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  1. #1
    Real Retriever Zookeepermom247's Avatar
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    Pulling and Pulling... Sophie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I have written about this before and gotten advice and followed through with this advice. I am now considering a prong collar. When I walk Sophie... she is the Queen of pulling... and when seeing the same dogs on the block, the joy and love she displays will surely get me to the ER ... tripping and breaking some bones in my body. I have stood firm when she pulls, she will look back at me in surprise and on her own will walk to stand next to me until I give the ok to move forward. IT WORKS,,, but this is only when she wants to OVERSNIFF... she smells a smell and will lunge to go there but is learning to not do it because I am standing firm. I don't know how I do it, I feel she will pull me out of my Nikes. Now, when it comes to her social welcome wagon displays of affection to all the dogs and other humans.. and one is a play mate of hers.. it is too much for her to contain herself and I am being dragged down the road. Everyday, she meets the same people and still is not used to being around others. I won't take her in public until I get a stronger handle on this. I have used all kinds of harnesses and gentle lead. I have used the Thunderleash by the Thundershirt company... nope.. didn't work. Thoughts on the prong?

    Thanks,
    Sophie's mom

  2. #2
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    the thing is all the tools really jsut help control the dog. they don't help wtih the training part. You'll get some good tips but I HIGHLY recommend looking for a loose leash training class. We have tons here, hopefully you have some locally as well. they are shorter classes on ONLY how to train your pup to walk (VS a regular class that covers that in just part of one class then moves on).

    With pen what I do now is stop when she puts tension on the leash. when she is walking without pulling I praise randomly, and treat randomly. She has issues walking by other dogs so I try to spot them first and get her "working" before she spots them. I let her watch then get her attention and reward when she doesn't lunge. we are taking baby steps there (I am trying to lure less and find the right reward rate to let her "think and decide" but catch her before it"s "too long and she makes the wrong decision".

    so once you have the basics, you need to then add distractions like meeting. You'll ideally get some friends help her. you want to "randomly" (but planned!) meet them on the walk but your pup doesn't get to meet them by pulling. she also gets closer as she walks nicely. this may take a logn time the first few sessions.

  3. #3
    Senior Dog windycanyon's Avatar
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    Hopefully this link works still but it's a great video on dealing w dogs that pull (ie, they aren't paying attention to YOU, who they should be.. not the other distractions out there). https://connectwithyourk9.com/conversational-leash-work/

    It's a longish video (~11min), so watch it when you have time.

    The problem w/ all the use of harnesses in recent years is they actually encourage pulling, hence why they are used in Tracking, etc. Anne
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  5. #4
    Real Retriever Zookeepermom247's Avatar
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    Hi.. thanks.. I have been doing just that... the stopping when she pulls and she looks at me... and then walks to my side. This is on a loose leash. When she is next to me , she is in waiting mode. Then I say, "let's go." She gets that part. Now, trying to distract like you said is the next step.
    Thanks,
    Sophie's mom

  6. #5
    Puppy
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    Is she clicker trained? If not maybe get a treat bag for "loose leash walking" training. I would also try to set up controlled exposures. So Take her to a park and have the playmate come as well but be on the other side or something. Try to get Sophies attention when she sees the playmate. If she is still hysterical have the other dog leave and then try from a further distance. It takes a lot of time and effort and it won't be 100% fool proofed because she may also need that type of training with other stimulants but it is the best way to get her to learn.

    P.s. While I know this in theory and have practiced it with my dogs a little I still haven't done it consistently enough to get a good loose leash walk without many corrections. A win for me is when I go to the vet and Bowie sees another dog and lunges to run over and say hi and then starts acting like a maniac but I call his name and he snaps to attention for about 5 seconds so I can redirect and have him back away. If I can get the maniac to pause for a second its a win. I know if I did the training like i described above more often I would have a great dog who doesn't need a reminder that not all dogs want to play with him but I am a lazy trainer and this is at least something I can work with.

  7. #6
    Real Retriever Zookeepermom247's Avatar
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    Thanks for the video... I would love to see a trainer with a lab that is pulling so hard.. this dog was doing fine..lololol.... I like to see the before and after.

    Thanks,

    Sophie's mom

  8. #7
    Senior Dog TuMicks's Avatar
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    I can sympathize. It's the "friendly stranger" scenario and also the "I think I better check this dog out... maybe he needs a dominatrix" scenario that we have struggles with.

  9. #8
    Senior Dog windycanyon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sophie's mom View Post
    Thanks for the video... I would love to see a trainer with a lab that is pulling so hard.. this dog was doing fine..lololol.... I like to see the before and after.

    Thanks,

    Sophie's mom
    I have seen the process w/a pulling lab. It works. Otherwise, I'd not have suggested it!
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  11. #9
    House Broken rochie427's Avatar
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    I am kind of in the same boat as you. Rosie is a puller as well. I've tried different harnesses just like you and they didn't really work. When I found a new trainer she immediately had Rosie in a prong collar. The prong worked for a while but Rosie started going back to her old ways. She doesn't pull all the time but when she does she'll pull my back out. I can't have this so I was determined to get the pulling under control.

    What I started doing was once she started to pull I would just stop dead in my tracks. Of course I would get a look like "what did you stop for"? Once she sat down I waited a minute and then continued our walk. If she started pulling again I repeated the process. Our walks took longer but I was and still am determined to nip this in the bud.

    I have been doing this consistently for the last 2 months and I do see improvement. I watched the above video this morning before I took her out and it did work but not 100%. She must have thought I was crazy constantly changing directions when she started pulling. What I also did that I really never did before was take some high value treats with me. You want to talk about a different dog, it was amazing!! She pulled but not like before. Every so often I would stop, have her sit and watch me and then I gave her a treat. It was a pleasure this morning!!!

    My goal is to one day do away with the prong collar ( I can dream right?)

    If you do get the prong collar just make sure you have someone knowledgeable to fit it for you.

    Good luck with Sophie.

  12. #10
    Best Friend Retriever Sue's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rochie427 View Post
    She must have thought I was crazy constantly changing directions when she started pulling.
    The trick is to change directions BEFORE the pulling starts. And walk right into her if necessary (a left about turn). This way, your dog learns to pay attention to what you're doing. It has never ever failed to work for me. And a matter of fact attitude does wonders, too. If you expect her to follow, it will translate down to the end of the leash and she WILL follow.

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