the Falls Church/Mclean area but willing to drive if needed. Thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can those of you suggesting a dog trainer or training class recommend the one you used? We’re in the Falls Church/Mclean area but willing to drive if needed. Thanks

pawbypaw worked well for us

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can those of you suggesting a dog trainer or training class recommend the one you used? We’re in the Falls Church/Mclean area but willing to drive if needed. Thanks

pawbypaw worked well for us

Agree with this (but it's in Rockville, MD, not too close to McLean)

[Anonymous]

Bumping the thread in case anyone has any other trainer recs.

[Anonymous]

For us, stopping when the dog pulled didn't work, but turning around and going the other way did.