Really need help with leash training!
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Anonymous
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We have a relatively new rescue dog (with no issues as far as we can tell -- she's very sweet and great with our toddler). She is terrible on the leash and pulls like crazy. It's particularly bad because one of the only/best times I can walk her is when I have my toddler in a stroller, and she's awful to walk with the stroller. I've literally just about thrown out my back and lost every shred of patience I have left after struggling with her and the stroller.
Any advice or suggestions for leash training? We tried a method of changing directions regularly and praising for her good listening. This was helping a bit, but unfortunately, I can't do it with a stroller, so we couldn't reinforce it as frequently as we'd like and thus haven't made much progress. I've also tried holding treats to get her to pay more attention to me during walks, but she's so excited about everything else that she doesn't care about food. She'll eat it and get a little excited but generally just wanted to pull and explore. Help! |
Anonymous
| What kind of leash and collar are you using? |
Anonymous
| We have a 6-foot-long leash (not sure what kind -- pretty basic, common type and thickish). The collar is just her regular collar. Today I finally found and bought a front-hook harness that I am hopeful will help, but we haven't tried it yet. |
Anonymous
I have a new rescue dog too (we've had her a month now) and the first few weeks we had major leash walking frustrations as well. I feel your pain. I would finish every walk in tears. We tried a martingale harness but it didn't really help at all. My advice -- and hopefully this isn't impossible for you -- is to walk her as much as possible without the stroller. What worked for us was keeping her leash wound up so she has no choice but to walk right beside me. I keep the leash loop in my left hand, and hold the other end of the leash with my right hand, and put my right hand close in tight to my leg, so that the dog has very little free leash length to pull, walk ahead of me, pass in front of me from side to side, etc. It took a few walks of being very consistent and very disciplined about this for her to get it, but now I can walk her with the leash in just my right hand. If she starts pulling or passing in front of me, I reign the leash in and give her less room to work with. If she's really regressing, I go back to the two-handed leash hold. It did not take long to see massive improvement. But like I said, you really need to have both hands available to you so if you can find some time to walk your dog without your stroller, you'll hopefully see improvement soon. I've gone from dreading my walks to really enjoying them so there is hope.  Good luck!!
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Anonymous
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OP here. 22:35, this is exactly the point I want to get to! I know she wants and needs exercise, but it's getting to the point where I don't even want to take her out if I have the stroller (but she gets a much shorter walk if I wait and walk her after dark when my kid is asleep).
What kind of leash did you use? I find our leash to be really painful for me to hold and painful when the dog pulls. Ours is more or less like this (but with a loop for your hand on the end): http://www.amazon.com/Rogz-Utility-4-Inch-Reflective-Fanbelt/dp/B002DXAPE8/ref=sr_1_12?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1423109282&sr=1-12 We had a retractable leash with our old dog but got rid of it after he passed away. He never pulled much, so it was totally fine to use with him. I remember that it was better for keeping him on a short leash, though (which helped with the stroller, since he didn't pull but found it confusing to walk with a stroller). I'd rather not use that with our new dog because she pulls so much, but maybe it would be better? She's unfortunately very low to the ground (part bassett), but has all the strength of a big dog, so she has incredible strength and balance! |
Anonymous
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It's going to be a couple of months until the behavior is in a better place. I would agree that the stroller is not a good idea right now, at least not on the first walk of the day.
Keep the leash tight and praise or "click" when she demonstrates proper leash etiquette. I've described our rescue in a couple of other threads that I think might have been you as well and she was a lot like this her first six months to a year. After that she settled down really well. A lot of it is age too if she's under 2. |
Anonymous
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Is she in any obedience classes? Training and time really help. Knowing the basics: stay, leave it, heel, name/noise to call her--you need these to deal with leash pulling.
Get a gentle leader or try your new front clip harness. Give her a shorter, non stroller walk every day where you focus only on leash training. Make sure she gets plenty of exercise otherwise--playtime with you or doggie daycare. And if you are consistent, in a couple of months this will all pass. Except for the squirrel chasing. That instinct is never lost, but you will have better control. |
Anonymous
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A dog that pulls [or any dog] can slip their head out of a regular collar. Try a martingale collar for walks. Walk the dog in the house and your yard for training prior to taking to the street and be successful at that before taking her with the stroller. You walk 4 ft-she walks you stop tell her to sit. She sits then you say walk .......
Carry treats she loves-try dried beef liver tiny pieces. Our dog loves greenies so I chopped up teenie greenies for training treats. |
Anonymous
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and get a cotton webbed 4 ft leash. Nylon gives rope burn. http://www.amazon.com/Cotton-Training-Swivel-Locking-Rottweiler/dp/B00E7BHL4G/ref=sr_1_14?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1423136919&sr=1-14&keywords=cotton+dog+leash
Do knots in it where your left hand rests also some to shorten the leash. |
Anonymous
| I just scanned your post and didn't see what type of dog? Look at a pinch collar which is much more humane than a choke or band collar. Also don't feed the dog breakfast, take a baggie of kibble with you and make her work for her breakfast. Keep her right at your side with a tug and command. Be consistent. When she walks at your side, give her a little kibble. Change the amt you give her along your walk so you're always keeping her guessing. Classic training to break the pulling is to switch directions each time she begins to pull. You look like an idiot always switching directions, but ultimately you're training the dog to follow you not the dog training you to follow her. Good luck. |
Anonymous
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OP here. Thanks for the encouragement. I'm so glad it's not just me with this issue!
I would be okay with her pulling a bit for squirrels or if she sees another dog -- at least it would be not all the time and only for things she's really excited about. But she pulls literally the entire walk. She just wants to run! She's 2, btw. I thought some of the "puppy" would be gone from her, but NO! So, to make sure I'm getting this clearly -- you recommend no-stroller walks, using treats to get her to pay attention to me by telling her to sit and walk and sit and walk throughout the walk, and changing directions regularly to keep her paying attention to me? |
Anonymous
Hi, I'm the 22:35 poster. Yes, I think all those recommendations are good ones. I would also highly recommend NOT using a retractable leash. Even with dogs that are good walkers, those things seem so silly to me. We used one with our last dog and after about a week I ditched it for a regular 6' leash. when your dog gets proficient at the sit-walk-sit-walk, and you are ready to just walk with her, I'd recommend also that you make sure to set the pace. Don't rush or walk faster than you want to, just b/c she's pulling. I have to correct this in my dog sometimes. It's the same concept as the changing directions thing. Basically, repeat the mantra "you are walking the dog, the dog is not walking you." you will get there , and hopefully the weather will be nice soon and you'll really enjoy your walks. |
Anonymous
It's not ok for her to pull at the sight of a squirrel or another dog. A perk up and look is ok but no pull. By look I mean a casual glance if that. You want this dog to be able to walk on lead while pushing a stroller and/or walking with a child. We no longer have little children and the dog is corrected for all pulling. |
Anonymous
| 14 05 again. Don't forget to get a martingale collar and a 4 ft cotton web leash. |
Anonymous
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I strongly recommend a pinch collar. It was the only thing that stopped my rescue from pulling and really trained him on the leash. He didn't care about choke collars (actually broke 2 of them by pulling). Retractable leashes are terrible. Do NOT use those. Also, a harness goes around the strongest part of a dog and makes it easier for them to pull on you, so don't bother with those either.
Check out Cesaar's Way of walking a dog. We followed his advice, and it worked wonderfully for our dog. I know some don't agree with some of his techniques, but for us, this was the only way that made walks eventually enjoyable. |