Need advice on how to stop leash pulling

[arabianequine]

Sure a cute puppy. Just because a puppy goes after the cats/chickens does not mean it is their prey drive.....mine puppy does to but she is just playing at this point and I am teaching her to "leave it" and "no bite" it is working for us. In the obedience class I am in with my saint bernard that is 7 months....the instructor has everyone use a choke collar no matter what age the dog is and she tells us how to use it and watches and corrects us in class you want it worn high up on the neck right behind the ears and she says a quick pop and release and say "leave it". I would teach your dog this word. She recommended for me to use a halti or general leader that might work.

 

[Crazyland]

Keep working on the sit command and enforce it that sit means SIT and STAY SITTING. Like others have pointed out start at home, progress to your yard and then on walks.

She is a cute little beast.

I bet she makes you smile every time you look at her.

 

[thebritt]

I've had success (especially at this age) with the "you don't know where we're going" method. As the pup pulls, you immediately say, "No, come" and flip around in the opposite direction. A pocketful of treats is always a good thing at this stage. When you flip around, hold a treat (a really good one - recipe to follow), hold the treat in front of his nose and say, "Heal" (or whatever you choose), "GOOD BOY!". Walk until he pulls, and do it again. And again. And again...Eventually, he will focus on YOU, and not what's ahead. He won't know the plan, so he'll look to you to see what's up.
The recipe:
Hot dogs (whatever level of quality you choose)
Cut lengthwise X 2 so they're in long quarters.
Cut again crosswise so you have lots of bits of hot dogs
Bake on a cookie sheet (parchment paper works wonders) at 250 degrees for at least 20-30 min. Until dried out but not burned. Drain on paper towel. This way, the treats aren't greasy. Put in a sandwich bag and keep in your pocket while walking.
GOOD LUCK!

 

[RiverOtter]

Think of there being a 3 foot circle around you.
Any time she moves out of the circle, turn around and GO in a different direction.
Do not mosey
Do not creep
Do not amble on looking to see if she is going to notice and follow you.
Turn and MARCH like you are 10 minutes late for an appointment and upset about it. Keep both hands on the leash and press them into your bellybutton and hold them there, let there be no give. But no jerking is necessary either.

She will happily, obliviously continue to charge in her own direction, hit the end of that leash, and be dragged after you for a step or two. When there is slack in the leash, mild, verbal praise. When she is by your side, happy eye contact. When she moves out of the circle, turn and GO again.

This is highly effective. She will quickly learn that you are crazy, and any time she stops watching you, you leave for Outer Mongolia. Eventually, she will also learn that the fastest way for her to get to see what she's interested in is to gently lead you to it. Because if she focuses on it and forges ahead Woops, you're off again, and dragging her away from it.

LOL, happily, your neighbors will also decide you are insane, and you'll have much less problem with door-to-door fundraising and the like.

edited to add: basically the same as thebrit,(posting at the same time) but without the treats, though there's no reason you can't do treats

 

[Beekissed]

I have a very strong lab that tried to pull at first each time he was on a leash but a few quick jerks against the leash and my refusal to walk on got the message to him very quickly. I just refused to walk as long as he pulled and, since his prime objective is to move forward, he learned quickly what that jerk up on the leash means...you are going too fast and starting to pull. I always reinforce it with "stop pulling"....he now knows what that means and eases up pretty quickly.

He just needs a reminder now when he starts and he quickly stops the behaviour. Its hard when they are young and energetic and full of "GO!".

I think, if I had used treats, he would have learned that he pulls, I stop, he stops, he gets treats....in that order exactly.

I have one older lab/gp mix that never really learned not to pull without being told to stop it, then she would finally stop. Now, I just lay the leash across her back and she heels better than she does if I am holding it. She walks herself much better than I could.

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
Exactly the method! LOL!

As for halter leashes, I am not fond of them because it makes the dog awkward and his hind end will go outward or legs swinging out more like a TB warming up before the race, being poneyed up by another horse handler...see how their bodies look?

