mudpuppy
Posted : 3/12/2008 9:00:35 AM
dogs have this thing called an "oppositional reflex", i.e. they strongly feel the need to pull when a force (leash) is applied to their neck/body. Tools like the halti and the easywalk harness don't trigger this reflex. If your dog doesn't pull in a halti but pulls like a freight train in a collar, I'd say the dog has ZERO concept of what loose-leash walking is about and is just responding to the halti's failure to trigger the oppositional reflex. I'd toss the halti and put on a martingale/leash and start from scratch doing "be a tree" training- tire the dog out first, perhaps by walking on the halti, and decide you're doing to cover ten feet on your training walk. You don't move forward unless the dog isn't pulling. It may take you several hours to cover your ten feet the first time, so be patient. Once the dog can walk ten feet without pulling, you increase it to twenty feet. Loose-leash walking doesn't mean the dog holds any particular position- the dog may be out in front of you, behind you, to the side, it just means that the dog (and you) have a contract together that the leash will never be taut. It means you can't drag the dog around, and the dog can't drag you around, and you're both constantly aware of each other's physical position in order to maintain this contract. The leash is just there for safety and legal reasons.