Does your dog pull on the lead

Tonks is still learning and if she pulls i stand still and she stops and looks at me then doesn't pull when we start off again. Now she only has to feel the pressure of the lead going tight and she stops to pull....................so i put her down as pulling sometimes.

Oh and she always pulls if it's raining! She hates it and does not want to stand still for anyone or anything!

In the words of Stone cold Steve Austin " hell yeah"

he nearly ripped my shoulder out one day

Amandastaff wrote:

Doggage D wrote:Freya pulls a little when we first leave the house but calms down after a bit. She won't walk to heel, always to busy rushing on the next smell. We used to walk Diesel on a harness but he was just way out front. I decided i wanted him to walk with me rather than in front so we are now doing collar and short lead work. Boy it's hard, he is such a man!!

Been doing it for about 6 weeks now and i think he may have remembered what i'm after now. Still air bites traffic and wants to kill other dogs tho... can't have it all (not yet anyway, one thing at a time).

try the long lead,when the dog pulls you quickly turn & walk the other way,it is used by mick martin on dog borstal,mine do walk better on long leads than short,but it doesnt help with every dog (Ellie) but its worth a try

have you ever watched Ceaser Millan he is great

I disagree, I don't think CM is great, lots of his techniques, and the ones used on dog Borstal are ineffective and unfair compared to more positive methods. If they were so good then the dogs wouldn't need to keep being checked back, warned, or pulled as being are charging back in the opposite direction. This is from the APDT website.....it takes time, it works and doesn't include the need to use force, loud voice, agressive tone of voice or mentally/physically dominate your dog.

"LOOSE LEAD WALKING
Most owners look forward to being able to take their dog out for a walk, but if the dog pulls all the way it is very tempting to make the walks shorter and shorter. The best thing is to teach your puppy, always to walk on a loose lead and then he will not get into bad habits.
This is not the same as expecting your dog to ‘heel’ (walk closely by your side) but means that there should always be a bit of slack in the lead so you do not finish a walk feeling like your arm has been pulled out of its socket!
In the past this was often ‘taught’ by yanking on a dogs lead each time he pulled. This can have the opposite affect to what you hope for ie the dog learns to pull harder – you yank dog, dog yanks you. It can also do a lot of damage to a dog’s neck and throat while he is ‘learning’. You will often see adult dogs being yanked and checked in this way – proving that the method certainly hasn’t worked for them.
Nowadays we approach it in a rather different way – we explain to the dog that being on a loose lead, walking near to your side is more rewarding that pulling. So, how do we do that? As with all the exercises we reward the dog for doing the right thing. There are a few ways of doing this, two are outlined here. For these exercises your puppy/dog should be wearing a flat collar or fixed harness and a standard (or training) lead. Do NOT use a choke chain or extending lead. The first hurts and has no place in training and the second will allow your dog to rush off too far.

Lure and reward
The dog can walk on your left or on your right. For ease of explanation I will explain as if your dog is going to walk on your left – if you want him to walk on your right, just reverse the instructions. It is a good idea to get your dog used to walking nicely on both sides, but don’t let him cross sides mid-walk as this can easily trip you up if you are caught unawares.
Very important: If at any time during the exercise your dog pulls, stand still and keep the hand holding the lead in the same position. Your dog is pulling for a reason – to get somewhere faster, to investigate a smell, to reach another dog etc. If you let him pull you towards his target then you are rewarding him for pulling.
Walking on a loose lead is hard work for your dog so make sure the treats are high-grade, at least to start with. If your dog is not food-motivated then use a toy by all means but it does make things slower as each time you reward you have to stop and have a game. So, if he finds food rewarding (and most do if you choose the right food) try and use that.
Hold the dogs lead in your right hand, have some treats ready in your left hand.
Get your dogs attention and, using the treat lure him into position (ask him to follow the treat) until he is standing beside you, facing the same way as you are, then give him the reward.
Using the food in your left hand lure him forward a step or two and as long as the lead is loose reward him. Take a few more steps, reward again, and repeat for as long as he is walking with a loose lead. You may find he dashes off after getting the reward – do not move! Stand steady, when he stops pulling get his attention and lure him back into position beside you, couple of steps, reward.
If you are clicker training you will know that it is important to ‘mark’ the exact behaviour ie walking without pulling, before rewarding. You may find it easier to use your click word rather than the clicker itself – you have lots of things in your hand anyway! If you are not clicker training I would still suggest that you mark the behaviour. To do this – as your puppy is walking on a loose lead – say ‘Good’ or ‘Yes’ and then feed him a treat when he is standing still. In this way he will know that he is getting a reward for walking nicely, but by feeding him when he is standing still you are lessening the risk of him choking on the food. If you just fed him when he was standing still (without marking the behaviour) then he will think that you want him to keep stopping – not good J
When your dog is able to walk two or three steps on a loose lead you can start to increase the distance between treats – reward for three of four steps walking nicely, then maybe four or six, then for three again gradually stretching out the distance between treats but remember to not just increase the gaps, surprise him by sometimes rewarding for just a couple of steps.
Once your dog is able to walk about ten paces without pulling you might want to put in a cue word – ‘walk nice’, ‘with me’ or similar works quite well. With this exercise it is important that you say what the dog is doing rather than what you want him to do ie if he is walking nicely, say so. If he is pulling and you say ‘walk nice’ (before he understands the cue) he will think that ‘walk nice’ means pull like a train! On the same note, if you do not have time to stand still if he pulls or reward lots of nice walking – perhaps you are rushing to meet the children or similar – then when he does pull it is better to say ‘pull’. In this way he will associate the word with his action. Or you could get a training harness and put this on him when you are not able to do the training. A training harness is one that restricts his forward movement when he pulls.
Remember that this is a training exercise and like all training is very tiring to start with. It might be an idea to introduce the exercise to your dog in the living room, or in the garden before actually taking him out to practise. Keep the training short, just a few minutes at a time to start with. If you take him on a full walk using this exercise you will have a very tired puppy at the end of it and then the training will not be so much fun for him.
The second method you might like to try is
Red Light/Green Light
This exercise is based on the understanding that each step you take energises the dog.
Stand still and wait for your dog to loosen the lead – reward. Give him the reward beside you – in this way he will learn that being beside you is a good place to be
Take one step – your dog may well rush off – stand still and again wait for him to come back and stand beside you. This may take several minute, be patient. Reward
Take one step – this time your dog should come back to your side a bit quicker. Reward
When you can take one step without the dog rushing off, you can try two steps. Do not be surprised if he dashes off again. Stand still and wait for him to come back. Reward by your side
Two steps, wait, dog returns, reward
When he can walk two steps without dashing off increase to three, he can cope with three steps increase to four etc etc
When you take the first step it can take quite a long time for your puppy/dog to loosen the lead/come back to you but if you are patient he will stand still eventually. Do not be tempted to pull him back, just wait. The time it takes for him to loosen the lead will lessen each time. But when you add in another step the time may increase again. You might need to take just one step at a time for several steps, but again as the exercise progresses so the intervals between increasing the steps will get shorter and shorter.
As with the previous exercise do not introduce your cue word until he is managing at least several paces, and do not continue the exercise for more than a few minutes.
Taking your dog for a walk should be enjoyable for both of you. Remember that he is going out not just for the exercise but for stimulation – let him have time to sniff where other dogs have been. Just don’t let him pull you to the places and do expect him to come away from the smell when you ask him to! "

If you have an adult dog who already pulls you can still teach them with this method, you also need to take some of the energy out of the dog before you begin the walk (play with them in the garden for half the length of the usual walk), and also some of the desperation to get to the park to be let off the lead and do whatever the want to do for an hour, (train with them as you walk to the place you are going to let them off, don't always go to the same place, or take the same route, don't let them off lead as soon as you are at the park insted do some interesting training with them with some high value treats - whatever the dog really like. This helps you to gain a bit more control over the walk, reduced the "Pumped up excitement" of the dog, and evenutally teach them (rather than force them) not to pull on the lead.

It takes dedication and persistence but is well worth it when you can have a nice walk, not being pulled and not having to check/shout at the dog..........and you can both enjoy your walk.

