Does anyone have any idea how to stop a dog from continually pulling at the lead and trying to choke itself?

My ex was well under way training my collie not to pull, but then she went and not knowing what she was doing I have not had any luck so taking him out for walks is something of a nightmare.

Yep - tried a gentle leader but it took the hair off his nose and was a nightmare getting him to go anywhere with it on. Putting the damned thing on him was a nightmare to begin with.

Any ideas. This is the only real problem my dog has.

Dragon

I just used the choke chain to train my Staffie. Just give it a yank when your dog starts pulling. The idea is not to hurt or pull your dog back. Your trying to make the chain make a noise. It won't take long for your dog to start taking notice of it :wink:

Read the thread title and thought it was about Camilla :D

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We used a halti for our alsation. it worked perfectly. :thumbsup:

dont take it near any female dogs ..........oh hang on, wrong sort of pulling *gets coat*

Originally posted by melthebell
dont take it near any female dogs ..........oh hang on, wrong sort of pulling *gets coat*
ROFLMAO! :hihi: :hihi: :hihi:

Collies are highly intelligent but also have seemingly boundless energy. If your dog pulls then the best idea is to keep him or her on a nice short lead so it doesn't have much option but to walk nicely.
Choke chains are fine if used correctly but don't let me see anyone half choking their dog with one I might be tempted to say something. I've tried a 'halti' and my X German Shepherd just developed amazingly strong neck muscles so he could hold his head up and pull against it and it did wear the fur off the bridge of his nose after a while.
So short walks, make sure the dog goes somewhere where he can have a decent run off the lead, try carrying a favorite dog chew in your hand which your dog knows about and if he pulls too hard in one direction confuse him by turning round and walking in the other direction.

Originally posted by melthebell
dont take it near any female dogs ..........oh hang on, wrong sort of pulling *gets coat*
sniff up yo bitch:D

I was going to say 'Halti' but that is just the brand name for a 'gentle leader'.

Okay. This is going to be painful and slow. It's phsychology. They are intelligent dogs.

You don't need contraptions, but a half choke may help (Brude has had a full choke lock up on him, and I had to pull it even tighter to release it).

Put the dog on your left, hold the handle of your sturdy (non-retractable) lead in your right, and hold the lead further down in your left. Begin to walk, but every time the dog steps ahead (more than shoulders to your step), stop and simultaneouly gently tug the lead and say 'no'. Only start off again when the dog returns to your side.

See? I said it would be painful. It'll drive you nuts to begin with, and if you say 'begger it' to get the walk over with, the dog will know it will win eventually every time, so it won't work.

Good luck :thumbsup:

Walk infront of it?

vidster & strix are on the right lines, i trained the first 3 of my dogs that way with a choke chian to make noise.however be prepared there is always one that doesn't learn!!

Different things work for different dogs.

Brude is better off a lead coz he takes all his commands form the lead if he's wearing one. This involves being deaf and keeping the lead taught to feel it jerk :loopy:

I had to teach him to walk without a lead after his back injury, because the hitherto effective halti could have injured him further :(

Now I carry his leather lead and a huge half choke that's really too big for himm, but I use it instead of training disks. He responds to it's rattle (see Vidster's post on noise).

If he gets too far infront and won't return I flick his hindquaters with the handle (not the chain coz it hurts too much) and if he runs off or strays further and wont 'come here', it can be thrown near to him so the chain noise makes him think I'm nearer and he scoots back. Sometimes he can be persuaded to bring the lead back with him too :D

If he needs to wear his lead (eg passing another dog) it's easier to slip the half choke over his head than attach the clip to the collar he's wearing

On a slightly different note.
Please don't buy one of those "I'm a lazy owner" extendible leads for anything bigger than a Yorkshire Terrier. It does my head in when someone has a fully grown German Shepherd on one. If a big dog pulls slightly on one, the clutch mechanism just lays down and dies and the dog can run straight at whatever it wants :rant:

i used to walk faster if my dog pulled...so she wud start to jog..so i would...then run...so i follow...

was tiring...but i was damned if i was gonna be beaten by her! hahaha.

i never chocked my dog..its horrible to do and to see. just stop walking or tell them off?.. im no expert..just love dogs (waits for deejay to comment :D )

our golden retriever used to pull, in the end we found it was easier to walk her without a lead ( she had gone to doggy training since a pup so would sit down at every road crossing) She never moved from your 'heel' walking her like that. She would walk perfectly at training as there was no walk at the end of it,

As soon as a lead was on she would go mad pulling to the extent that she would be choking herself and her tongue would go blue (this was not even using a choker!)

Depends if you can trust your dog to walk to heel and not chase other animals off the lead.

