# Leash walking issues



## mrsco2it (Apr 5, 2021)

Our neutered male golden will be 1 year old this month. We have always had trouble with pulling and going from right side to left while leash walking, despite having a choke collar on him. We have tried various harness's and nothing seems to help. Any suggestions would be appreciated.


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## Ruby's Dad (Aug 17, 2021)

I have similar problems with my girl. I spend over a year trying to train her to not pull. i used the same techniques that i have used successfully on my other (not golden) dogs, but they just didnt work on her. she would back up and give me slack, but go right back to pulling on the end of the leash again.
I have found success using a no pull harness and a head halter (although not at the same time). The head halter works better, but my dog likes/tolerates the harness a little better.


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

Here’s what has worked for me:
When your dog pulls, turn yourself around and haul him in the opposite direction. Don’t let him reward himself by getting to what he wants (a stick, a bush to smell, etc) while pulling. When he’s walking nicely and no longer trying to pull true other way, turn around again and continue your walk. Also, make sure that you start your walk calmly. If he is bonky walking out of the front door, he’ll be bonky on his walk. Out have him sit and tell him to stay and slowly open the door. If he takes a step forward, pull him back and close the door. The door only keeps opening when he’s sitting. Only let him walk out of the door when you release him from his sit. Starting your walk in this calm manner instead of rushing out the door all excited will help set you up for a successful walk. The issue could also be that he’s not getting enough exercise, especially if he’s from field lines. If the only exercise he gets is on walks, he’ll have too much pent up energy to walk calmly. Go on a walk after some fetch and zoomies in your yard or another safe, fenced area. If he’s a bit tired out before a walk, he’s more likely to walk calmly.
As I said, this is just what works for me. I hope it helps!!


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## Aeacus (Sep 1, 2021)

I don't have a success story to write, since my pup is only 10w old and i haven't gone to puppy training school with him. But my breeder shared this video to me, when i was inquiring about the same thing:


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

mrsco2it said:


> We have tried various harness's and nothing seems to help. Any suggestions would be appreciated.


Get rid of the harnesses and teach him to heel.


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## Aeacus (Sep 1, 2021)

SRW said:


> Get rid of the harnesses and teach him to heel.


I agree.
Harness only makes the dog to pull even more.

Harness is good for car transport, when you don't have a crate for a car, so you can fasten your dog with seat-belt. Some folks have used harness to lift their dog as well (it has carry handle) but that works only with small dogs and it doesn't work with full grown GRs (you try lifting 40-50kg dog with one hand).

For my pup, i currently have choke leash that i can adjust how much choke it performs. Since my pup isn't currently leash trained and pulls, this type of leash helps to combat excessive pulling. But i need to train him properly. My hope for the future is, that i can go over to collar + normal leash. I don't like retractable leashes since IMO, those are for lazy people who doesn't want to walk/run with their dog.


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

We really like Finn's harness with a handle, but we don't really use it for walking- we put it on if we're going somewhere where he may get over-excited and we want to have better control over him. We also use it when he's swimming because we can lift him out of the water on the boat.


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

mrsco2it said:


> Our neutered male golden will be 1 year old this month. We have always had trouble with pulling and going from right side to left while leash walking, despite having a choke collar on him. We have tried various harness's and nothing seems to help. Any suggestions would be appreciated.


Have you done any formal training (i.e. training class or sessions with a private trainer) with him? Leash walking isn't something most dogs do spontaneously - you have to teach them.

Your main problem is the choke collar. If you don't use them properly (i.e. to administer a short, sharp correction), choke collars actually encourage pulling because the dog pulls against the discomfort. It sounds counter-intuitive, but that's what happens. Choke collars are training aids from the era of punitive training. They're used sparingly these days, and should never be left on the dog when you're not actively training him. If you're going to use one, you need to use it properly.

SRW is right - you need to train your dog to walk on a loose leash. There are lots of different methods of doing that, and it takes a lot of time and patience. I'd strongly suggest a training class if you can, or if not, a session with a good trainer (one who uses mostly corrective methods as opposed to punitive methods) to show you what to do.

Good luck!


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

ceegee said:


> SRW is right - you need to train your dog to walk on a loose leash. There are lots of different methods of doing that, and it takes a lot of time and patience.


Patients yes. Time? Not as much as you might think. Try short lessons, five minutes at a time two or three times a day for just one week. Take note of the progress you make each day and at the end of the week. Trading seems difficult until you break it down into small pieces, for the benefit of both trainer and a dog. 
I recently posted how I teach heeling. I can post it again if it’s helpful to someone.


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## A Golden to love (Mar 6, 2021)

SRW said:


> Patients yes. Time? Not as much as you might think. Try short lessons, five minutes at a time two or three times a day for just one week. Take note of the progress you make each day and at the end of the week. Trading seems difficult until you break it down into small pieces, for the benefit of both trainer and a dog.
> I recently posted how I teach heeling. I can post it again if it’s helpful to someone.


Yes please post it again. I am working on getting my 7 mos. yes of puppy to heel and could use some pointers. Thank you.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

The tool refered to in this post is a piece of 1/2 inch PVC pipe 2 or 3 feet long, depending on your height and preference. Tape foam pipe insulation to about half of it making sure the foam extends about an inch past one end of the pipe,



SRW said:


> You need to teach them how to respond to any tool. Your dog must be good on sit before you start. Command sit and tap on the butt. Walking on lead with dog heeling on the right, when you turn left command "here" tap on his right shoulder and tug him toward your right knee. When turning right command heel and tap on the right side of his butt. (Reverse for left side heeling) Backing up is generally the hardest for a pup to catch on to but is is important. You don't want the dog to always anticipate going forward on the heel command, sometimes we go backward. The concept is that you are leading and the dog is reading and following your actions and Q's.
> For backing up, crowd the dog between you and a wall, fence, building... so he can't easily turn around. With the dog at heel back up and tap his chest and on the front of his legs while taking a step back and tugging the lead be firm but not aggressive. The first day getting that one step back is the goal. For this and all steps, praise your pup the instant he gets it right but don't over do it and water down the value. This will take a few days and plenty of patience. Keep lessons short 5 - 10 minutes at first a few time every day and do fun things mixed in and afterward.


I hope this is helpful. There are a lot of methods that work for teaching heel, this works for me.


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## A Golden to love (Mar 6, 2021)

SRW said:


> The tool refered to in this post is a piece of 1/2 inch PVC pipe 2 or 3 feet long, depending on your height and preference. Tape foam pipe insulation to about half of it making sure the foam extends about an inch past one end of the pipe,
> 
> 
> I hope this is helpful. There are a lot of methods that work for teaching heel, this works for me.


Thank you


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