 

[True Grit]

In addition to all the good advice on teaching heel and not pulling etc, I think a harness with the leash attachment in the center of the breastband is the best piece of equipment I ever bought. It slightly tightens when they pull and they just cannot get the strong forward pulling motion going. It makes walking a lot more pleasant and safer. It operates on a similar principle to the head halter but is not at all annoying to the dog like those head halters can be.

 

[teach1rusl]

I agree with the others who mentioned taking a step or two and requiring her to sit. Make sure you have a pouch full of cut up pieces of cheese, weiner, etc. before even heading out. As soon as she starts pulling, don't budge a step, or you have just rewarded her for pulling - she pulls, you go where she wants to go...SHE WINS!
Have her sit as soon as she is able (USE those rewards to tempt and/or distract her), and then her reward can be a friendly "Let's go!" and take another few steps. You won't get far for days, possibly weeks, so no need to pack a lunch...LOL. Depending on your dog and how faithful you are with your patience, steps, and rewards, your pup will learn EVENTUALLY learn that pulling is getting her nowhere. I use "Let's go!" instead of heel, because it just sounds like something I would normally use. My pup is almost 15 weeks, and it seems to be working well for him (of course he is VERY food motivated). Good luck!

 

[white01]

I have a boxer, and she pulls, I use a halti, it is the best thing, i can actually hold it with two fingers lightly and she does not pull any more, would highly recommend this
here is an example from petco

http://www.petco.com/product/6008/Coastal-Halti-Headcollars.aspx

 

[Akane]

A very useful and difficult concept to get in to your head is that an animal can only pull as hard as you pull back. Basic physics which becomes very obvious when you have 1000lbs of horse instead of a couple dozen pounds of dog on the other end of the rope. If you don't want the dog to pull steadily on the leash then don't do it yourself. Apply force and then release it a little. Like a half halt on a horse if you ride. The dog can't pull steady if you don't. Eventually the see sawing back and forth gets them to back off and if you time it with their leg movements to pause their foot in midair their stride gets thrown off completely so it's even more effective. When they are letting off a little put a command to it. When the dog starts pulling tap the leash back and then release a little over and over while saying something like "easy" and praising when they do it. Eventually all you have to do is say "easy" and you get a little slack. This does not do much to stop pulling to chase something or other situations but it helps break the habit so you can expand to more difficult situations. My akita walks in front of me on a harness designed for pulling and I have minimal issues just from doing this since she was a puppy. If you just hang on the end of the leash you reinforce the problem irregardless of the situation or what you are using for a collar. Especially never let your arm go straight. You lose all the give and control you could have and you are at increased risk of being pulled over if something catches their eye. Always keep your arm bent so you have that buffer and can increase or slightly decrease pressure on the leash.

After you get that concept down there are multiple ways to start working on stopping pulling for good. Getting the dog's attention is pretty much the goal of all of them. You can do that without any tools by getting out some treats or toys your dog likes. Go out in the yard and play. Call them to you, run around, reverse directions, stop, go, ask for a sit, down, whatever else they've been taught... all the time encouraging them to follow in an excited voice with fairly fast movements. Praise then give treats or throw toys when they are paying attention and moving with you. Slowly shrink the area they get rewarded for being in until it only covers where you want them on a walk. Then leave the yard and do the same thing. It gets tiring at first because you have to keep up constant interaction but eventually you'll build a new habit of paying attention to you and being in tune to your voice instead of zoning out. That will help you get their attention when faced with things like cats. Generally that's about all you need and what 90% of the basic dog obedience classes I've taken were spent doing. Stop reinforcing the behavior, make a new behavior, and reward for it while making yourself more interesting so they pay attention.

