Pull...Pull...Pull...(repeat x 100)

[busterboo]

Our 11 month old has gone through various phases I've mentioned on here and had some good advice/shared experience!

His latest fad is pulling, with all of his might, non-stop until he snaps out of it. I have to say that the new phase is not all the time, but certain times when walking on a shorter lead (e.g. next to roads, when other path users need the space etc) until we get to a place where he can go on the longer lead. Sometimes it happens even when he is on the long lead on particular routes (which don't seem to follow a particular pattern, some are noisy, some are quiet).

He is very strong and seems to completely switch off from any commands at all. He's a clever dog and responds really well to treats and praise for other aspects of training. He often actually seems to realise when he has come to his senses that he has been behaving badly because he is keen to stay very close to heel afterwards.

Any advice or general shared  would be appreciated.
Thank you!

[Fluff]

What do you do when he pulls?

[MIN]

it took us 3 years to cure Gemma and even now if her mind wanders she will pull. We were advised to put her back on to a slip lead and give a little tug when she pulled with the command "close".
 But if we are going out where there is a lot of people at game fairs etc  we put on her Canny Collar. if we do not then  even now walking would be a nightmare but only because she would be constantly sniffing and zig zagging (she has learnt stall holders keep their sandwiches under the display tables  )

[busterboo]

What do you do when he pulls?

I stop until he walks closer so the lead goes slack.

[busterboo]

We were advised to put her back on to a slip lead and give a little tug when she pulled with the command "close".

Thanks for your post. The breeder we got him from used slip leads with her dogs. It wasn't something we were going to use as we've used a normal non-extending lead with a collar where he pulled anyway even though it was tugging at his neck. It might be worth looking into though. I don't like the idea of him hurting himself...but he has come close to pulling me completely over when he gets going.
 

[busterboo]

Just looking into different options. has anyone had any experience with halti harnesses?

[Fluff]

Do you persevere with the stopping? I mean not budging until he is back by your side, and instantly stopping if he starts to pull again? For the whole walk? Perseverance is key, you need to find a method and stick with it, even if it means your walks end up only being up and down the same stretch of road until you have a reliable LLW that you can start to take other places. Turigd Ruugas's method is a good, easy one to stick to:

http://www.judethepuppynanny.com/puppy-training-tips/leash-walking-1-2-3-4-the-turid-rugaas-method/

I wouldn't use a slip lead and tug personally, necks are delicate things, and slip leads aren't really suited for pulling dogs.

In terms of head collars, you want one which doesn't tighten and cause discomfort to the dog. The Dogmatic is a good one, but you need to desensitise your dog to it before wearing it on a walk - associate it with good things such as treats. A front attaching harness such as a Metuki should give you more control too. If he's a puller he should be walked on a harness anyway to protect his neck.
 

[busterboo]

I do stop as soon as he pulls, and he usually comes towards me and sits down but we've not trained him to come back to our side. At our training class it was said just when the lead goes loose again then carry on with the walk. I try to be as consistent as possible but trying to give him a decent walk means I usually continue the walk pretty quickly as soon as he has stopped pulling.

I have looked at that website and the training looks good.

We have a harness for him so that he's used to.

Thanks again 

[MIN]

it is not a sharp tug or pull,  more of a little reminder that we are at the other end. 

[Helen]

I don't think harnesses  help with a pulling dog - they just encourage them to pull more and I see dogs pulling harder on flat collars and leads than they do on slip leads so I don't believe these are a better solution.

I do as Min does, and also I do about 8 paces (or less if he's very excited), stop and get my dog to sit - getting him used to sitting when I stop. It's boring and repetitive but it is starting to work on my 6 month old.  The slip lead is also worn above the collar - very much like a show lead is - it helps keep the head up and prevents the dog from pulling forward which is exactly what you don't want and what causes injury. I do a tiny correction (as Min said) and slacken the lead immediately.

If he's prancing around it takes a while to settle but sitting at heel before we start seems to get him into the frame of mind.  He can walk beautifully and does a lot of the time now but he can get very excited as they all do.

[Toofast]

Oh dear, these dogs that constantly pull, what a nightmare !!

Some time ago our old chap (who is no longer with us) was a puller, or at least if not a genuine puller he would always put his head down and use his nose, sniffing all the time, this meant he was "leaning" into his collar/lead and causing constant tension (and I hate feeling a dog on the end of it's lead).
I decided to try a "Halti" this was fantastic, initially he fought the wretched thing that was around his face but very quickly he learnt to accept it and walked with his head up an at my side. I was then able to hold his lead lightly and with no tension at all.

A  "Halti" is not just a "quick fix" we ourselves need to learn how to use them and fit them on our dogs! When fitted and used correctly with additional training they are a fantastic product. The product controlls the head and turns it inward towards the person holding the lead, therefore completely reducing the ability to pull.
They should NOT be tight fitting and tight under the eye, and I find that the neck strap behind the ears always drops comfortably lower down the neck.
   
I am by no means a fan of the harneses, I have never yet seen a dog in a harness walking properly at heel, they are always a stride in front or worse still they are still pulling.
 

[busterboo]

Hi all again,
Thanks for your replies. Over the last couple of days I have literally not budged until he has come back to me on walks. He seems to be getting the idea but tries his luck by kind of circling towards me nonchalantly then running off again so I have gotten wise to this and been uncompromising!
It has been a bit difficult to keep stopping and starting but it is paying off bit by bit already.
It went a bit wrong today when we were walking down quite a steep rocky incline into the park and he whizzed around me so fast I almost lost my footing and fell down the bank.
I just turned back around, ending the walk not going into the park going home instead and he seemed to understand he'd done wrong as we never usually end the walk without going through the park!
Enter strict buster's mum!

[PennyB]

The trick is to use a headcollar or similar if you're going from A to B and have no time to train but train at other times with a flat collar and lead - if you're going from A to B and they keep pulling then you're setting them up to fail which is why a headcollar/harness works by stopping them pulling at that time so at other times you really need to train them as you walk not a little bit here a little bit there on your walk

I walk 4 dogs at a time quite easily but only because 2 (the larger spanielXs) have dogmatic headcollars on and the others just flat collar and lead.