It is illegal to walk a dog off lead in certain areas, especially near roads. Certain dogs are supposed to be kept on leads no matter what.

I bought an extending lead but the dog got too big and too strong for it. Also tried gentle leader as mentioned earlier.

Maybe the only way to stop the dog from pulling is to chop off his head! (That was a joke by the way)

Dragon

Leave a dog to do what comes naturally... ;)

No, as far as I know, if the half choke don't work, then I would recommend:

a short lead where the dog must walk to heel. Hold the end of the lead in your right hand and have the dog on your left hand. Hold the lead as well with your left hand so the lead is across the front of your body.

If he starts to pull, then say in a firm voice, 'heel' and stop. When the dog comes back to the position you want you can either, give him a treat, or have a clicker and click when he's in the correct postion and give a treat. Do this each time he comes back to the correct position.

It will take a long time, but as far as I'm concerned you CAN teach an old dog new tricks!!

Try doing this around the garden as well. As often as you can.

Never let the dog pull because you are bored and want to get home and never end the walk/training session on a bad note, the dog will associate it with bad things.

Don't shout if the dog doesn't get it either, this really doesn't help and the dog again associates it with bad things and will disagree with the lead even more!

Hope this helps!

Lottie

Nice one Lotti but I refer to my post on the other thread about dogs barking. How many dogs you know are born with a lead attached? Would save a few quid. Some genetic alterations maybe. Do dogs have an umbilical cord? Hmmmm.

Dragon

what?

Quite confused by that...

Did the advice help though?

You said to leave a dog to do what comes naturally but you want to stop your dog pulling on a lead... that's all I meant...

It was just a joke at the end of the day...

With what I hope was helpful advice after it.

Point is that it is un-natural for a dog to be on a lead, and my dog behaves much much better off the lead - doing what comes naturally to him. However - society decrees that there has to be a lead involved. So - how do I make the best out of a bad situation?

No-one I know complains about my dog barking - not even the postman. He says the dog is doing what it is supposed to do - protecting the house and letting folk know he is around.

Sorry but likening the un-natural wearing of a collar and lead to the natural act of barking is beyond me.

If it was a joke then you need help on your punch lines, cos it blatantly looked like someone habving a go by being a smart mouth. So - joke accepted, but seriously - do you really think having a dog on a lead is natural?

Dragon

Looks like you've sabbotaged your own thread there dragon :roll:

Why should anybody reply if that's how you're going to respond? :mad:

The questions were valid. The comments were tongue in cheek. The words exchanged were simply words. It did bring up an interesting subject concerning what we consider natural for animals and what is actually natural.

If the thread is dead strix, then may it RIP.

No problems.

Dragon

I find a small piece of lead in its ear works fine.

LOL - my dog just shook its head and the lead fell out when I tried this one.

Back to the drawing board.

Dragon

Ive 3 dogs and ive used choke chains from them being a puppy, on a short lead, but now they are older i let them off lead when walking and they dont wear a collar when in the house.
Keep the lead short and keep tuggin them back. Only time will tell.

Much of what is needed has been posted already.

May I just emphasise that you have to put a lot of time and effort into dog training at the beginning in order to enjoy a wonderful relationship with a well-trained dog for the rest of your lives.

As with most learning, repetition and consistency are part of the answer.
A little and often is better than trying too much and getting both of you upset and confused.
This means more than once every day!

Always use verbal commands (heel!) together with the leash control.

If you are really getting absolutely nowhere, try walking alongside a wall or hedge (dog between you and the wall/hedge). While holding the lead in the dogside hand (ideally left) and keeping the dog at the heel position, swish a leafy branch across the front of you as you go.
The dog will keep its nose behind the swishing branch and reinforcement by voice can usually improve the understanding of what is expected.

Thanks for the help. You have given me much to try.

Have to admit that I feel more than a little silly jerking the dogs lead while walking through Hillsbro' and everyone looking saying "Look what he's doing to that poor dog".

Thanks anyhow.

Dragon

Originally posted by Dragon


Have to admit that I feel more than a little silly jerking the dogs lead while walking through Hillsbro' and everyone looking saying "Look what he's doing to that poor dog".

I can't see you getting that response from anyone who owns a dog Dragon (unless it's a woman carrying a toy dog) :wink:

I've been told off twice by ignorant people who don't know how a choke should be worn to prevent damage to the neck :mad:

Our dog pulls too.
One of my friends used to train dogs for the military, so when i told him our dog pulls he gave me five Ip coins.

I was told to put the five penny coins in a empty plastic pop bottle, and when the dog pulls, rattle the bottle.

It works fine for us. :thumbsup: