Walking is a nightmare

    • Bronze

    Walking is a nightmare

    My dog meg is a nightmare to walk. She trys to pull you into roads and also she tries to run off into the wrong direction and take you with her. I am going to start walking her to my grandads but I have to cross a very busy road and since I will be on my own I am worried that she will pull me into the road. Any ideas on how I can stop her pulling?

    • Puppy
    my dog does that but I put the lead so that if u loop it through and put it round her neck so if she pulls it tightens and she learns not to pull that way
    • Gold Top Dog
    That will work with some dogs but not all.  A halti would be a good start or even a no-pull harness.  Thoes are alright for some dogs but my Giz wanted nothing to do with them and pulled anyway.  Finily I got her into obedienc class and she was fitted with a prong collar, looked scary at first but after I read about it I found out it's totaly safe if used properly.  That worked but with some coaching from her training on how to use it.

    One suggestion I see come up over and over is simply to turn and walk the other direction the second you dog starts to pull.  Eventuly she will give up and not pull. 

    I keep a loose leash and only tighten it when I need to do a correction.  Nothing harsh just a little nudge to let her know not to do that.  But over any correction you need to phrase your dog when they do somehting right.  I carrie around treats with me and I let my dog know when I'm very proud of her.  I get very excited when she does something right.  I put little effort into scolding her because that giver her to much attention on doing the wrong thing.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Dogs need to be trained to walk nicely on leash - most of them will pull and pull until taught otherwise. I think the no-pull harnesses are great tools to help you train, though they are not magic wands, just training aids.
     
    To put it simply, there are three variations on the method to teach loose leash walking... try each one to figure out which works best for your dog. In one, you keep making a lot of quick turns to the left so that your dog has to pay attention to you and where you're walking. In another, every time he pulls you stop walking. Start again only when he stops pulling and stop again if he pulls. And in another, every time he pulls you not only stop but assess "penalty yards," walking backwards a few steps.
     
    Some dogs will respond to being given treats when you're training leash walking, but many are too distracted by being outdoors. I think it's often best just to use the reward that's built in to the situation - forward progress. He doesn't get to go anywhere unless he's not pulling. This may mean that he doesn't really get to go on a "walk" for a while and you might have to supplement his exercise in other ways, like playing fetch or running around in the backyard with him.
     
    Good luck! It's not easy but in the end you will enjoy your walks so much more.