A note on pulling

I know that Endo is not a Staff and is temp in our family but I thought I would share experience I am having with him.

His owners usually walk him with a simple Rogz harness and very infrequently at that. He damn near pulled me off my feet and it was extremely difficult to handle him with one hand (he is really very strong). Thankfully Tyson was walking great in the other hand. The pulling has hurt my back badly. I had bought him a half choke like Ty's for christmas so I put that on him and the pulling has improved greatly. He is not perfect but at least he is not unmanageable.

I do have a question though, I am letting him simply walk in front as long as he is not pulling me. Will this effect Tyson's perception of me as 'leader' at all do you think? I maintain the role everywhere else

I do exactly the same with Charlie and there is no question about who is boss. A dog absolutely loves to walk and I don't want to ruin it for him by insisting that he walks beside or behind me. I let him walk ahead and have a bit of a sniff. I'm using a gentle leader so he doesn't pull, but if he did, I would correct him and carry on. I honestly don't think it matters if they're a couple of inches in front, as long as they're not pulling, it certainly hasn't changed Charlie's perception of me, he knows I'm in charge and that's that. I wouldn't worry about it.

Yes I agree with shontelle when the dog has established whos who and walks well listens and obeys commands from you it doesnt matter if they walk in front or were ever just every so often give a check keep him on his toes

It is the bull dog doing the pulling and although he is greatly improved he still strains while Ty has a loose lead no matter. However I am afraid that the bully will have a bad influece. I really am taking the easiest route as I don't have the time or energy to really work with Endo.

We allow ours to walk in front at times and I did so with our Bulldog as well. As long as they aren't pulling I think it's okay

Ty wrote:It is the bull dog doing the pulling and although he is greatly improved he still strains while Ty has a loose lead no matter. However I am afraid that the bully will have a bad influece. I really am taking the easiest route as I don't have the time or energy to really work with Endo.

As long as you have worked with Ty and trained him, he'll be fine. He may indeed try his luck while Endo is with you, but when Endo is gone, Ty will soon remember how things are done, the rules may just need a little reinforcement.

Thanks for the advice everyone. Only 5 days left of looking after him. I am exhausted.

I was very curious as to how they got along. My OH loves Bulldogs and wants to get one as soon as my work situation gets sorted over the next year or so. I have concerns over the energy level difference with the breeds for the walks. Did you walk Ty for awhile first and then take the two of them out?

jstaff wrote:I was very curious as to how they got along. My OH loves Bulldogs and wants to get one as soon as my work situation gets sorted over the next year or so. I have concerns over the energy level difference with the breeds for the walks. Did you walk Ty for awhile first and then take the two of them out?

That's a good question. I doubt that a bulldog would be able to manage a 2 hour hike which I'm sure Suki would be only too happy to to participate in. I also love bulldogs, but wouldn't have one for precisely this reason. It would just be way too much to have different walking routines for 2 dogs, that's why I'll be getting another staff. If I didn't have my heart set on another staff, it would still be a high energy dog so that I could walk them together, knowing they could both cope with the same amount of exercise so there would be no need for separate walking times and routines.