Horrible on leash walks!!

[TysonsMyBoy]

My Tyson is 8 months old and going through his "bad" stage, not listening, it's funny most of the time!!!
Taking him out for a walk is a nightmare, he pulls and pulls and pulls!! It's even worse if we see another dog or person!!
I am hoping for a little advice on how to stop the pulling and the freaking out to see another dog??
Thank :$

 

[mayasky]

Our maya is only 4months and we started training at 3 months to walk on a leash just in the backyard and slowly out on the sidewalks so she can see others dogs and ppl wf e find using treats and lots of reinforcing of the sit and stay has worked tremendous so far hope everything works out they def have a mind of there own sometimes.

 

[BoozerBaby]

My bot is 4 months and we only got him at 3months so he had to learn everything leash training is going pretty good I guess considering he never had collar before we got him so he is doing pretty good but yes pulling I put his leash around my waist seems to be ok but still working on it.Good luck

 

[Stub]

As soon as Gus was used to a collar at 9 weeks old I started training him on walks. The second he pulled even a tiny bit I stopped dead in my tracks until he sat down and/or looked at me. This was EXTREMELY frustrating and it would regularly take us an hour or more to go one mile. This went on for like, 5 months. But then he suddenly 'got' it, and now he is great on a leash. But he still gets excited, especially when seeing other dogs. (he's 19 months now) and when he pulls, I stop and make him sit until the other dog is past. I've tried treats but he's not food motivated so his reward is getting to walk again, and sometimes he gets to say hi to the other dog, if it's owner allows.

You might try an easy-walk harness, I tried one on Gus but he was too young and it was just too much hardware hanging off his chest when he was just 3 months old. But it would probably work well on your 8-month old. Or if you already have a regular harness, just clip the leash to the ring at the front of the chest instead of buying a whole other harness. It works the same way.

 

[brodieboxer]

I'm working with Brodie on leash walking too. Whenever he pulls, I stop and wait for him to notice. I require him to come back to my side and sit/stay until I tell him to "walk". Sometimes it takes a couple of minutes for him to let the leash go slack and turn back towards me. For awhile, don't expect to have fun on your walks. You have to lay the groundwork so that it will be fun in the future.

You can also try reversing or changing directions everytime he pulls, saying "let's go" right before you do it, so he knows it's coming. This causes him to have to pay better attention to you. Changing directions frequently prevents them from building up steam, so to speak. Again, you won't get very far on your walks at first, but it's worth it in the end.

I did both of these things in the yard before I hit the streets, but with the distractions of traffic, bikes, kids, people, other dogs, it's an overload on their senses. Sometimes, I'll have Brodie just sit/stay and watch traffic go by, until he gets bored and realizes it's no big deal. I did the same thing with people walking by one day (watching from afar).

As others have said, it takes a lot of patience. I wish I could snap my fingers and have Brodie completely trained!

I use a choke chain on Brodie only for walks. I know some on this forum don't like them, but it's working for me. The sound of it tightening reminds Brodie that he's starting to pull. Brodie has shown steady improvement over the past couple of weeks, and he's getting better daily.

 

[TwoDogs]

Just an FYI, the following is from the forum rules:
"Discussion of deliberate use of devices or practices that cause or have the potential to cause physical trauma to a dog. Boxerworld does recognise that people do have genuine questions regarding training tools (choke chains, prong collars, mousetraps etc) and methods, but we support and promote wholeheartedly positive training and behaviour management, that is, teaching the dog what to do by using positive methods, not teaching a dog what not to do by causing it discomfort and pain. Any threads which appear to promote "negative" training and methods will be closed."

Dogs pull because most of the time it gets them where they want to go--period. Think about it, if you hooked the leash to a tree, your pup would still pull, right. Do you think it is because he doesn't see the tree as a leader? No, it's because he has learned that pulling to get somewhere is a good strategy most of the time. Rather than correct your dog when he pulls, reward your dog when he does walk by your side. Then make sure you only let him get somewhere if he is walking nicely--otherwise stop or turn and walk the other direction. Some more humane tools that will assist with this training (and that are less likely to cause your dog physical damage) is the Easy Walk Harness, Gentle Leader Head Collar, or the Halti Head Harness.

BTW, I don't define "leader" as the one who goes through the door first, but rather as the one who decides who gets to go through the door first.

I use a pinch collar. whenever his shoulders pass your hips, you give him a firm correction. practice walking at different paces so he gets use to looking to you for direction. If done correctly, you'll notice he'll start brushing up on your leg to make sure you and him are in the right spot.

The important thing is to always be in front or along side of him i.e. be "the pack leader" as ceasar millan would say. You should be the first one to walk through the doorway to get you on the right foot from the get go.

Pulling means he doesn't see you as his leader on the walk, so he does whatever he wants.

 

[gmacleod]

If you listen to any of the advice given in this thread - make sure it's that by TwoDogs above ;-) That's one of the most sensible and accurate summaries of pulling, why and what to do about it, that you're likely to find.

There are a couple of other replies that you should ignore completely. One, quoted above, frankly has no place on this forum and I've deleted it. As also quoted above, this site will not allow promotion of devices designed to cause pain or discomfort, nor the sorts of training methods that rely on causing pain to get the dog to obey. It is not a matter of "some" on this site not liking those methods, they will not be promoted on the site period. Anyone who prefers punishment-based training methods needs to find a different sort of site altogether to push their views on.

 

[TysonsMyBoy]

Thanks everyone!! We have tried the gentle leader/halti head piece but he just seemed to sad when we put it in and he would refuse to walk with me!!
I bought a harness today and it really worked well today, even when we met another dog and some kids!!
I have hopes that with more walking and the advice given Tyson will get better (I hope)!!

 

[pbowles]

I use the Halti Harness and have had success with it. Although when Boaz and I go for our walks I do have to stop from time to time and correct him when he see's children or other animals and gets excited. He is getting better with every walk we go on. In my opinion his walk is for exercise to benefit his over all health, walking is not playtime for him. We play when we get home from our walk and he is starting to understand this. I think the whole key is consistancy. Walk your dog everyday, due to weather your walks may have to be shorten, but none the less walk everyday. Boaz is my first Boxer so I am by no means an expert, but I have learned so much from this site on boxers thought process and body language that it has help me to be a better master and Boaz a better dog. He is only 10 months old and I look forward to having him around for many years to come. Just remember consistancy and patients. It will be worth it in the long run.

 

[boxermomofbc]

Oh my! We are taking our two pups on their first walk tonight! Wish us luck. I will keep all this information in mind. Thanks!