Pulling on leash during walks

[wolflover]

Originally Posted by YorkieLove77

I'm trying to train JoJo to walk beside me with a slack leash, but I'm failing miserably. He loves to sniff and explore and wants to run up to trees to "mark" them. I've tried the stopping method, where I wait until I have his attention, reward him and continue, but shortly after he's pulling again.

I really want to get this down, as I want our walks to be enjoyable for both of us. I use a harness because of the fear of a collapsed trachea, but I read that harnesses are very ineffective for dogs who pull, and I'm wondering if that's part of the problem. Any advice?

I brought my now almost ten months old yorkie girl to piupy classes and she just graduated from advaced class. I brought her to PetSmart for the classes and it tok a while for her to learn to stop pulling. I did use te stopping method and now she rarely pulls (only if shes a person or other dog). It did take a few months to train her though. I guess you just have to be patient and this is my very first post on this site, im very new. Um, how do you make a normal post? like not quoting someone?

[wolflover]

oh nvm, i found out how. oh for the stopping method i didnt reward her like that. when she pulld i stopped and when she stopped pulling i waited for about 1 to 2 seconds of no pulling and then walked on. and reapeat and reapeat and reapeat lol

[RemydeHaviland]

Remy initially was a bit of a puller, and I have taught him to heel.

First, he always is on my left side when we walk. I use a harness on him and short lead (not a retractable).

To train him to heel I carried a bunch of treats in my right pocket. I would hold his lead in my left hand, wound tightly so he was close to me and would hold a treat in my right, above him but so he could see it. I would say "remy heel" over and over as we would walk a little ways, maybe 10 feet. With the lead wound tightly, he was at my heel and his eyes were glued on that treat. His gait was slower because all he focused on was the treat, not "running all over the place"

We would then stop, I would get him to sit and he would get a bit of the treat and I would say "good heel". Then we started over, with "remy heel" and my holding the treat above him. The treat was valuable for training because it kept his attention and he began to learn what "heel" meant.

Now, he is certainly not perfect but when we go out for walks he is generally by my side, sometimes slightly ahead but not pulling. He will still pull once he knows we are "going back inside" because he gets very excited, so we are still working on consistency!!

Good luck to you!

PS - one additional comment - I try to keep his potty location consistent. When we go outside, he potties first and gets to "wander and sniff" in this location until he is done. Once we start to "walk" as opposed to "eliminate" that is when I focus on getting him to heel. Yes, he still gets distracted by a tree here to mark but it is less frequent.

[Mimi84]

My yorkie is about 3 1/2 months old - and when we first got her (at 8 weeks) we would take her for walks and she loved to go ahead and sniff things - she would go so far that she was at the end of the retractable leash. I let her get away with this for a while b/c i figured she was just little and needed to explore.
Then when i tried to get her to walk beside me, she didn't want to - and would sometimes pull more just b/c I was telling her to come back towards me.
Now we use a choke chain when we go for walks. We asked the vet before using it - and the vet said they are fine for yorkies. Within our first walk she was walking next to me - we attached the choke chain to the retractable leash and locked it as short as it would go, so that she didn't have room to pull.
There are times when we let her have the full leash - and we use the command "heel" and she comes right back to us.

I would suggest getting a choke chain and using that for a while - and then switch back to the regular collar or harness (we use just a collar)

[RitaNBoobear]

I actually saw this on that Cesar show. So - Now we are paying attention to the dogs body language. He was telling this couple that when the ears are perked up and the body is rigid the dog isn't listening at all anyway.

So..now when Boo is clearly not paying attention, I don't even waste my breath. I stop here completely, say whatever command it is (Sidewalk, Wait..) just ONE time. Then I wait her out watching her ears and stance. As soon as she digests it's all being driven by me, I am the alpha -- I am in control) i can see her body relax and she "concedes". The mintue I see that adjustemtn, even if it is slight, I repeat the command. So far it has had fairly consistent results. AND many times I don't have to repeat. (Meaning maybe she heard & pretended not to?)

Lately Boo has developed this HORIBBLE habit of eating dead (dried up) worms. So -- If i catch her in time, sniffing out a worm, I'll step on the worm, covering it w/shoe and again -- she has to acknowledge I am in control. so when the attempts to dance around my shoe stop -- we keep moving. Each time the waiting her out for the adjusted "acceptance" or resignation gets smaller & smaller.

Good news (per my vet) the worm snack won't kill her -it's just gross. You would think she was eating the best filet mignon the way she chomps these things.

I feel so good when I win :-) which i find very amusing -- such a tiny opponent. hee hee, cause you know they are very willful & creative.

