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  1. #1
    Puppy
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    A stubborn dog.....

    Hi I'm new to the forum and promise to post a photo of Chester very soon!

    He's an 8 year old black lab retriever and is generally very well behaved but can be very stubborn when on the lead often refusing to go where you want to take him especially when he is on familiar territory where he has his favorite places or has detected something to eat in the vicinity. Pulling hard is also an issue but less of a problem. Any advice on possible training solutions would be very welcome!

  2. #2
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    Hello and Welcome!

    One way to work with this problem is with a high value treat. If Chester refuses to go the direction you want, treat in front of the nose. You may want to drop back to leash walking 101 with heeling, stops with sits and on to loose leash walking. He has learned that you will give in to him and they can be persistent. The pulling issue can be corrected with the same walking manners lessons. Don't be shy about taking advantage of a basic obedience class. We home seniors and I've taken 9 and 10 year olds to class full of puppies. When walking my dogs, I decide when they can sniff something and when they need to heel. Train with love, positive reinforcement, treats and tons of praise.

    Looking forward to a picture.
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  4. #3
    Best Friend Retriever
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    "When walking my dogs, I decide when they can sniff something and when they need to heel."

    Get a prong collar, then follow above advice.

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    Cebolla (11-11-2016)

  6. #4
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    You don't need to use a prong. You just need to train the dog.

    Along with Poptop's advice on teaching proper leash walking, teaching the dog "leave it" will help, too. Start from the beginning and keep in mind that while training the dog, you have a lot of things to untrain, too, so this isn't going to be a fast process. If you're feeling lost, you might want to go to classes or work with someone one on one. There is only so much in the way of training advice you can get from a forum such as this, especially without videos, background, etc.

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  8. #5
    Best Friend Retriever
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    Quote Originally Posted by Labradorks View Post
    You don't need to use a prong. You just need to train the dog.
    Oh, and just what does a prong collar do? It trains the dog.

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  10. #6
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bernie View Post
    Oh, and just what does a prong collar do? It trains the dog.
    A prong is not required when training a dog. And anyway, a person trains the dog, the prong does not.

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  12. #7
    Best Friend Retriever
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    Quote Originally Posted by Labradorks View Post
    A prong is not required when training a dog. And anyway, a person trains the dog, the prong does not.
    Laugh...of course it's not required, it's a training aid.
    OP has an 8 yr old, perhaps 80+ lbs. that is "stubborn", won't walk on leash, pulls, wants to go where he wants. Sounds like he needs impulse control.
    The prong is to get him to pay attention to you, the person that's on the other end of the leash.
    Or..........get some leather gloves (saves skin when he bolts) and yell your lungs out.

  13. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bernie View Post
    Laugh...of course it's not required, it's a training aid.
    OP has an 8 yr old, perhaps 80+ lbs. that is "stubborn", won't walk on leash, pulls, wants to go where he wants. Sounds like he needs impulse control.
    The prong is to get him to pay attention to you, the person that's on the other end of the leash.
    Or..........get some leather gloves (saves skin when he bolts) and yell your lungs out.
    I do think it is possible to train a dog without a prong, but in a case like this, where the dog is likely to be large enough and habits established long enough a prong may be a very useful tool for the owner to gain some control of the dog in order to start reinforcing good behavior. It’s a bit different than starting with an 8 week old puppy that you can easily prevent from going where you don’t want it to.
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  15. #9
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bernie View Post
    Laugh...of course it's not required, it's a training aid.
    OP has an 8 yr old, perhaps 80+ lbs. that is "stubborn", won't walk on leash, pulls, wants to go where he wants. Sounds like he needs impulse control.
    The prong is to get him to pay attention to you, the person that's on the other end of the leash.
    Or..........get some leather gloves (saves skin when he bolts) and yell your lungs out.

    I guess you and I read a different post. I didn’t see anything about bolting and I read that pulling hard wasn’t much of an issue. I also didn't read anything about yelling.

    What has the OP tried? What is the dog like? There are lots of questions to ask before jumping to a prong, which may work for some dogs/handlers and not for others.

    I would recommend that you not throw out the prong to people without a few suggestions. Like working with a professional to learn how to fit and use the prong. Not everyone wants to jump to a prong to train their dog.

    Besides that, the OP is in England where many of the training collars used in the US are illegal, and ironically, from my experience in Europe, the dogs are better behaved in public.
    Last edited by Labradorks; 11-11-2016 at 01:09 PM.

  16. #10
    Best Friend Retriever
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    Quote Originally Posted by Labradorks View Post

    Like working with a professional to learn how to fit and use the prong. Not everyone wants to jump to a prong to train their dog.
    Agreed.
    I wouldn't consider using any training equipment without a knowledgeable person first showing me how to use it.
    Made a bad assumption that others do that also.

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