mydogroxy Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 i need some advice about pulling. roxy is not a terrible puller, but we take long walks (usually around an hour) and by the time we're done my arm is a little sore and i've lost a little patience. we've tried several methods with great results, BUT she has such fine hair there's always a problem. both the choke and prong collar made her throat go bald. her harness gave her some baldness on her chest. i've tried working with her on the regular collar and treats, but the only treats she'll pay any attention to outside, also make hergo wild. so it's kind of defeating the purpose. at this point obedience classes are out, as she has little tolerance for most other dogs. i haven't tried a gl yet because i've heard that in some dogs, it gives them bald spots on their muzzles. i'm leaning towards giving it a try though. any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imported_Kat Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 What breed is she? Basics for lead pulling as follows (have to be brief sorry, I've an essay waiting for me :roll: ). If she is suitable for a halti then yes use one. It will take a bit of getting used to, but will be worth the investment. I'm totally against prongs and choke chains and the club where I am a trainer, they are banned. Start by teaching your dog a basic sit and sit her on your left hand side. Load your pockets with treats (cheese liver etc), and let her know that you have food in your hand, holding it just above her muzzle. Use the word Close and step off on your left foot. If she immediately pulls, give her lead a short sharp tug and change your direction of walking by using her name sharply. Repeat this walking at a brisk pace and changing direction each time she pulls. After a few direction changes she will get the idea. At this point when she anticipates your direction change and comes reasonably close to your left leg, she gets the reward. This isn't a quick fix, but its the beginnings. Keep practicing this, and soon Roxy will get the idea that by pulling she will get no where. One thing you shouldn't do is allow her to pull forward as effectively that supports her and in her doggy mind she likes this and thinks she is being a good girl. She will learn that staying close to your left leg on a loose lead is a nice place to be, and thats where she gets treats. Good luck and update me on your progress :wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydogroxy Posted October 20, 2003 Author Share Posted October 20, 2003 roxy is an apbt. thanks for all the advice, and i'll give it a try, but i'm sure most of it will not work. haha. she already knows sit (she's very well trained except for this) and like i said before, the only treat she responds to outdoors is liver. which also makes her crazy with excitement! i try not to deter this excitment because it's extremely useful when we see other dogs (she's very dog aggressive, so if she's excited over the treat, she's not paying attention to the dog). she's also veeerrrry strong. i have tried tugging on the lead, but she pays no attention. i'm going to try turning around abruptly, but there are instances where she decides she doesn't want to move, and nothing short of dragging her down the block will maker her go. i'm going to try with the treats though. thanks. (by the way, i'm not a big fan of prongs, chokes, OR gentle leaders in general, but she packs a lot of power into her little frame. when she's on the prong she doesn't pull AT ALL, but the natural rubbing alone gives her a bald neck and a bald dog, i do not want :o ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kendalyn Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 This may not work for you, but I got Buck to stop pulling by simply not moving when he pulled. As soon as he moves back a step, than I walk forward, but not until he actually takes a step backwards. It works well. Usually if he gets to the end of the line, he'll feel the lead tighten and he'll step back. But you have to let her take the move backward, obviously pulling her back won't help. Once she learns that she doesn't get to move at all when she pulls, she'll stop pulling. At least, that's what happened with Buck. But every dog is different... The only thing is that with this method, at first it can take forever to get anywhere! Stop, start, stop, start. :fadein: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 Question.. Do you use a word with the prong collar or any of the other things you have tried? A word like easy, slow, heel, or etc. If the prong is working use it but also use a word. Train her to the word of your choice. Then try the other things like the harness and collars again using the word along with them. Remember to keep your voice the same when you use the word. (the same as you would with sit or here) The ultimate goal is to get her where all you need is the word and say a harness or collar and no prong collar. For the hair loss take the harness, halti, prong collar off after a walk.. Also I would practice all of this in my yard with out distractions (ie dogs, kids, and etc.) then SLOWLY add them to see how she responds. Keep the treats when you add the distractions just in case. The "tree" method kendalyn gave also works but having a word such as easy, slow, or heel is a good idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydogroxy Posted November 6, 2003 Author Share Posted November 6, 2003 i do try to say "slow" or something to that effect, but admittedly i'm not very consistent with it. i'm going to start though. as for the hair loss and taking off the collar at home, roxy never wears any kind of collar inside the house. she only has one on if we are going for a walk. on the prong, she doesn't even pull, it's just the simple rubbing of the collar on her neck that does it. the only thing that hasn't caused her some sort of skin/hair trauma is her flat collar. and i WISH we had some place outside without distractions. I WISH!! we live in a very urban area, so there's not much room first of all. secondly, our neighbor has three dogs, whom roxy does not like (and vice versa). she leaves the dogs loose during the day and the minute we go out, they're at the closest window barking up a storm. on top of that, in an effort to help the dog situation (they got into a few scraps through the chainlink fence) our neighbor put up a 5 foot privacy fence. only problem is there's about a one foot clearance between it and the ground and another one foot gap in the back corner, where one fence meets the other. needless to say, we don't go outback much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peng1zrule Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 I've got a siberian husky and an american pit bull terrier...talk about getting your arm pulled loose!! argh! BUT, training is possible. If roxy can (or will) back out of her collar, get a choke, or a martingale collar (I LOVE my martingale collar) Walk her with it, but of course, never leave it on her, even for a few minutes, when you are not there, and never when she could get hung up in a situation you would not be able to assist her in. (I know, duh :roll: ) Anyway, now training can begin. I always use a leash I can easily slip over my wrist, then turn my hand around to grab the leash and hold it under my palm. (make any sense?) The leash should be loose on your wrist, this is important. When the leash begins to tighten, you'll be able to tell she is about to start pulling. Get the walk started. The second Roxy pulls, turn around. Go the other way. For a moment, she will be disoriented. After a few steps, she will come up beside you, the leash will be slack, and then you praise her, verbally. Don't get excited, just give her a jovial, "good girl!" and keep going. When the leash pulls again, turn around--turn on a dime, and start out in the original direction. Also, train her to make and keep eye contact with you. I used a food reward, and to this day, Calliope will make eye contact when I say "look at me!" this is invaluable in situations she would otherwise be nervous or excitable in. This is how I have trained all my dogs (and with Calliope, I trained her to sit politely at my heel when I stop in the street to talk to someone--I can't tell you how PROUD I feel when I am chatting away, and my apbt is sitting at my side, so regal and polite) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deeg Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Since it's just a sign of dominance, I bought my dog a harness and everytime he would pull me while on the leash, I'd pull him back with a quick jerk and would tell him DON'T PULL instead of heal. It caused him no pain what so ever and had quick results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackieMaya Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 Jackie and Maya (who each weigh 80 pounds) used to pull when I would walk them. With the Gentle Leaders, they walk right next to me on a slack leash! I LOVE THE GENTLE LEADER! When they start to pull, you just gently pull their head to the side back toward you (not a tug). And the Gentle Leaders worked right away! I highly recommend them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydogroxy Posted November 13, 2003 Author Share Posted November 13, 2003 so i bought a gl. i love it, roxy hates it! haha. she rarely pulls, so it seems to be working great. she does get very depressed when i put it on her, but she seems to be getting better at dealing with it. i always give her a treat to make a good association. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.