Pulling on lead

Hi I am sure you have had loads of people asking for help because their dog pulls,
problem is I have two . Admittedly one is worse than the other and when there are two of us taking them for a walk its bad enough, but its putting me off taking them on my own as they are getting very strong . they are both 17 month old .
Any advice would be gratefully accepted.

Maybe try taking them out on there own for short bursts, get them walking nicely (thats my word instead instead of heal). Practice separately and try together x

Thanks for the reply Janey .I tried that and the dog left at home was crying so much and all it did was distract and upset the one i was taking out .
Admittedly i only got so far up the street and came back because of it .

Do try it again if he cries and you go back he will know he can et away with it good luck   

I taught using a heel sit, but you'd have to that individually x

Thanks Sazzle, I have been doing that . My husband takes one dog and I have the other . will continue this week see if it helps . I wonder if a harness would be better than a collar and lead .

You may find a harness easier, I use a figure of eight lead which goes over the neck and up over the muzzle.As Vin pulls it gently just brings his head round.
That said I taught the proper method also with treats   

I've always found a harness is better   

Nico eventually learned well on the harness, we don't use it now, also found having small treats in my pocket a good incentive. When he walked next to me he got a treat, when he pulled he got none, sniffs my pockets now though, smart boy!

Thanks for reply's everyone . I think i will try a harness ,
I have tried stopping and turning around and walking in different direction. I have tried giving treats ,I always have them in my pocket .
Both dogs have good recall and sit when told , so are trainable .
Its just the pulling .

I'm sure you'll get there x

Biscuit wasn't ever walked on a lead when I first got her and as she's aggressive too, the only thing I could use to control her was a head collar. It worked wonders! You have to train them to wear it, I used a halti but dog-o-matic are also a good brand, Ella uses some good ones too! It would be best to obedience train too.. But in the short term a head collar may be helpful. Walking pullers on a collar may do some real damage to their necks! Now she's trained I walk her on a trixie harness with a double ended lead attached to her El Perro collar. If we're in a busy area though she's still on the halti so that she can't lunge. The head collar may not be right if they're EXTREME pullers, but have a look online there should be some videos of how to use them to see if they're right for you. They MUST be trained to wear though as otherwise they'll just spend the whole walk trying to get it off!

I'm having to go through this again with Zeus. A collar was never good when he was younger as he kept choking himself due to the pulling, so we moved to the harness and it worked great. He stopped pulling with the 'heal' technique.

Now, in the past few weeks, hes reverted back to pulling, and its pretty bad! We're going to use the treat technique stated earlier on as heal doesnt seem to be working much.

I know a fair few people that have used a head collar, in particular the halti, but i'm not too keen on it. My cousins labrador has had one for a while, hes now got a mark on his nose from it (granted because hes still pulling on it) but also, he always looks so sad on his walks with it on.

goldie87 wrote: I know a fair few people that have used a head collar, in particular the halti, but i'm not too keen on it. My cousins labrador has had one for a while, hes now got a mark on his nose from it (granted because hes still pulling on it) but also, he always looks so sad on his walks with it on.

Ahhh, but this is why you need to train   In the same way that you would train a dog to wear a collar and lead when they're a pup.. or a muzzle. A head collar should become as comfortable for a dog as a normal collar If he's still pulling to the extreme, it's probably not for him. Biscuit doesn't even notice hers, nor does any other dog that I've trained on them

Right I have bought them both a gentle leader , like a holti .
The lady in the pet shop showed me how to put it on , she had her new foundland dog in the shop , and she also showed me how to get the dogs used to the feel of the halter gradually .So I will keep trying what she showed me for the rest of the week and hopefully get them used to them ..

Mine is a gentle leader but have trained Vin too so he doesn't pull at all and finds it very comfy. Its only for peace of mind if other dogs approach really   

Brin ,one of my dogs is so friendly she wants to greet every dog she meets and starts pulling like mad when she see's another dog ,Hopefully this will help her calm down a bit .

Hi Maggie any update on your lil ones pulling??

Did the gentle leader work?