However that's not always quite enough. There are a few other things you can do to break established habits. For some dogs it works to just stop moving when they pull. As soon as they apply a certain amount of force to the leash turn into a tree or fence post and just freeze. Eventually they will stop pulling and you can praise then continue walking. I've found that doesn't work so well for prey driven dogs though because they'll continue trying to go the same direction for a long time before releasing pressure and pick it up immediately even if that means staying in nearly the same spot all day long. My akita will just hang there on the end of the leash, staring straight ahead, and waiting for you to so much as shift your weight so she can continue trying to drag you. My patience for this tactic ran out after 1 hour and a progress of 10 steps. The shiba will bounce around on the end choking herself and falling down repeatedly with no sign of stopping 5mins later. Eventually she'll have decided on a new direction and spend another 5 mins trying to go that way. This is always the first suggestion I get when a dog is pulling so it's worth trying but in my opinion it's not actually the most useful method. Once a prey driven dog has spotted something it's too late and we're better off going back up to keeping their attention with voice and treats or toys so that they don't zone in on prey in the first place.

Another method is instead of stopping try to break their attention by reversing directions. Turn around to break their concentration off what's in front of them, walk as far as you can until they start applying force again, and then turn another direction. When they start hesitating and hanging near you to see what you'll do next then praise. This can take a long time for some dogs to understand which is why it's best coupled with the first things I mentioned. Talk excitedly to keep them motivated and coming with you every time you turn and give praise or treats when they are moving with you. Don't let them get started pulling. By itself I've never had direction changing work. Eventually my dogs just sit down and refuse to move until you show you are definitely going to go a certain direction. My akita will become an immovable 80lb dog statue if you try that trick with her without carrying treats to motivate her in to moving again.

If combining a few of those and doing it consistently for awhile, at least a couple weeks but it may take a month or more to make real progress, does not get anywhere. I would suggest some positive reinforcement based dog classes. Look for someone that tries to teach without choke, prong, or other collars first but is willing to use them and knowledgeable about them if your situation needs it. Not every dog needs a choke collar and not every dog benefits from them so throwing every single dog in to one to me is a sign of a trainer with limited knowledge and experience instead of someone willing to work with each individual.

Finally if you can't make things work and you don't have any dog classes you can attend then I would attempt something other than a plain collar. Personally with no one to give instruction I'd go to a head collar which include the halti, gentle leader, and now my personal favorite the snoot loop. Shiba training (oxymoron) has gone poorly and Haru is not motivated by anything except the desire to kill whatever she sees and she's not punished by anything. She'll gladly hang herself in a choke or prong collar, ignore being yelled at, ignore electronic collars, and repeatedly get physically put in a sit or down and stand back up or pitch a fit and begin screaming like you are killing her if your standing on the leash. She's also mostly my husband's dog and he lacks motivation to train her further so I got them a snoot loop. After a few attempts I got it adjusted right and took her out in the yard to experiment. Chickens were soon within view and she went to drag on the leash in an attempt to eat them. She has chicken killing down to an art form.

Haru took up the slack I'd given her and her nose immediately did a little arc back toward me and away from the chickens. She repeated the attempt while I just pretended to be a post and then she threw the biggest temper tantrum I have ever seen a dog make. I've seen some horses flip out like that while tied but never a dog. She pitched herself backward, jerked side to side, threw herself on the ground, ran in to the nearby barn wall, and if it was the akita on the end of the leash I would probably have a dislocated shoulder now. Suddenly she just stopped and sat down next to me. The chickens flew that way, the guinea fowl ran the other way, and Haru sat perfectly still watching. It was one of the rare moments I've had an opportunity to praise her. We turned around, walked calmly across the yard with no pulling, went inside, took the snoot loop off, got out 2 dog biscuits, and I told both dogs to sit. Generally this is met with Haru bouncing around like an idiot until she happens to land in a sit. Her front paws started to come off the ground, I said no, and she sat. For the past week she has performed sit without fail (no spastic jumping) and has not even attempted to pull on the leash. Occasionally she drags herself along the ground on her side to try to get her collar off but that's becoming less frequent. So while I would avoid it if possible I have to admit sometimes training aids are useful. I would still much rather get a dog to walk on a plain buckle collar or harness than have to get out a specific item every time but training a shiba is it's own category of torture that I never agreed to attempt. I also didn't agree to teach my husband how to train a dog...