How do you eventually stop using the Gentle Leader?

[rpett]

Brutus is 7 months and started to pull quite a bit about a month or two ago. I began using the gentle leader and immediately noticed a difference! The only thing is every time I walk him without the GL, he goes back to pulling and pulling hard. I have read on here that you are only to use the GL as a training tool and should eventually not have to use it anymore. How do you do that? I would like to eventually stop using the GL and have Brutus still walk nicely with just his collar but have no clue how do that. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[jbbtlr]

There is different ways you can attach the gentle leader to the lead. I got to the point that I only put the gentle leader on, then attached the lead to his actual collar instead. Koda acts up when he doesn't have his on so he usually wears his all the time when we go for walks. He likes his so doesn't seem to be a big deal. He sees it come out and it is just part of what he wears on his walks.

When we were starting to take him off the lead, we made sure we always had it with us, and when he acted up it went back on. But like I said he does so much better with it on, even when not attached to his lead, he weares his whenever we go for walks.

Not much help, sorry.

 

[Mega's Mom]

If Cornelius starts pulling when he's on a regular collar (I use the gentle leader harness), I just stop until he puts some slack on the leash. He knows we're not going to continue walking if he's pulling like a freight train. I also use a flexi-leash so when he gets to almost the end, I say "too far" and he knows to either slow down or stop so there will no be any tension on the leash.

 

[whiskers]

It's a training tool in the sense that you should still be, well, training, loose-leash walking. Walk him on his regular collar in the house. Reward him heavily for staying by your side (or wherever it is that you like him to be on walks). When he's doing that well in the house, then you move to your backyard, your frontyard, the sidewalk in front of your house, etc. You slowly move up to longer walks, more distracting environments. Being next to you on a walk should be his favorite place to be. At first, maybe you need to reward him every time you take 1 step and he stays at your side. When that is reliable, then take 2 steps, 3 steps, etc. If he pulls, you need to stop walking EVERY time, and then gently pull him back toward you, continuing the walk only when he is at your side. It's important that you're consistent with this, otherwise he's learning that pulling gets him where he wants to go.

The thing with the GL is that, ideally, it should only be used when your dog is going to be walking somewhere that you know is going to be above their threshold. The GL doesn't actually do any of the training--all the hard work still needs to be put in, the GL just allows you to go for walks without reinforcing the pulling or having your arms pulled out, while you're still working on training your dog to walk nicely without it. Of course, some people would rather skip the training and just accept that their dog will always need a GL, and that's fine too.

Hope that makes some sense.

 

[rpett]

Thank you for all the wonderful advice. I have a feeling I am going to have to go back to square one with him and reteach him how to walk nicely. I might still use the GL when taking him to the dog park because getting from the car to the fenced in area can be very difficult. But once I get him back to walking nicely hopefully I won't need to use the GL even then. Thank you again for the advice!

 

[Althea]

I am NOT a fan of the gentle leader, and think you will find that teaching your dog to walk properly on a leash will be much more effective in the long run. I know it is easier for the short term, but the reward is so much greater when your dog walks with you by choice. Good luck and don't be surprised if in less than two weeks, you'll have a much more reliable walker on your hands.

 

[whiskers]

Thank you for all the wonderful advice. I have a feeling I am going to have to go back to square one with him and reteach him how to walk nicely. I might still use the GL when taking him to the dog park because getting from the car to the fenced in area can be very difficult. But once I get him back to walking nicely hopefully I won't need to use the GL even then. Thank you again for the advice!

Totally understandable. Juno's pretty good about staying with me when we're out on regular walks, but if we go somewhere like the vet or to the pet store, I have to put her harness on her because she gets sooo excited that all the rules go out the window haha. It takes awhile to get them to stay calm in those environments!

 

[angelakenney]

I've never used the GL harness, we have just a regular harness. I've had pretty good results training though. When he starts pulling I stop and start walking the opposite direction....it forces him to pay attention to what I'M doing and he quickly realized that he wasn't going to go anywhere in the direction HE wanted if he was pulling. It's tedious and my neighbors wondered why I was "pacing" with my dog, but it's worked for me. You can also throw treats into the mix. I haven't just because Brady isn't very food motivated. I go nuts with the "good boys" when he stays focused on me and keeps a loose leash for a good distance.

 

[clanblan]

I am NOT a fan of the gentle leader, and think you will find that teaching your dog to walk properly on a leash will be much more effective in the long run. I know it is easier for the short term, but the reward is so much greater when your dog walks with you by choice. Good luck and don't be surprised if in less than two weeks, you'll have a much more reliable walker on your hands.

I was actually considering using a gentle leader easy walk harness for my girl and was wondering why it was that you dislike them? I currently have her on a collar and am constantly struggling with her and the pulling. I'm also a bit confused, I have read that on boxers, because they are considered a brachycephalic breed that the use of collars is not a good idea?

 

[Madea]

I used the easy walk harness on Tyson and I love it. He is 7 months old and has stopped the pulling all together. He loves to go for walks and so does his mommy.