We Can Now Walk Like Normal

[Vanessa]

I couldn't take it anymore. Chance just can't walk "normal" on a leash. Even our trainer said that he was stubborn. He just loved to pull and dig his nails into the ground like a mad dog while lunging at everything in sight! It looked awful when I would walk him. He looked crazy.
I spent the morning combing through the isles of the local pet store and came across a Gentle Lead. Thinking how this 20 dollar strip of nylon would make my dog "normal" made me laugh but I figured what the heck and purchased it.
I pulled it out of the box and had to look at the instructions on how to put it on him. Once I put it on him he fussed for a few minutes but I quickly took him outside for another round of "lets drag mommy around" and to my surprise it worked!!!!! Any time he pulled his head would turn and he would stop. Genius! Who ever invented this truly gets 5 paws up in my book!
Its like a game between Chance and I, and I win this round.
B, zero…me 1 point

[jys1011]

yay congrats!!

[youngandtired]

Well, I bought a $25 halter leash that is named Black Dog and it is guaranteed to stop my Sahara from pulling. The first day I tried it, I thought I would never get it on her, she was not letting me, had her head down so I couldn't get to her neck. It has a strip that goes under her chin and back over her nose, well she hated that and let me know. After about 30 mins of trying to get the darn thing on her we were on our way. She spent half of the walk trying to get that darn thing off of her nose, it was not too tight, it just would put pressure on her nose when she pulled, not in her game plan, haha!!!! Well, tonight I thought we would go for a walk on the waterfront, again I tried the halter/nose, and ended up not using it and she pulled like crazy. She was taking me for a walk, we only went for 30 mins. Lately she is being stubborn when I try to put any kind of collar on her, she tries to make a game out of it, I will say Sit Sahara, she will sit and as soon as I try to go for her neck she runs off. Any suggestions? Stay does not work either, she is very stubborn. But I still LOVE her. haha:eek:

[lvoss]

I use clicker training to train my dogs but if you don't have a clicker you can just use "good dog!" followed by a treat. I have used a combination of methods and my dogs can walk on a loose leash though they do pull if really excited by something.

The first step is getting your dog to understand what a loose leash is. This can be really hard on a 6 foot leash especially if they are pretty established pullers. You can start one of two ways. The first is to get a long line, go to a park have lots of treats walk your dog. Anytime your dog is near you click and treat. Every time your dog starts to move ahead of you, change directions. How close depends on the dog. My dogs catch on pretty quick and will stay pretty much right next to me. The second approach is pretty well described here under Leash, http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/Levels/ByLevel/2Level.html

[jys1011]

I'm using sort of the same method…after reading a technique used by Turid Rugass. So no head halter, no martingale, no choke collars...it's basically finding a harness that is snug comfortable for the dog and a long leash. So I found a nice comfy harness and a 25 ft lead and we're teaching that you can explore but when I give you the signal you should come back. And the reason for the long leash is so that they learn to NOT pull and simply come backon their own.

Easier said than done but patience patience patience

[Quercus]

@Vanessa626:

I couldn't take it anymore. Chance just can't walk "normal" on a leash. Even our trainer said that he was stubborn. He just loved to pull and dig his nails into the ground like a mad dog while lunging at everything in sight! It looked awful when I would walk him. He looked crazy.
I spent the morning combing through the isles of the local pet store and came across a Gentle Lead. Thinking how this 20 dollar strip of nylon would make my dog "normal" made me laugh but I figured what the heck and purchased it.
I pulled it out of the box and had to look at the instructions on how to put it on him. Once I put it on him he fussed for a few minutes but I quickly took him outside for another round of "lets drag mommy around" and to my surprise it worked!!!!! Any time he pulled his head would turn and he would stop. Genius! Who ever invented this truly gets 5 paws up in my book!
Its like a game between Chance and I, and I win this round.
B, zero…me 1 point

Is it a Gentle Leader…the head halter? I love those. Glad it is working for you!

[luzmery928]

That all sounds great. Is there a limit to the amount of treats you give your dog?

[lvoss]

I start rewarding pretty frequently and as they start to get it I raise the bar. So I may start clicking for being near me, once they have got that then I click for being next to me, then I start clicking for duration so they go longer and longer between clicks. If they are getting a lot of treats during a training session then they get smaller meals.

[luzmery928]

that's interesting. I find that we've been using treats when our B just kind of sits nicely and looks at us. And now he does it most often but I was concerned that too many treats was not good. So it's fine to reward with good behavior. Now is it o.k to give him treats when I don't want him to be aggressive. Probably not the right thread for it but since I'm on the subject I'd thought I'd ask. Like when I want him off the bed when were are going to sleep, give a treat?

[lvoss]

Yes, rewarding good behavior is a great way to increase its frequency. Dogs do what they practice and they practice what pays.

If you want your dog off the bed when you go to bed then reward him for leaving the bed. Start training a behavior like "Go to Mat" so he is rewarded for going to his mat in the evening.

[tanza]

Rewarding a good behavior is great… and remember, it doesn't always have to be with a treat... a pat or "GOOD DOG" works just as well. Remember however, (IMO) that when you ask him to get off the bed, that should be replaced with somewhere you want him to be... as Lisa said, something like "go to mat" or "go to your bed"... just have a place that he is used to that becomes "his"...

[JazzysMom]

but I was concerned that too many treats was not good.

Depends on what you use for treats. The treats should be tiny – like pea size or smaller. Sometimes I use "Carry-Outs", which are soft and maybe an inch long; I get about 6 treats out of one of those. Or I use puppy kibble -- a different brand than what I feed Keoki -- one piece of kibble is the whole reward {ya gotta wonder why Gypsy -- 70 lbs-- would even care, but she responds very well to those tidbits!}.

And I only give food treats as a reward for behavior, never just to give the dogs a treat. If I want to give them a treat because they are so darned cute, I give them chewies of some sort, or a peanut butter stuffed {okay, not stuffed but you know....} bone to work on. They do not get those type of things every day.