Pulling on Leash...My Mistake!

[MyPemCharlie]

YES! Thank you! We just got in from our first walk today and there is a definite difference in his understanding of where he's supposed to walk. I cut him a little slack Sat/Sun, for being distracted. It was a gorgeous weekend. Lots of kids, walkers, joggers, strollers, people working in yards, etc., so he tried to test my rules more.

I don't expect him to walk in perfect heel for an entire long walk. I just expect him not tighten the leash. Today I did start requiring heel, and stop and sit-in-heel for a couple short stints along the way.

Yesterday, a mom and daughter pulled up beside us to ask what breed of dog Charlie is. I spoke with them a few moments, and as they were about to drive on their way, the woman said, "I love the way he walks." I'm not sure if she meant his general body form or how nicely he was walking. His "form" is much better though when he is relaxed at my side, versus at a 45 degree angle pulling to the side or in the "lunge" position ahead of me. LOL

[Bailey's driver]

My experience has been that the consistent behavior and a patient trainer is much more important than the style of collar.
Bailey is trained with a harness,it works great. In fact when he was pulling in the begining he pulled more with the collar.
When the vet suspected his hip problem might be a disc problem she said to use the harness. He was about one at the time. He's almost two and a half now.I never jerked him,I just stood still. I still don't. That also was a potential problem if he had disc problems. It turned out he did not, but I stayed consistent. I can stand still longer than he can stand it. No need to jerk him around. That trains him to respond to the jerk or "pop".
I continue using the harness,as it is a seatbelt in the car and holds him in the basket on his trike.

[KJohnson]

we've trained Westin with a harness also... he seems to respond better to it than to his collar. he doesn't pull as much with the harness, but as soon as you take him out with just his collar, he is basically pulling your arm off.

[MyPemCharlie]

It's interesting that both you and baileysdriver have found the harness effective. (Harnesses were invented so that sled dogs could pull longer and heavier weights.) But I'm certainly all for whatever works to keep the dog from pulling your arm out of socket!

There are 5 different methods of training a dog not to pull, plus an assortment of gadgets and collars. I think I tried all 5 methods and 2 different collars before we had our breakthrough.

[Bailey's driver]

Originally Posted by MyPemCharlie

It's interesting that both you and baileysdriver have found the harness effective. (Harnesses were invented so that sled dogs could pull longer and heavier weights.) But I'm certainly all for whatever works to keep the dog from pulling your arm out of socket!

There are 5 different methods of training a dog not to pull, plus an assortment of gadgets and collars. I think I tried all 5 methods and 2 different collars before we had our breakthrough.

I tried to think of a reason why Bailey would pull less, instead of more with the harness as you would expect. I can't really narrow it down other than he is uncomfortable for some unknown reason, or it's just a habit that developed somehow, he was on a collar for about one year. He is held in the car and his trike by the harness. Maybe he's decided to not bother to try defeat the harness by pulling against it?
I have fixed the trike so it rolls very easily on a flat surface, he can pull the trike easily. I don't let him pull it, I just wanted to see how it was compared to him pulling against my arm if he sees a running squirell. It's less work. I let him pull it for a few feet a couple of times when there was no wind. He pulls harder with the collar ????????

After pedaling Bailey 30 miles in the trike, I was walking Bailey, and I let him pull the trike about 50 feet one day. A cyclist who saw Bailey pulling the trike said 'That's not fair" !

[MyPemCharlie]

For about the last 3 months, Charlie has improved significantly with not pulling on leash. He hardly pulls forward at all anymore, except in attempts to chase a squirrel or when another dog is approaching (we're working on that). However we seem to be devoloping the opposite problem: he stops walking and digs his feet in until he is finished sniffing whatever interested him.

We'll be walking along nicely, then I'm almost pulled off my feet (backward) because of his sudden, abrupt "stop 'n sniff". I've pulled the collar off his head a couple times (fortunately he just stood there). This behavior seems to be increasing. I generally just say, "C'mon", and tug him to get him moving forward, but sometimes he really rebels and tugs back or will move but stop again a few steps later.

