# What is the secret to teaching no pulling on the leash?



## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Seriously, there has to be a secret. I have seen dogs at obedience trials that walk with a totally loose leash next to their handlers and never, ever pull.

I have worked every day with Lilah for nearly 4 years and she still pulls like a tank. I have tried every tool out there, every method suggested. Robbie does well, but he's a breeze at everything we teach him, is that the key - the dog has to be special?

Trainers, really, what is the secret to getting a dog to walk on a leash without pulling, because we ordinary pet dog owners are obviously not getting it based on the multitude of threads about dogs pulling!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

The best secret I can give you is,

The dog can never get where he wants to go by pulling. He only gets there by being on a loose leash; even if it takes 10 minutes to go 5 steps <sigh>

Just one successful pull can undo weeks of training

Good luck


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## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

I'm by no means a trainer, but this is what we did with Sophie and she is usually really good on a leash. We use her regular collar and a regular leash. Every time she pulls, we stop and turn around the other direction, bringing her to an abrupt stop. She falls into bad habits again from time to time, but the re-training works really well and quickly. It did take a LONG time to go around the block back in the early days, but she learned.


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## mm03gn (Sep 24, 2008)

Our secret was the Halti


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## 58loosy (Apr 18, 2010)

Breezy was a puller, we got the gentle leader after years of frstration, it worked and eventually during the walk I would pull it off her face and pretty soon I wasn't using it anymore, but she also got to be a senior, I think some just pull more, Lucy never has been a puller I sometimes call her a lagger, lol, I sometimes thinkthe pullers have more energy.


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## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

I'm jumping in on this thread too because last night I got so frustrated trying to walk Molson. He has been pulling like crazy the last few weeks. I brought the Gentle Leader with me and used lots and lots of treats/praise but when it's on (and not even hooked up to the leash, just sitting on his face to get used to it), he just drags his face along the ground trying to get it off and I can't stop him unless I actually lift his face off of the ground. We've also tried the tree method where we don't go anywhere until it's a loose leash but it kills my knee to stop and get jerked every 2 seconds.


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## 2DogsN3Cats (May 25, 2010)

I have to limit my walking with Max because of his pulling he will drag me down to the mailbox if I would let him. I make him walk on my left side and hold the leash loop in my right hand and then hold the leash with about a foot length between him and my hand. That has helped a bit with walking him but he can jerk so hard sometimes he yanks the leash right out of my hands. When I try to turn around to go in another direction he goes into dead dog mode and WONT move. Yet when he is on his lead in the yard he doesnt strain or pull against that whatsoever, he constantly has a loose lead in the yard....I dont get it the dog is crazy..lol..at somepoint Id love to be able to take him for walks especially down to the little creek that runs right near our house. 


Anyone got any tips for starting leash training...Franklin has never ever ever used a leash and the few times I tried to even clip it to his collar he lays down and refuses to move, I dont even try to walk him just let him drag the leash around himself. Right now because he doesnt use a leash he has a choker collar but its mostly for tuff dog bling bling rather than being useful. Max also has a choker collar.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

esSJay said:


> I'm jumping in on this thread too because last night I got so frustrated trying to walk Molson. He has been pulling like crazy the last few weeks. I brought the Gentle Leader with me and used lots and lots of treats/praise but when it's on (and not even hooked up to the leash, just sitting on his face to get used to it), he just drags his face along the ground trying to get it off and I can't stop him unless I actually lift his face off of the ground. We've also tried the tree method where we don't go anywhere until it's a loose leash but it kills my knee to stop and get jerked every 2 seconds.


This sounds just like Austin!!!!!! Mind you, he did actually walk quite nicely last night....I think it was because he was tired from playing ball!!!

I've been using the tree method alot lately and while it does take alot longer to get through our walks, it seems to be working. He still likes to walk a bit in front of me and will still, on occasion, pull. I've tried the Halti and Gentle Leader but he hates both...I use the prong collar some days and he doesn't seem to mind that...I just don't like it when he sees a rabbit!!!

I do find if I hold a treat in my left hand and walk, Austin will stay right by my side and we will do this for a whole block before I give him the treat....this, coupled with the tree method, does seem to be working as he has been much easier to walk the last week or so. Lincoln isn't as bad but we also use these techniques with him.


