Got a dog that pulls while walking? I puffy heart the Gentle Leader!

[Leslie du Mont]

I know this is old news to some of you and I hate to be a walking commercial on here, but I've just got to brag about this product!

Our 4 month old (27lb) GD Atticus started pulling and not doing well with his loose leash walking when we were almost done with Obedience Class. (He'd been doing great before. Go figure!) Anyway, we'd heard about the Gentle Leader and thought Atty would never need it. Ha. ;-)

Anyway, if your dog pulls when you walk him/her, RUN out and get this thing! Watch the dvd that comes with the leader before you fit your dog with it and you won't have a hard time with the fitting. I swear Atticus was walking like a champ again within 3 min of his first walk while wearing it. That thing is GENIUS! I'm not sure if we'll always have to use it, but I'm so impressed with it I wouldn't care if we did.

One caveat, he does still have a minute or so when he tries to use his paws to pull the headrest off, but distracting him with walking and occasional treats seems to help out. We've been using it for four days and he's really almost used to it.

Love, love, LOVE this thing!

[StaceyW]

Trainer we are about to start using reccommends a new product called the Newtrix - similar concept - anyone compare the two?

[Adina P]

Here's the link if anyone is interested: http://www.newtrix.ca/docs/ourproducts.php from the description it sounds very similar but apparently the pressure is not under the chin but behind the head...

[Joy Williams]

Leslie, we use the gentle leader on our 2 girls and it really makes a big difference. I doubt if I'd even be able to take them for walks if we didn't have those on them. He will get used to wearing it and eventually stop pawing at it. Ours have been wearing theirs for about a year and they hardly even seen to notice that they have it on. Once in a while after a long walk, when we get home, they are ready to get it off, but don't really seem to mind it otherwise.

[20xlhzzaoccks]

The gentle leader was a life saver for me when Steve was younger. I took a nasty fall and scraped myself up when he pulled me and he wasn't even full grown yet. I went out and got one the next day. I continued to leash train Steve with a regular leash as well as using the gentle leader and stopped using the gentle leader on a daily basis when he was about 2. I still use it sometimes if we are going to be in an unfamiliar environment with a lot people and dogs.

[Phoebe's Mom]

I have been using the Gentle Harness (tried the leader but it did not work well with Phoebe even after our trainer made adjustments) and I love it EXCEPT, now that she turned 6.5 months, her new trick is to bite the leash and growl and then try to 'play' tug with it. I am wondering if it is the placement of the leash on the harness as she does not do it--as frequently, that is--when on a regular leash. We are working on our 'little work in progress' each day!

[Karen & Lucy]

I have used the Halti, same as Gentle Leader just a different company, on Lucy since she has been about 4 months old. She is now 3 and is still wearing the same one. I love love love it. She is a different dog with it on. I just had her at the vets today and another owner there, of a cocker, was asking me about it. She said the cocker pulls like a truck and they bought the GL for him, but can not get it on him right, he just pulls it right off his head. I told her maybe it was not sized right. I really think the Halti is easy to put on the dog. I get tired of people thinking I have her muzzled though so just 2 hrs. ago I ordered the GL easy walker harness and leash. I am going to try that on her. They say it works just as well. Happy walking to you and your doodle. I only wear Lucy's on her where we go out where there are alot of people and other dogs. She does pretty well walking just with a flat collar now when on a walk around home. Good Luck

[Joy Originator of GiantSchnoodles]

Pulling Dogs
How to prevent a dog from pulling on the leash. I have chronic pain in my arms. I walk 4 dogs at once, one of them being a 100 lb giant schnauzer, so finding a solution to pulling dogs is survival to me. I use a halti because in case of emerency (squirrel, cat running by etc) if you have control of the dog’s head, you have control of your dog. I prefer a halti to a gentle leader because the weight of the clamp on the gentle leader as it swings, gives the dog signals that I may not intend. So I prefer a halti.

Problem:

We just took Libby to a church fair and my hand is rubbed raw from her pulling on her leash. What is everyone's advice on pulling? How do I best train her to walk nicely on a leash? She does okay on walks if it's just me and her, but if the kids ride their bikes or walk ahead, she pulls the whole time to try to keep up with them. Today at the fair she nearly pulled me off my feet everytime she saw another dog or a child or anything else she found interesting. Should I just try to train her to walk nicely, or should I use one of those halti leashes that go around their noses? I don't want to do anything to hurt her, and I don't want to have to use a training leash forever, but I want to be able to take her places with me and be well-behaved (and not have to go home and bandage my hands!). I'd appreciate anyone's advice!

