Crazy pulling solutions?
We've all experienced this I'm sure, but now it's my turn to: Nellie pulls like mad on leash on walks, to the point of coughing and choking and wheezing. I'd really love to be able to take her out on walks now that she can go out but I don't want her to crush her own windpipe or something. I tried making a makeshift no-pull harness by manipulating the leash around her legs/chest, and at that point she would refuse to walk. I currently have a Gentle Leader coming to me in the mail by my breeder's suggestion (her breeding partner currently uses one for a similarly feisty Aussie) but have heard those also cause temper tantrums in dogs that don't take to them... and knowing Nellie's personality, she definitely will have trouble taking to it.
Loose leash training with her has been hard. I kind of gave up on it because she almost never looks at me while on leash, even inside the house where distractions are low. Same story outside in the yard. I was kind of successful a few times when she DID check in but I'd say 99% of the time she does not. She'll do it of course if she can smell treats on me.
What would be a good course of action for me? Do loose leash work inside/in yard, gradually moving outside, and then put the GL on for walks so at least she doesn't get in the habit of pulling? Does anyone else here have experience with the GL head harness and have any tips on how to teach dogs to accept the GL?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Nina & Nellie on
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Wow! I've seen those before, they look kinda scary... Nellie has been doing okay with training while walking with an Easy Walk so I hope I wouldn't have to resort to one. I know it's not like a prong collar (and a very surprising amount of dogs I've seen have those...) but still. It's great that it worked for you though :) And if anything it'd be better than choking...
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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Honestly...I totally disagree with your statement about the prong collar:( If used the correct way and for the correct reason they are a very helpful tool. All my dogs have been in AKC classes with the instructors being breeders/having show dogs etc. They were used there as they actually "help" the dog correct themselves. Sage wore on till she was probably 15 months old and through 2 or 3 of our 8 week classes. It worked miracles for her and the rest of mine just had Martingales or regular ones. She needed to have a reminder when she was not following me .Best thing we did for Sage.
Yes, I have seen people buy prong collars and just cringed as I thought "you have to train your dog" not just attach a collar to it...but again in the "right circumstances it works wonders.
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I didn't mean to offend you if that was the case. I should have clarified that whenever I see a prong collar it's always for management and not as a training tool. It's always on a dog breed that is strong or large, and they seem to be so used to it that they pull and disregard their owners anyway. I see large breeds walking nicely with and without them too. Like you said, it's all about how it's used, and while it's not for me I don't think it's cruel to the dog unless if it seems like it's on them 24/7 and doesn't seem any more effective than a regular collar or harness.
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No offense taken. I did forget there are not so smart people out there as where Sage only wore hers "for training" which meant when she and I were "working". She only had it put on when we got into class and taken off before we left and her martingale was then used.
I will never forget the time I saw this beautiful young pit with a new prong collar in a pet store and I "knew" it wasn't going to be for the training but for control...so sad.
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Permalink Reply by E.B. on
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Yeah, we were really torn for a while.. One of our friends has a dog that pulled so hard he did some serious damage to his throat. We were worried he'd do the same and decided to give it a try. It ended up working great. He never yelped or anything either, so we decided it wasn't hurting him that much. We were very careful not to hurt him. He had it figured out after 1 walk, and we were done with it.
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Did you have to keep using it or did you just use it to train? I am currently not a fan of the Easy Walk I'm using right now; Nellie refuses to walk while it's on (even when she is off leash) and she hates having me put it on. It seems like it doesn't fit well or makes her uncomfortable. Walks are even more frustrating now because I'm either coaxing her to walk or still trying to keep her from pulling.
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We just used it for training. I keep it around just in case, but we haven't needed it. :)
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Permalink Reply by Kayla Rae and Rowdy on
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I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the gentle leader. It was the greatest investment ever. Seriously soooo worth it! Rowdy is a tough little puller and has almost thrown me down the stairs a time or two, but with the gentle lead he doesn't at all! Took a few times to get used to it, but now he's fine.
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Wow!
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Okay, not sure why it only posted Wow! and not the rest of my response.
I wanted to ask, how long did it take for him to get used to it and is he normally pretty good with handling? Nellie puts up a fight or growls/grumbles when I try to get her into her harness, I can't even imagine what she'll do if I put something on her face. She's really bad with any sort of touch that isn't just petting (and even that she'll back away from sometimes). I almost want to take it to a store just so I can get an employee to put it on for me lol.
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