Neither of mine pull, Charlie walks ever so quietly by my side and Indi walks a little up front. When i have all 3 i encourage the boys to walk ahead of me slightly but they never pull.

They all wear a collar and odd days a harness just depending on my mood.

Some of the methods that CM uses are dangerous, he is all talk, so much talk that you watch him and not the dog. Turn the sound down and watch the dog, you will see most of the dogs throwing out calming signals and look unsure and confused. He does do one good thing, he gets owners out walking their dogs.


I have problems reading a lot of text like that, my old eyes makes the words run into each other. Victoria Stilwell has an post on her board for walking on a loose lead, it may be easier to read if you have old eyes like me.

I use a trail/tracking type harness on my dogs. These go down each side of the neck instead of round the chest so it is more difficult to pull in them. also the strap round the body is futher back than most harnesses and they don't rub. 2 of my dogs rub easily but these harnesses have never rubbed them.

I also have a 6ft lead which I attach to the harness, with the dog on my left I hold the loop in the lead in my right hand, my left hand holds the lead nearer my dog but which lets them me on a loose lead, the lead between my hands is loose as well.

I say, close to my dogs and start to walk, if their head goes in front of my hip, I drop the lead in my left hand and turn and walk the other way. When the dog is getting close, again I say close. I don't get very far at first, usually just walk up and down the same piece of pavement but it doesn't take long when my dog starts to watch what I am doing and starts to walk next to me.

After about 5 or 10 minutes, depending on how they are doing, I like to finish on a good note with praising my dog, I stop the training. I do this daily until my dogs automatically walks close to me, normally about 7 to 10 days.

With this method if you forget to drop the lead in your left hand it does pull on the dog but not hard and because he has a harness on, it doesn't hurt him. If your timing is off and you let him get further forward than you want, it won't matter, just make sure next time your timing is better.

Mattie wrote:Some of the methods that CM uses are dangerous, he is all talk, so much talk that you watch him and not the dog. Turn the sound down and watch the dog, you will see most of the dogs throwing out calming signals and look unsure and confused. He does do one good thing, he gets owners out walking their dogs.


I have problems reading a lot of text like that, my old eyes makes the words run into each other. Victoria Stilwell has an post on her board for walking on a loose lead, it may be easier to read if you have old eyes like me.

I use a trail/tracking type harness on my dogs. These go down each side of the neck instead of round the chest so it is more difficult to pull in them. also the strap round the body is futher back than most harnesses and they don't rub. 2 of my dogs rub easily but these harnesses have never rubbed them.

I also have a 6ft lead which I attach to the harness, with the dog on my left I hold the loop in the lead in my right hand, my left hand holds the lead nearer my dog but which lets them me on a loose lead, the lead between my hands is loose as well.

I say, close to my dogs and start to walk, if their head goes in front of my hip, I drop the lead in my left hand and turn and walk the other way. When the dog is getting close, again I say close. I don't get very far at first, usually just walk up and down the same piece of pavement but it doesn't take long when my dog starts to watch what I am doing and starts to walk next to me.

After about 5 or 10 minutes, depending on how they are doing, I like to finish on a good note with praising my dog, I stop the training. I do this daily until my dogs automatically walks close to me, normally about 7 to 10 days.

With this method if you forget to drop the lead in your left hand it does pull on the dog but not hard and because he has a harness on, it doesn't hurt him. If your timing is off and you let him get further forward than you want, it won't matter, just make sure next time your timing is better.

sorry about the close together text - i just cut and pasted it quickly. ....in a huff probably because i am sick of CM's praises being sung! Like you say.....lots of the dogs are crying out for him to notice the calming signals they are giving him....he ignores them and they shut down........that is what happens. The majority of the program shows how to bully your dog and not how to train them.

I was thinking today .....why on earth do people think he is great, one massive clue that his techniques are not good is the message that flashes up on screen "DO NOT USE THESE METHODS AT HOME!".....Do not use these methods at home? How odd - thought he was supposed to be trying to show us how to train dogs and claims that his methods are effective and no unfair or cruel? Why then does he not want us to use them at home?