Method 1:
Have yummy treats in a fanny pack.
As your walking say – loose leash – give treat. As she comes toward you say – good loose leash - Walk some more. – loose leash – give treat – Good loose leash - . Walk some more. When she pulls say – uh uh loose leash – treat – good loose leash – In a couple of days after a few walks, she will be looking for a treat when you say – loose leash – This will stop her from pulling. Eventually, she will realize that pulling is not okay, loose leash is. After walking her once a day for a couple of weeks using this method, you can reduce the treats giving them on a variable basis. If you remember behavioral psych 101, you know that variable contingencies of reinforcement are harder to extinguish than either consistent positive reinforcement or consistent negative reinforcement. You will always say – good loose leash – to keep up the training, but you will only treat intermittently. Timing is everything in this training. You must say uh uh right at the time she’s pulling and stop when she stops pulling or don’t say it at all. The words – loose leash – will eventually be associated with her halti or collar being loose even though in the beginning it is associated with a treat. Either way it will be easier on your hands and arms.


Method 2: This method works best if your dog is clicker trained. There are several steps to teaching this.
First of all, I teach the dog to back up.
1. Have the dog in front of you facing you. Take a step forward into your dog. She will be forced to make a small movement back away from you. Click and treat. I also like to say – back.- - good back -
2. Practice backing up with more steps back each time. Don’t forget you are starting with a small movement backward and rewarding it. Then you will click and treat one foot moving backward. Eventually you will reward a whole step back. Then you’ll ask for 2 steps back and so on. Don’t expect your dog to learn it all at one time. But if your dog is well trained in click and treat, you will probably be able to teach it in about 10 sessions of 10- minutes a session. Then you can rhumba with your dog!
3. When your dog is backing up reliably, on command and doing a really great rhumba, put our dog in a heel position and say “back” while you take a step back in a heel position. It helps to do this with a fence on her left side so she has to back up straight.
4. Once your dog has learned to back up in a heel position, you can use this command to prevent pulling on the leash
5. Put your dog in a heel position on your left side. Bring the leash behind over your butt, holding it in your right hand. Any time you feel the leash tighten on your butt, take a step back and give the back command. After a few walks your dog will learn that any time she pulls, she will be going backward. Eventually, she will stop pulling. Your neighbors may wonder about your forward and backward dance down the street, but your dog will be trained.
Lori and Skye
Skye is officially a teenager and doesn't listen to me
Sun Jul 2, 2006 09:58
64.12.116.133

when she sees another person or dog..she pulls full steam ahead unless I make her sit/stay (she is usually good about that) but when she gets to the person or dog she is becoming wild and will not sit etc. Will the teenage phase pass and one day she'll behave or will this become a habit? What is the best way to get through to her. Help and thanks! :)

ps - she is very obedient without people/dog distractions.

No, don’t wait for her to grow out of it. Work on it now. Waiting is just training her to do more of this behavior. Most people get this kind of behavior when they are not clear on their own intentions thus not giving clear commands to the dog. Most people do not use corrections appropriately. They will give the dog permission to visit but will give a correction by pulling back on the leash which should be only done for corrections. This results in several problems:
1. There is an issue of body language with dogs are on leash. Very often we let them go up to each other but pull back on the leash. The dog that is being pulled back will often be attacked by an aggressive dog because of the body language that represents to the other dog. I had a lady with a lovely bearded collie tell me that her dog is constantly being attacked by other dogs. I pointed out that when her dog was greeting my dog, she was pulling back on her dogs leash. She said she was doing that because her dog was always being attacked. I tried to explain that pulling the dog back was causing the attacks because of the body language that causes in her dog. She wasn’t open to input. She still goes to the dog park and her dog gets attacked.
2. The second thing pulling back on the leash does is give the dog a mixed message. The dog has permission to visit the dog or person but is getting a correction by being pulled by the leash, corrected, told to sit when your dog thinks she has permission to play and more.

Solution: Either let the dog play or don’t. You can’t be ambivalent about it. Clear intentions in your own mind help you give clear directives to your dog. This is extremely important. This happens to me every day as I always have a service dog with me. The dog must not approach a person or dog even if the person or dog is approaching my dog. However if I say – say hello – She will immediately get up and go to the person or dog. I am in control at all times. I am the benevolent dictator giving clear concise messages. So once you have your dog trained as above, put your dog in a sit stay. Then greet on command or give her permission to play. Once permission is given let her on a loose leash until you decide it is time to stop. Then go back to the above training. Give her a clear comand - sit, back - or whatever your command is and treat. Combining your clear message with the training as described above should solve your problem within 2 weeks of 5 minutes twice a day training. Please let me know how this works for you. Puppy love from Joy & furry folk www.giantschnoodles.com
Lori and Skye
Thank you so much Joy! I will start immediately..I think it
Sun Jul 2, 2006 11:09
64.12.116.10

will take quite a bit of time to train her to ignore another dog..especially the ones she knows. You know how friendly doodles are! I totally understand now about the mixed message I'm sending her by pulling her back and then letting her go to the dog/person. Actually, in our obedience class, the trainer says to just "say hello" and leave. Of course, I have to have a long-winded conversation with neighbors etc! :) I really appreciate all of your input and I'll let you know how it is going.

Lori

Copyright Joy de la Ren Permission to copy only with permission of author