pulling so hard

[Jerilyn]

20 week old English Mastiff Pulls so hard when we were out walking how do I stop it help! she is doing great with the rest of her obendience sitting staying coming but walking is no fun

 

[AKBull]

You park her and make her wait until she stops pulling.

 

[Wyo- Dogue de Bordeaux]

What kind if collar are you walking her with??


Wyoming Dogue De Bordeaux

 

[seeknoxrun]

I'm a fan of the "zig-zag" method. When puppy shoots ahead of you (even before she has the opportunity to pull), you change direction abruptly. No warning, no cue. Just change direction. Be careful not to jerk excessively (your puppy is still a growing, fragile being), but surprising change in direction will, in theory, encourage her to keep an eye on you for direction and leadership. Also, it will communicate to her (very similar to the "be a tree" method mentioned by AKBull) that in order to move forward, especially toward fun or interesting things, she does so by walking beside or behind you... not by racing ahead or pulling.

 

[rangermom]

I'm with the parking her until she stops.

Sometimes, my dog needs a little mental reminder of who's in charge on the walk, so we will go through drills right in the street. Sit, down, heel, sit, down etc. That helps to refocus him.

Also, grab a stroller and make her walk behind it. This worked for me for practical purposes, I had a small child in it, but I noticed that he was pulling less because he had nowhere to go.

 

[Robtouw]

Try an easy walk harness, when your pup pulls in their direction, turn him/her in a circle and go back to the direction you want. I had to circle Cruiser quite a bit and then sit before walking and at my stop alot as a pup. The circling is something I use with my horses when on lead and not obeying, it gets their attention.

 

[mx5055]

You park her and make her wait until she stops pulling.

This is always how I've done it; no matter what breed the dog. Whenever I'm walking or out leash training and this happens, everything immediately stops. You can choose to wait for however your time allows, but when you start back up again if she keeps pulling, everything stops again. I've always gotten good results this way even if I am dealing with a stubborn, determined, persistent dog. It might take a bit more time initially than other ways, but once they learn what's gonna happen if they pull they usually get with the program.

 

[Jerilyn]

Thank you all so much , this morning we went walking and i stoped and made her sit every time she pulled , so much better!A s regards to the collar i bought a martingale > i just dont want to ever loose controll ,or have her relize how big and stong she is going to be!

 

[Wyo- Dogue de Bordeaux]

If the martingale doesn't work try a choke chain. I have all three if my mastiffs trained on them and have never lost control. Martingales can break, but I have never had a choker break. There is a thread in her that shows how to properly size and use one. Most trainers and the dogs that I use, use the choker. Hope that this helps


Wyoming Dogue De Bordeaux

 

[DMikeM]

No need for a Choke Chain if you have a well fitted Martingale. I make mine just a 1/2 inch bigger than the dogs neck so when you pull the chain it has 3 inches of compression on the dogs neck. It may sound like a lot but it is not and it is enough to give proper correction. On younger dogs I like to make them 1 inch bigger so they have more slack to begin with and at least a couple months of grow time. Jade uses a collar with 1.5 inches of slack and behaves great with it.

 

[sethmp]

so when y'all stop, does your dog come back to you or just stop in front of you? If he/she just stops, do you give them a little tug so they come back towards you?

 

[mx5055]

so when y'all stop, does your dog come back to you or just stop in front of you? If he/she just stops, do you give them a little tug so they come back towards you?

The way I've always done it is when/if the dog starts pulling, I immediately stop. Then I use the command come...then sit. Some of my dogs in the past haven't needed these commands...they just automatically would come back and sit at my side...it kind of depends on how old they are, and how far a long in their training they are. Then, depending on the dog, ie, their personality, age, size, I would just stand still for what I felt was an appropriate amount of time...totally ignoring the dog. Then start back up again....then repeat as often as necessary. It sounds harder and more time consuming than it actually is. The younger you start this, the easier it is. Others have different ways, I like doing it this way and it as always worked for me. I don't like to always use "treats" as a reward, yet I do my training on a positive model; the only dog in all my years that I had that this didn't work so well with was my rotti. He would always stop when I did, come back to me, but if he was feeling particularly stubborn, instead of sitting, he would lie down, and just ignore ME!!(sometimes he actually closed his eyes...use to piss me off and crack me up at the same time!). For him I always had a couple "treats" in my pocket, and he eventually at about 11 months he outgrew doing this

 

[CeeCee]

I'm a fan of the "zig-zag" method. When puppy shoots ahead of you (even before she has the opportunity to pull), you change direction abruptly. No warning, no cue. Just change direction. Be careful not to jerk excessively (your puppy is still a growing, fragile being), but surprising change in direction will, in theory, encourage her to keep an eye on you for direction and leadership. Also, it will communicate to her (very similar to the "be a tree" method mentioned by AKBull) that in order to move forward, especially toward fun or interesting things, she does so by walking beside or behind you... not by racing ahead or pulling.

I love this method! Be warned though, your neighbors and dogs will wonder about your sanity and/or sobriety. Ha ha ha

 

[DennasMom]

I have Denna "come around" when she hits the end of her leash too hard - not even at the pulling stage... just too much pressure - of course, this is on a flexi, which is NOT recommended... but we like it. Denna gets to range ahead 16ft. If she tries for 16.5 ft, I give a short, quick snap and immediately start walking backwards. Denna then comes all the way back to me, walks around my back to the heel position (the "come around"), and then we move forward together. She's got it down to a "T"... If I stop to look at something and she hits the end of the leash, she turns right around to come back and see what I'm looking at. She knows what 16ft is too, without looking... she often stops to smell the flowers 16ft in front of me while waiting for me to catch up.

When we go out on the short 6' lead, she's supposed to stay right with me... for that we still use a lot of treats. she's not as good at staying "with me" for long, probably because we do so many casual walks either off-leash or with the flexi. But, I still just need to remind her to be "with me" (in the heel position), and when she stays there for a few steps, she gets a "good!" (which makes her look at me, expectantly) - and then a treat.

I know our dog-walker lets her get away with pulling when I'm gone (like this week... business travel). Our first walk when I get back normally has to start with a quick refresher course...