None of Ian Dunbar's or Victoria Stillwells programs need this disclaimer.

catrinsparkles wrote:
sorry about the close together text - i just cut and pasted it quickly. ....in a huff probably because i am sick of CM's praises being sung! Like you say.....lots of the dogs are crying out for him to notice the calming signals they are giving him....he ignores them and they shut down........that is what happens. The majority of the program shows how to bully your dog and not how to train them.

I was thinking today .....why on earth do people think he is great, one massive clue that his techniques are not good is the message that flashes up on screen "DO NOT USE THESE METHODS AT HOME!".....Do not use these methods at home? How odd - thought he was supposed to be trying to show us how to train dogs and claims that his methods are effective and no unfair or cruel? Why then does he not want us to use them at home?

None of Ian Dunbar's or Victoria Stillwells programs need this disclaimer.

No problem, I usually manage when there is a lot of text unless it it is longer than normal.

I feel the same as you about CM, he is all talk which is why most people miss the signals the dogs are giving out. It is none stop chatter that isn't really relevant to training a dog. Debbie Connolly left Dog Borstal because they weren't showing the training, only the quick fixes. When she objected she was told it was an entertainment program not a dog training one.

I keep getting my knuckles rapped on Victoria Stillwell's board because I get so frustrated by some of the people who post, it is a relief to come on here were most are reasonable, sensible humans

Mattie wrote:

catrinsparkles wrote:
sorry about the close together text - i just cut and pasted it quickly. ....in a huff probably because i am sick of CM's praises being sung! Like you say.....lots of the dogs are crying out for him to notice the calming signals they are giving him....he ignores them and they shut down........that is what happens. The majority of the program shows how to bully your dog and not how to train them.

I was thinking today .....why on earth do people think he is great, one massive clue that his techniques are not good is the message that flashes up on screen "DO NOT USE THESE METHODS AT HOME!".....Do not use these methods at home? How odd - thought he was supposed to be trying to show us how to train dogs and claims that his methods are effective and no unfair or cruel? Why then does he not want us to use them at home?

None of Ian Dunbar's or Victoria Stillwells programs need this disclaimer.

No problem, I usually manage when there is a lot of text unless it it is longer than normal.

I feel the same as you about CM, he is all talk which is why most people miss the signals the dogs are giving out. It is none stop chatter that isn't really relevant to training a dog. Debbie Connolly left Dog Borstal because they weren't showing the training, only the quick fixes. When she objected she was told it was an entertainment program not a dog training one.

I keep getting my knuckles rapped on Victoria Stillwell's board because I get so frustrated by some of the people who post, it is a relief to come on here were most are reasonable, sensible humans

Not a dog training show?!!!! if they think that then they are being, IMO, irresponsible showing such a cut down version!

A lot of objections went in from another board and it was crossposted to others to object but they refused to alter it.

Mattie wrote:A lot of objections went in from another board and it was crossposted to others to object but they refused to alter it.

That's terrible........i will add it to the list of why i refuse to watch it.

Bring back Dogs with Dunbar and stick it on the BBC where it can educate people and be a public service to dogs, owners and non dog people!!

There are good behaviourists and trainers but they have to use idiots like CM and Jan Fennell.

Millie pulls a little once I put her lead on, out of pure excitement, but once we're out of the house she tends to be very well behaved and walks pretty much to heel. She has great recall and I'm fortunate to have a few nice areas near me where I can let her off lead for a proper run around without the risk of running into someone screaming "Aaagghhhh Pitbull" (doesn't that drive you mad!).

no mine doesnt pull whatsoever, she will walk happily by my side on and off lead, its no pleasure walking a dog who is pulling your arm out of its socket!

i have always encouraged my dogs to pull on the lead, i find they get a better workout that way.more energy is used when pulling than if the dog simply walks at your side.

Although Buddy is not that tall he pulls all the way on His walk and all of the way back home !
Almost as if he is going to miss something !
And watch out cos every tree has to be peed on !
All of my Staffy's have always pulled !

Hi

My male who is the larger dog is fantastic and walks by my side, whereas my bitch pulls until she almost passes out and has done since I adopted her and I have never been able to train her out of it. I now put a harness on her so that she does not choke