Advice for dog pulling?

[Luke]

Cross posting here as had not one reply on dogsey, and i know there are a fair few dog owners over here too!
Ralph has allways been excellent off the lead from 10 weeks old, and as we are lucky to walk many fields for 'walkies' he has only ever really been on the lead from, our front door round to the 'style' thing that leads you onto the footpath-so 5-9 minutes max, doubled of course. He is now about nine months..maybe a little more my calculations aregoing drasticaly wrong atm! Therefore i guess he has never really been trained on the lead THAT much, he used too heal and walk lovely on the lead..but over time it's gotten worse and worse, my hands were bleeding this morning! Now i'm not a 'weak' person, can't think of better phrasing, and can manage most breeds of dogs but the strength of his pulling combined with the all over the placeness nearly has me on the floor! And also..he can't walk nicely, heis all over the place,wrapping himself round me etc etc etc.
I know it is all down to training, or lack of in this area, but i'm not quite sure how to tackle it. I have tried the stopping and changing direction thing when he pulls, but he doesn't seem to stop with this!
I walk him on a 'slip' lead-also known as gundog leads, do you think i should be using something else? maybe with a little more 'control' behind it-halti and lead or something, maybe?
I'm just not totaly sure what to do, and of course it is unacceptable for him to walk this way-and nearly choking himself on that lead can't be good for him!
Back when he was a pup i allways just viewed it as, well we only need the lead now and then so having him under control whilst off lead is much more important-wrong!
Any advice?

[Fran]

The change of direction thing is usually very good at curing this problem. Have you tried a harness rather than a collar? (I personally don't like Halti's but do know some people that have used them with a degree of success). The best bet I would suggest if you are able is to book Ralph into some training classes whilst he is still a youngster and nip this in the bud...Do let us know how you get on Luke!

[smudgley]

I think you know why he's pulling luke as you've answered that yourself - he's not been on the lead enough as a pup & never been taught to walk to heel.

I think firstly you need to teach him to respect you & teach him some manners. Why not join a dog club? I wouldn't walk him on a slip lead because they aren't a training aid & aren't much good for dogs that pull. I'd use a half check or if he's as bad as you say probably a halti (he'd need conditioning to it first before you walked him on it) then short sessions - little and often, without any other dogs - quality time doing heelwork. Not always having a free run on every walk, not walking in the same place each walk-so he's not expecting his free run - I'd try lots of continental heels or walking in the opposite direction when he pulls, it's time consuming, it drives you mad, you seem to take 2 steps back for every one forward, you need the patient of a saint - but it works if you are consistant.

[Luke]

Thanks both, invaluable advice! I think i may take up the idea of training classes..and the slip lead is doing no favours so will have a go with half check collar/lead and then if this isn't making much difference will resort to a halti-i don't particuly relish this idea but something has got to give.
I think aswell as proper walks im going to start taking him out by himself and just go to different places for 'training walks' where we can have one on one..

[alexgirl73]

Hope you find something that works Luke, my dog had the excat same prob. I had to get an animal trainer in for her and even then I had limited success. I had to train her to walk at heel using treats to keep her beside me and stopping every time she started to pull and only moving off again when she was by my side. She got the treats when she didn't pull and walked well but you have to have deep pockets for all the treats.

[Fran]

I'd certainly advise taking him out for walks alone Luke. It's very much more difficult to train a dog when there are others there helping to distract. We take Ruby out by herself as she just doesn't want to listen to us if the others are there, she just wants to play and keep up with them

[whiskey]

my clyde used to walk terrible on just a lead and collar so went out and got a harness he is know a dream to take out for a walk.like you said dog classes is worth a try

[Tanya]

I have a Rottweiller at my mums and he is terrible on a lead. We tried puppy classes when he was small, but found that made his behaviour worse. In the end my mum bought a harness that goes around his belly and that seems to work!

Our Doberman was a bit of a pain on a lead too and we used a halty (not sure of spelling!). This worked fine for her, but didnt do any good whatsoever for Ben (our current dog)

I suggest maybe you try and borrow a halty and harness from some 'friend' and test which is the best for you, because at the end of the day it will be very expensive if neither of these work.

Goodluck!

[dinahsmum]

Have a look at Lupi harnesses Luke. They're only about £7 so might be worth an experiment anyway. No good if he still pulls, because it's thin and will chafe in his armpits, but if he gets the hang they are nice and light and simple.
I'm not keen on Halti's either, though my sister says the Dogmatic is similar idea and really great, because it doesn't ride up round their eyes.
Good luck - keep us posted (and I'm amazed Dogsey hasn't been full of ideas for you! )

[Naomi]

The changing direction never worked for me so we did the walking backwards. Soon discovered muscle's in my legs i didn't know I had lol

Okay it would take us 30mins to do a usual 5min walk but within a week Jas was a completely different dog when walking. It was usually a 3 times a day training regime but we got there and it was well worth the effort.