Pulling when going for walks

[dy74]

i have found something that works AMAZINGLY well and is, IMO, better than the gentle leader/halti. It is the Easywalk head halter by Newtrix. It looks alot like the gl, but the strap that tightens is at the back behind the ears. So, when the dog lunges or pulls, they feel a weird pressure at the back of their head which causes them instinctively to back up into it. I can't get over how well this works. Sam is 80 lbs of muscle, and he walks on a completely loose leash now.
That said, you still have a little puppy so I'd suggest obedience class. Train him to walk properly if you can. With Maia, we are working on heel with food at our side, and also taking a very long lead (like a horse lunge line or a clothes line and walking around with her in the park following us along... if she gets ahead, i change directions and she gets a little pull, and quickly hustles to catch up.
Good luck!

 

[terrip]

I couldn't wait to get Yogi so we could go on walks. He is horrible. I am going to get a gentle leader and try it out. He pulls so bad I refuse to walk him. My husband does it. For some reason he does not pull him.

 

[mancin]

Both my dogs had this issue, they loved to pull when I walked them as puppies. I read that you should stop walking as soon as they start pulling, and after awhile they will realize if they pull, they won't be able to get to where they want to go. It sounds exhausting and it is, but it worked great for me. There were some days I would take one step and have to stop, other days I was able to get 4 or 5 steps and then would have to stop, etc. On bad days that I would get one step, stop, another step, stop, another step, stop, etc, I would just take Tyson home and he'd lose his walk for the day. It did take a lot of hard work, and a lot of treats, but Tyson is almost 2 now and walks beautifully on a leash.

 

[sasha's momm]

Sasha has this problem and she's 3. The problem w/ the pullingis that eventually they become desensitized to the collar. My trainer, also her mother's owner, suggested a half choke half collar. that worked for a while and then she was desensitized to it also. Part of the problem is that each person who walks her ahs different expectations. So I tried the pinch and I felt HORRIBLE. Now she wears it but I don't clip to it. So she thinks it is on but it's not. Does that make sense? Then I clip to the regular collar and she does great.

I think i may switch to one of the ones you guys mentioned and see how that works. Alot ofmy friends were using the pinch collars and thought they were great training tools but she looks at me with sorrowful eyes when I get it out :(

The one that makes her turn around when she pulls...what is that called and how does that work???

 

[Lola's mum]

I read that you should stop walking as soon as they start pulling, and after awhile they will realize if they pull, they won't be able to get to where they want to go. It sounds exhausting and it is, but it worked great for me. There were some days I would take one step and have to stop, other days I was able to get 4 or 5 steps and then would have to stop, etc. On bad days that I would get one step, stop, another step, stop, another step, stop, etc,

Lola was a terrible puller and given the chance will still do it sometimes.
I have her on a Walkezee harness and do exactly the same as you when she pulls. Boy am I conscious of looking a wally everytime I have to stop and stand still when we're near a road. The people in the cars must think I'm a crazy lady taking a couple of steps and then just stopping dead.
She is pretty good not pulling now though, thank goodness, and when she does I just do the stand still thing and she knows because she sits down

 

[Louise501]

Tracey, you know when you stop walking, what do you do then? does Lola have to walk back to you? How do you get her back to you? Ruby is usually standing in front of me when I stop

 

[Lola's mum]

I just stand still, sometimes I make her come back to me, sometimes we just stand there.
She knows why I stop I'm sure of it as she sits down most of the time & looks at me waiting for us to start walking again and when we do she walks lovely. The most I now have to stop is once or twice on a walk so she's much better.

 

[rickis99]

halti

A choker or pinch collar will only work for a while and then your dog will become used to pulling on it the same as any other collar. In my experience a halti or gentle leader works best. It offers you control of your dog from his head, its just like walking a horse. When your dog pulls tight on the leash the halti tightens up under his chin and turns his head and makes him look at you. It may not work at first but eventually he will give up pawing at it and just enjoy his walks with it on.

 

[dy74]

True, the halti does work like a halter... but you can really hurt the dog's neck with them if the dog is a lunge-er. You also need to be very sure not to pull or jerk them.
I really encourage you to look at the Newtrix easyway halter. It is a Canadian company.

 

[Chantel03]

Thank you all so much for your replies. You have all given me a lot of great ideas, and looks like I'm going to have a lot of work ahead of me. I think I'm going to try first the stoping when ever he starts to pull. I might also run him for a little while before I try to train him, thinking maybe if he is tierd he wont pull so bad, but I will keep you all posted on how well we are doing.

I want to do puppy training classes, but I do live in a small town in Montana, and the only classes I have found so far are 100miles away. So not sure if I'm able to do the training classes, but we will see.