Max is 1 years old and pulls like crazy on his leash; and what about the jumping up on people!? HELP

[Kathy (Max's Mom)]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and this is my first post. I've read a bunch of others and have gotten some good ideas so far. But here are my two main issues: leash pulling and jumping up on people.

To start, let me tell you my leash story...Max (1 yr old black male labradoodle) is a petite (sarcasm) 80 lb dog! He constantly pulls on his leash and i am hardpressed on how to get him to stop. He's gone so far as to take off running on me and jerked the leash forward that i crashed (and burned) in my driveway that i broke my elbow, fractured my hand and got a small concusion!! - but i love my dog! lol

I've tried stoping in place and all that does is focus his attention on what is around him....he hasn't figured out to come back to me or focus any attention on why we are stopped...I figure it's more of an opportunity for him to sniff everything in his reach. Secondly, trying the "other direction" thing doesn't work either for him as he just takes off running to catch up and sends me flying if i can't stop him. Now mind you, I am by no means a small person and it takes all my strength at times to hold him back on the leash when someone he knows is coming up the driveway....he pulls like a mac truck!! - he is quite strong! I'm concerned about putting harness's on him as i've heard that only gives him more strength to pull, but the regular collar he has on now he choaks himself to gagging to get to where he wants to go without stopping....and the pronged collars and shock collars scare me that he'll get hurt with them. PLEASE OFFER SOME SUGGESTIONS WITH PROVEN RESULTS - I'm desperate :-(

My last (well, not really last, but one that I NEED to get resolved before any others) is his habit of jumping up on people...my once scratch-free dining room table :( ...the counters....whatever really. It's sadly to a point that he has to be in his crate when company comes over because he can't be a ''good dog''. The rear-end sniffing of ladies in my church group is kind of embarrassing to I have to put him away for that too. Please note, he IS in his cage a lot....and I truly would LOOOOVE to get to a point where he can roam free all day when we're at work, but I don't see that happening any time soon! If I have the gate up to go upstairs for something, he's at my heels and howling at the bottom of the stairs because i'm out of his site...then he goes quiet (which is never a good sign cause we all know that leads to nothing good) which means he's up on my dining room table (and by that i mean two front paws not actually ON the table) sniffing around for stuff and grabbing anything he can reach.

Any thoughts?

Thank you everyone,
Kathleen :-)

[F, Calla & Luca]

I'll just address the pulling issue. I understand that you don't want to hurt Max but you shouldn't be getting hurt either. I use prong collars on both my dogs. I really do try to see what things that may be aversive to my dogs feel like. I have tried the prong collar myself and it is not painful. The dogs have never had any sore or problem from them. When they are on I don't generally have use corrections for pulling at all. If the dogs pull, the collar tightens, which is annoying but not painful so they don't pull. Then again, I did not use pet store collars but Herm Sprenger stainless steel collars that I ordered (Leashes by Design). The prongs have smooth rounded edges. I got stainless steel because chrome, even from his tag, stained Luca's fur since his chest is nearly white. I also special ordered because I needed a way to put on and remove the collars that was easier for me. I found the prongs nearly impossible to connect and disconnect. The collars were sized for my dogs. It was my trainer who introduced me to prong collars and their use.I I've never had my dogs choke or cough when using these collars. there is more onfo. on this topic in the Ring Around the Collar and Puppy Madness groups.

[Kathy (Max's Mom)]

How much are these custom collars from Herm Sprenger? And do you leave them on all the time, or just when he goes outside? And how do I know what "size" to get? Thanks again.

[F, Calla & Luca]

The collars were $30 something with shipping, maybe $36. They are only on when the dogs are on a leash or for training. It is dangerous to leave prong collars on which could get tangled up when the dogs play or get caught on something when they're running around. I think there's info. on collar problems in my Danger group. I leave a rolled leather collar on all the time although some people prefer no collar at all when the dogs are in their crates for safety reasons. As for measurement, Shannon, at leashesbydesign.com can tell you how to measure and you can order extra prongs if need be. (She has gorgeous leather leashes and collars too but they are expensive).

[Lori]

I would LOVE to hear some answers to your questions too!!!

