[SadieFern]

Sadie is horrible about pulling while I walk her! Well, actually, sometimes she's a perfect angel. Mostly though, she's horrible. She's six months old but almost 50 lbs.! I'm starting to get hand injuries from the leash.

I have a GL but she honestly acts like it's abuse to wear it...pawing at it, rubbing her nose in the grass, etc.

We learned in puppy class that the dog should NOT be allowed to PULL you to see a person or another dog but that's when she goes the most nuts and everything she should be doing goes right out the window! She's a maniac hopping on her hind legs to get to see whatever she NEEDS to see.

When the pulling gets bad, I come to a dead stop and wait for her to come back to me but two seconds later, she's pulling hard again. I don't know what to do. H E L P!

 

[sdrudge]

How old is she? And others have said to get the GHarrness and they like it better. I use the GL and that is working for me now but it has been a week or two. It took Cacao some time with it. So I would try maybe the Harrnes. Cacao still likes to go crazy when she see other dogs. I have been trying to use that as time to teach with her. I ask the other owner if our dogs can socialize and that is helping her. But it doesn't work all the time.

 

[Guest]

Maya did and still does the same thing. I got her the gentle leader harness and that helped a bit. I think the other thing that helps is simple maturity (I know no help for you right now). When she was the age Sadie was I hated taking her for a walk it just wasn't enjoyable. I found that walking her with treats helped.

 

[rhessdorf]

I just purchased the Gentle Harness and it is working really well!
He used to pull lots.. no more.. Much more under control..

Good Luck!

 

[emilee]

one thing we did with kumo was whenever he saw something he really wanted to get to (like the dog park!) and started pulling, we would take a firm grip on the leash and start walking in the opposite direction, away from where he wanted to be. we didn't start walking in the direction HE wanted to go until he could do it without pulling. at first, for every step forward we had to take 10 steps back -- it would take forever just to get around the block! but there was NO WAY we were going to let him have what he wanted without first doing what WE wanted (walking on a loose leash). it didn't take him long to figure out what we wanted him to do -- but it took some maturity before he could control his excitement at most times.

it feels like a total pain in the ass to do this at first. but investing some time up front means you have a dog that is pleasant to walk for the rest of its life. the only time kumo pulls at all now is when we're walking with our new puppy -- who is a huge distraction for kumo, and we're having to train both of them to walk on leash together

-em

 

[Shaia]

another trick from our trainer that has helped in raising a city pup is using "too bad" when she starts pulling. shaia is also very bad about it. since we walk in the city on sidewalks and there is a traffic threat, if she starts to pull me and walks off a curb at the corner and into the crosswalk without stopping and sitting first, i say TOO BAD and pull her back around and make her sit by my left side for several seconds. this also works when she starts pulling, period. it's time consuming since you may not get very far at first without her dragging you and you stopping every few feet, but you want her to think "hmmmm, she won't let me walk unless i stop pulling her." it has really worked for me since S hates the GL too. soon they hear "too bad" and will stop at that.

 

[MaxandMe]

OK try this for several days straight.

every time SADIE pulls, just stop and stand still and ignore sadie
keep doing it and if Sadie doesn't respond then go back inside and NO walk. seriously
by 2nd if not 3rd day..........SADIE WILL CONNECT hmmm i pull and walk ends, i keep pulling and NO walk, no fun

give it a shot
it worked with all 3 doodles here

 

[SadieFern]

Will try that those tips tomorrow. I literally have leash burns on my hand and my right arm is sore from her pulling!

I keep reading how very important the proper amount of exercise it for this breed but it's no fun right now.

 

[Guest]

Julie just thought of one more thing. Play a game of fetch or something in the back yard if you can first. If they are a little tired they walk better.

 

[Bigfoot]

i have a doodle 75lb and a beagle 35lb. they both used to pull alot too but not anymore.

what i did was

1. i use gental leader and i keep the leash very short 6 inches from my body
2. every 15min stop for 5 min and let them smell, pee, poo or whenever they like.
3. notice when the dogs starts to pull and stop the pulling before it begins by giving them a gental correction.
4. don't stop for you dogs. keep walking farward untill you want to stop.

hope this help.

 

[Benny2k1]

Another trick is using treats to train the dog how to walk on the lead.

have a loose lead and dog on one side and a number of treats in your other hand, show the dog the treats then begin walking, the dog learns to walk and be rewarded for staying close to you on the lead

 

[lmtoth2]

hehe...Bigfoot - your avitar is adorable!!

 

[SadieFern]

Another trick is using treats to train the dog how to walk on the lead.

have a loose lead and dog on one side and a number of treats in your other hand, show the dog the treats then begin walking, the dog learns to walk and be rewarded for staying close to you on the lead

She's an angel when I'm giving her treats every 10 feet :roll:

I guess I could just keep doing that forever (NOT)! :wink:

She'll "get it" one of these days I suppose. It's thunderstorming here today so we may not get out.

 

[netsirk]

Adding to maxandme's suggestion, our training class taught us to stop and turn our bodies away until the leash is slack and then to continue on. We were told to do this each time ours would pull.

 

[lmtoth2]

I think this is a really good time of the year to work on all of this. Dexter was fine all winter, but now that it's "spring" (I use that word loosely as it's 40 and raining today), more people/animals are out and he's become a nut all over again :shock: Those silly birds drive him crazy...this is new - last spring/summer he didn't seem to notice the birds.

 

[annieG]

Tanner seems oblivious to the birds. He is very seriously into sniffing the ground.

He did see a squirrel on a walk a couple of weeks ago. It ran up a tree and for the remainder of the walk, he looked up in each and every tree to find another

:lol: :lol:

 

[sdrudge]

One more idea. Our trainer had me take a spoon with peanut butter on it and that was the treat for cacao doing well on our walk. (Cacao LOVES peanut butter!!!!!!!!!!) I look funny. But it works. I don't do it every time. But I do it every other time.

All you do is hold it in your right hand and every 10 steps (or more) bring the peanut butter end to her nose. And she will take a lick and that is the reward.


Cacao really like our peanut butter walks.

 

[Calliedoodle]

Callie and I have two walk routines (well, actually 3 if you count off-leash at the shore)

When we are going for a ramble on the trails, I use a 26 foot Flexi retractable lead. I find when she has the freedom to roam a bit and do her sniff/piddle thing, she doesn't pull on the leash. These walks are not for the time-pressed!

For when we are walking in the village, I finally broke down and bought a Halti for her. I have used them with other dogs in the past and found them very effective. I use it with a 6 foot multi-lead and find that much of the time she leaves the lead quite slack and walks nicely beside me. She doesn't care for the Halti, but as long as we keep moving she doesn't try to get it off. I think she has learned that Halti = walkies, and that's better than staying home!

If she is being a real orangutan, in the absence of her Halti I have 'wrapped' her, a technique used by the obedience instructor I had for my last dog. Clip the lead on, and draw it back across the dog's right shoulder, under the ribcage behind the front legs, and back up again and under the length you've just laid down across the shoulder, and use as normal. Basically, if she pulls, her leash will squeeze in around her ribcage, and the pulling stops there. It relaxes when she stops pulling. I think this is the same principle used by the Lupi harness, but I've never used that product.

Hope this helps!

 

[jenkirk1]

http://www.cannyco.us/content/view/12/78/
these seem to work on the video.

 

[Lora]

I highly recommend the Easy Walk Harness from Gentle leader. It has made a huge difference on my walks with Boyd. In fact, I would face the same situation as you if I didn't use it. The easy walk harness fits around the torso and gives you better control without choking the dog. It's also less fatiguing. Try it, you'll be amazed!