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 :-)

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I think its a very individualized thing. The Easy Walk Harness didn't work for us. Lucy would still pull with it. The Gentle Leader head harness worked better, although its just a tool, and not a fix. Lucy would still keep tension on the leash, even with the Gentle Leader. Loose leash walking has been our goal. Lucy is in Intermediate training classes and the key to healing and loose leash walking is marking the proper position and treating. I sometimes use a clicker to mark, but often just use a 'good girl!". I also use a negative marker when she's out of position (I use an eh-eh kind of sound). She's made great strides in loose leash healing and walking just since I started this a couple weeks ago.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I am a big fan of pinch collars. i use them on both my doodles. I've posted a number of times about the kind I use and you could read these posts. In fact, I just found this response to your post in December.
http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/puppymadness/forum/topics/max-is-...

[Lona and Bogart]

My 55 pounder can pull the leash out of my hand, I can't imagine an 80 pound struggle. I blogged tonight about my Bogart getting away from me, I also am asking for help. Just wanted you to know I understand....

[Gina and Finn]

I don't know if you have made any progress or not at this point but I thought I would add my two cents on what worked for us. The gentle leader around the snout did not work for me- likely my fault as I was not comfortable with it I think. The gentle leader harness where the the leash clips in the front of the chest has really worked for us. If we take him just with his regular collar he still pulls so I know we have not fixed the behavior but if he is wearing the harness he does not pull and we can walk loose leash the whole time. The jumping is not as successful for us. Mostly he jumps when on dogs not people and I think it is the lack of consistency within the 5 members of my family. Some of whom think jumping on the other dogs is just playing so don't try to correct or stop it (aarrgghh!!) With people we firmly command him Down and take hold of him if he does not respond- but he is very tall and 65 lbs - and he is getting better.Only a few people he does it to and usually if he is in need of a good long walk/trot so full of energy and is convinced they will play with him. Good thing he is so cute.

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

I had the same issues with Sasah (8 months old). I work with two other doodle owners and they swear by the Gentle Leader (it gently wraps around thier nose) - AMAZING !!! I will not go out of the house unless Sasha has one on it was the best $25 dollars I have invested in her so far. She goes running with me and it works like a charm. You dog sounds like he has the exact "habits" of Sasha. I also brought her to Puppy School - the trainer trained ME to train the dog and the only thing I can say is PERSISTANCE !!!. Sasha is a jumper too !! people, counter tops, etc. etc. My trainer suggested a few different things and you can work with him using both. First, when guests or you enter the house totally ignore Max until he quiets down then when he settles at that point go to him. When ever I have guests over I ask them to please do not acknowledge Sasha until she calms down and/or I have her on a leash and when guests come in the leash is on the floor and I step on it so she cant jump.

Also . . I have the Pet Safe correction collar, BELIEVE ME it does not hurt them, I tried it on my self and any behavior that Sasha has done I have corrected her with success. You can set the correction number and she has not gone above a 2. She also has a electronic fence that she know her boundries. All these electronic devices are made (well at least the Pet Safe brand) come with warning beeps, vibrations then correction. Sasha is a very quick learner and when she gets into those "CRAZY" puppy moods, all I have to do is just put the correction collar on her and she calms down immediately or I just hit the warning beep and she stops. I have tested both of them on myself and I would NEVER EVER do anything to harm my baby. Good Luck :)