[harley1]

Originally Posted by SMApup

Gentle Leader w/ Plastic Clip Buckle, Petite - Dog Supplies

I started using the Gentle Leader because Sasha pulls like mad and she slips out of every harness I put her in. However, if you get it be prepared for some spastic antics at first. Sasha still occasionally goes ballistic over it usually when we are not moving and she has an opportunity to try and push it off... On the other hand, it works for actual walks.

I have also seen a great improvement with Harley when we are walking using the gentle leader he seems to be far more focused and is listening to me much more..

[diane boden]

I have the same problem with my two. Though after getting annoyed on Monday while we were walking and they just refused to listen I just dropped their leads- we were somewhere safe and turned, walking away at a brisk pace. When caught up and ran ahead I turned and walked away again and again. They quickly began to watch more closely and are much more attentive off lead. I would have only done it somewhere safe with no-other dogs or people around, and didn't walk far. I brought a Halti for Alfie today, managed to get it to fit with some serious adjustment and its like majic. Can anyone tell me how small does the gentle-leader go? Would love to get something for Rosie but she's so small, the size o Halti barely fits Alfie and thats pinning it to its minimum, I know the leader goes to x-tra small but how small is that?

[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by Mimi84

My yorkie is about 3 1/2 months old - and when we first got her (at 8 weeks) we would take her for walks and she loved to go ahead and sniff things - she would go so far that she was at the end of the retractable leash. I let her get away with this for a while b/c i figured she was just little and needed to explore.
Then when i tried to get her to walk beside me, she didn't want to - and would sometimes pull more just b/c I was telling her to come back towards me.
Now we use a choke chain when we go for walks. We asked the vet before using it - and the vet said they are fine for yorkies. Within our first walk she was walking next to me - we attached the choke chain to the retractable leash and locked it as short as it would go, so that she didn't have room to pull.
There are times when we let her have the full leash - and we use the command "heel" and she comes right back to us.

I would suggest getting a choke chain and using that for a while - and then switch back to the regular collar or harness (we use just a collar)

This post is just so wrong on so many levels i don't even know what to say.

[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by RitaNBoobear

I actually saw this on that Cesar show. So - Now we are paying attention to the dogs body language. He was telling this couple that when the ears are perked up and the body is rigid the dog isn't listening at all anyway.

So..now when Boo is clearly not paying attention, I don't even waste my breath. I stop here completely, say whatever command it is (Sidewalk, Wait..) just ONE time. Then I wait her out watching her ears and stance. As soon as she digests it's all being driven by me, I am the alpha -- I am in control) i can see her body relax and she "concedes". The mintue I see that adjustemtn, even if it is slight, I repeat the command. So far it has had fairly consistent results. AND many times I don't have to repeat. (Meaning maybe she heard & pretended not to?)

Lately Boo has developed this HORIBBLE habit of eating dead (dried up) worms. So -- If i catch her in time, sniffing out a worm, I'll step on the worm, covering it w/shoe and again -- she has to acknowledge I am in control. so when the attempts to dance around my shoe stop -- we keep moving. Each time the waiting her out for the adjusted "acceptance" or resignation gets smaller & smaller.

Good news (per my vet) the worm snack won't kill her -it's just gross. You would think she was eating the best filet mignon the way she chomps these things.

I feel so good when I win :-) which i find very amusing -- such a tiny opponent. hee hee, cause you know they are very willful & creative.

This is pretty good advice. I was the OP of the Front Harness not working thread. We've been working with Uni a bit more, and she has improved a bit. I've tried the Cesar method, reading the body language and it has helped. Uni is so quick though, when I make her sit and wait, she will understand sit and wait, but she will do it tense the whole time. She'll sit, wag her tail, ears go down, ears go up, tapping front paws, whining. Clearly she is not relaxed, but she is listening to my commands, but she is telling me that's not what she wants to do. And she can def outwait me, so alas the pulling continues. *sigh* baby steps!!!

[harley1]

Originally Posted by diane boden

I have the same problem with my two. Though after getting annoyed on Monday while we were walking and they just refused to listen I just dropped their leads- we were somewhere safe and turned, walking away at a brisk pace. When caught up and ran ahead I turned and walked away again and again. They quickly began to watch more closely and are much more attentive off lead. I would have only done it somewhere safe with no-other dogs or people around, and didn't walk far. I brought a Halti for Alfie today, managed to get it to fit with some serious adjustment and its like majic. Can anyone tell me how small does the gentle-leader go? Would love to get something for Rosie but she's so small, the size o Halti barely fits Alfie and thats pinning it to its minimum, I know the leader goes to x-tra small but how small is that?

I have the extra small halti and it fits perfect Harley is 5lb..