[Lynne B]

jumping on people..get some people to come in the house and explain first what you are going to do. When they enter the house and he jumps on them, have them walk out.and close the door. It may take 15 tries but eventually he will not jump on them when they enter the house, now once they are in the house he will probably jump on them, have them fold their arms and turn around and NOT look at him. continue that until when they face him he doesn't jump, praise and reward accordingly

tugging on leash. Just 'be a tree' don't walk when he tugs, just stop dead in your tracks and don't move until he settles by your side, it might take an hour to walk 100 feet the first time, but it works- I have done it with many dogs/

jumping on furniture, etc. hide where he can't see you and make a noise that startles him when he begins to climb up. Also, teach him "off" it's a fairly easy command, if you need pointers with it let me know

[Kathy (Max's Mom)]

That all sounds wonderful, now I just need to find some folks willing to train with me. ;-)

As far as the "be a tree" thing, I have tried that....but I think I give up too quickly because I didn't realize it would really take that long.

And as far as "off" goes, he knows it, somewhat, but I feel chooses to ignore it. The couch is much more comfy that the floor so he prefers not to 'hear me' I think until I yank him off the couch. And as far as "off" goes, is it an "all-or-nothing technique? Sometimes I don't mind him being on the couch with me like after he's had a bath and is clean...but a few weeks later I don't want him to cause he's stinky from playing outside. Is it too many mixed signals for him? Like he's allowed sometimes, but not always? Make sense??

[Lynne B]

If you want the dog to be on the furniture 'some of the time' then you should train him only to get on it when you order him to; you can pick the command, we simply slap the surface *sofa or bed with our hand and he gets up on it. If he gets up at any other time, remove him from it and sharply tell him "no".

As far as getting people to help you with the 'no jumping' exercise- why not enroll in a group dog training class, I bet you could find a few others in the class with the same problem and take turns going to each others house to try it.

Be a tree does take persistence, and theres no point in trying it unless you have the time to get at least ONE success out of each session.

[Sofie, Maggie, and Luna]

I would like some more info on your "off" command. We use it to keep our puppy off the couch, and she is getting better, but I am always interested in different ideas that might work better than just saying the command and removing her front feet from the couch.

[Julie Savolt]

I am a big fan of a leash called the gentle lead. It goes around the nose and around the top of the head. It takes a few walks to get used to and he'll rub his nose around alot in the beginning. When he gets used to it you can control the pulling with a slight quick tugging action that does not hurt them. I'm sure you can google it and every pet store has them.
Maybe read some google reviews and see if you think it might work for you.

[Kathy (Max's Mom)]

Oh I had one of those....it worked GREAT (at first) - but Max knows what it looks like now and I can't even begin to tell you how hard it is to get on him now. I've read reviews on it as well, some like it some don't of course...but unfortunately I can't get it on him now without the help of someone else being there to hold his mouth shut so I can put it on. I don't want walks to be so traumatic for him...he'll never want to go. So I need to find something more realistic that I can operate and put on by myself.

[Krista, Angel, and Toby]

My trainer recommends leaving the gentle leader on at LEAST 4 hours per day just to avoid that issue. He should play with the leader on, eat with it on, train with it on. If he gets good interactions with it, and it's not just a short-term nuissance, he won't object as much. Granted, Angel wears it nearly constantly. She still doesn't like it, but she knows the only way she'll get to go out for a walk or in the car is to wear it, so after making a token effort of running under the bed (I think she does it out of habit now) she comes back and lets me put it on. If you can lure him back with treats and treat-treat-treat-treat as you're putting it on and after it's on, you might be able to convince him that it's not such a horror...

Obviously, I highly recommend them. =0)

[Jennifer Goaring]

Don't know if you will see this as it is March now and this was a December post... maybe you have already cured your puppy problems... but I am also a huge fan of the gentle leader and at first he didn't like it but quickly came to associate it with walks which Sammy LOVES and so now he will come sit in front of me when I pull it out and lets me put it on easily. I would think if you use treats, go somewhere fun like a park, or go see people (if your dog like visiting, which I think most labradoodles do) then he would start to look forward to walks and see the gentle leader as a good thing. I do really think it helps with the pulling and I don't see us switching to a plain collar any time soon. My Sammy is only 5 months old though and he only weighs like 30 pounds... so much easier to handle than your older/bigger puppy. ;)