The majority of our walk goes very well, but we are stopping more than I would like (at Charlie's discretion). I have been tugging him along when he stops, and then trying to reward him for moving by allowing him to stop and sniff for a few seconds every so often (at my discretion, not his) for doing a good job walking.

There are hundreds of articles on the internet to stop a dog from pulling on leash, but I can find hardly any tips on training a dog to keep walking and not stop so much. The few articles I did find said, "Let them sniff." I'm afraid I would be standing still (while Charlie sniffs every blade of grass) more than walking if I did that. I think I will stop more often today and allow him more "sniff breaks) as an experiment to see what he does. Maybe I am not giving him enough opportunity to just "be a dog"???

I think perhaps Puppy Head is a scent hound instead of a herding dog!

[LaRogue]

The majority of our walk goes very well, but we are stopping more than I would like (at Charlie's discretion). I have been tugging him along when he stops, and then trying to reward him for moving by allowing him to stop and sniff for a few seconds every so often (at my discretion, not his) for doing a good job walking.

Occasionally, I have the same problem and am looking forward to hearing possible solutions. Usually when Pip stops I let him sniff around, jiggle his leash when I'm ready to move on, tell him let's go, and we go. Once in a while he just won't budge...on those occasions he's usually smelling something nasty (dead) and then proceeds to roll in it. YUCK!

[Michael Romanos]

When Taylor leads me while he is on-leash (which is often), he does not pull. When he wants to use his inspecting scenting or prefers to go in another direction, or is caught between his herding/minding sensibilities or not wishing to go where i want to go (such as visiting a neighbour whose dog Judy died last year) , he will simply crouch down and refuse to budge.

[MyPemCharlie]

It is the crouching and refusing to budge that makes the outing more like "parking" than "walking". Yesterday instead of tugging at Charlie's lead, I crouched down and did the happy voice "c'mon, c'mon". It didn't stop the parking, but got him going a little sooner instead of making him really dig in.

Today my neighbor and I drove Charlie and her dog Willie around to a neighborhood on-leash park. While we were back in the trails without oncoming people/dogs/bikes, I tried-out Charlie's 18-ft training lead to see how far he'd wander. He actually did great catching up with us when I called him right before he hit the end of the lead. Not being confined to 4-5 feet from me seemed to give him enough time to go sniff while I walked forward and kept him from digging in. When I saw people/dogs approaching on the path, I reeled the lead to "heel", and he was extremely attentive to me. (Surprise!) Not really practical for our daily walks where the street is too close to give him that much slack, but it was interesting to see his behavior improve.

[Michael Romanos]

Taylor used the dead halt and crouch trick when he was a pup and junior and did not want to walk any further because he felt a little tired. So I would pick him up and carry him 25-100 yards then put him down again to happily resume the walk home. So perhaps you might try this kind of response. Taylor just loves been carried in any case.

[halpey1]

One of my corgis is a puller and the other one is a total slow poke! I usually have one are out front and one arm out back, it's a little ridiculous, but I haven't figured out a solution to make the one go slower and the other faster.

[Michael Romanos]

Usually with two or more Corgis leashed or unleashed, one of them is the leader. So if you keep up with the fast walking (no more than a walk, mind you) Corgi on leash, the other will pick up the pace though still walking behind. A healthy,fit Corgi should never walk slow as a matter of course.

[MyPemCharlie]

Originally Posted by halpey1

I usually have one arm out front and one arm out back, it's a little ridiculous, but I haven't figured out a solution to make the one go slower and the other faster.

When I walked my neighbor's dog with Charlie one day last week, I had the same "arm position" several times. Kind of seemed like a new modern dance routine, only with dogs in the "ballet". "Charlie, Keep up. Willie, Quit pulling." LOL I did notice however that Charlie stopped less often, and Willie pulled less often than they normally do when Willie's mom is along with us walking Willie separately.