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

A few things that work:

Use the collar that means the LEAST corrections needed. If that's a prong so you have to pop three times, vs a thick collar that you're constantly yanking on, then that's what you may have to use. They sometimes don't respect the flat collars as much and if they've been pulling for a while they've built up muscle there.

Put the collar up under their ears, as high on the neck as possible. It's not a necklace, and if you look at horses who are pulling something, it's usually a big collar type thing they're wearing. Higher on the neck means more control and usually less pulling on the dog's part (you can lift their head up that way too).

Something I worked with Storee when she was younger, mainly for the bolting after things habit she had, was to have her on leash, and toss a toy/ball out for her. Of course at first she charged after it (had her on a short leash) and proceeded to try to drag me there or pull the earth around to get that ball. Really took her ten minutes at first of trying to drag me there, bolting at it and so on. Finally she took a break, the leash went loose and I said 'good dog' and let it go. Played for a minute and started again.

EVENTUALLY she got to the point where she'd hit the end of the leash, feel the pull and instantly back up to make it relax. Now I can back her up off of something with a light pull, she puts it into reverse because she's learned she doesn't get the toy without the leash being loose and me saying she can have it. It has helped a lot with walking, because if I stop and the leash is tight, she right away goes into reverse and gives me some slack. 

But the main thing is, don't let them get anywhere if they're pulling.

Lana


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## zephyr (Sep 29, 2009)

esSJay said:


> I'm jumping in on this thread too because last night I got so frustrated trying to walk Molson. He has been pulling like crazy the last few weeks. I brought the Gentle Leader with me and used lots and lots of treats/praise but when it's on (and not even hooked up to the leash, just sitting on his face to get used to it), he just drags his face along the ground trying to get it off and I can't stop him unless I actually lift his face off of the ground. We've also tried the tree method where we don't go anywhere until it's a loose leash but it kills my knee to stop and get jerked every 2 seconds.


Prong collar! I know it _sounds_ so mean :no: BUT I cannot even describe how much Oscar looooves his prong collar versus the Halti!! He just nevvvver got used to the head collar -- he would tolerate it briefly, but he would always be pulling some weird way, or mash his face along the ground (and refuse to get up!). But we tried the prong collar last week on a whim, because I was starting to get seriously hand pains from walking him with the Halti, and OMG, we've walked together *pleasantly* *every single day*! By the end of the walk, I drape the leash over my neck and we just walk along together, side by side, like some Golden Retriever catalog... I was actually hoping someone would pop out of a bush and take our picture! :

Honestly, I'm not even sure if he FEELS it because of all his neck fluff, because he has never reacted to it the way he clearly reacted against the Halti (he was just still really annoyed by it, even though we also did the looong slow introduction procedure). I mean the prong must do something because he doesn't pull the same as with a buckle collar (pulls so hard until he is CHOKING!)... he still does pull a little bit at the beginning of the walk, but you just have to really try to keep it loose when he is walking nicely so it's only tightening a little when he pulls.

(Just an FYI, since I had NO idea about these contraptions having never seen/felt one before we got ours... on ours at least, the little "prongs" are rounded, and they do not "SPIKE" your skin, just sort of a pinch. You can try it on your arm and see, it really doesn't 'hurt', just feels uncomfortable. And no, the chain parts do NOT get stuck in or pull out his neck fur, at all... I was so sure they would! :doh: BUT one thing: if anyone is going to try one, please find some way to attach it to their regular collar at one of the permanent rings, because the prong links can come apart, and then your dog can get loose!)


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Jasmine is my only puller and I use either a sporn or an easy walk harness on her.

Both of the boys were walked with an easy walk harness for a couple of years. In the last 6 months, both have graduated (really, Jasper could have graduated over a year ago) to walking with just their martingales. I don't use the martingales as "correction" collars, I use them because if they were to get spooked, they can't back out of them like they could a flat collar. They walk beautifully in the pack of three, the two together or alone. It took time, but boy oh boy is it nice to have dogs walk loose leashed next to me!


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

Consistency.

"He has to pee...gotta get him out." "He wants that water bowl, a little pulling is okay" 'It's just a slight pull, I only don't want heavy pulling". ANY time there is pressure on the leash and we follow...the behavior is reinforced.

Most people use too poor rate of reinforcement and many don't follow through with training ("He really needs exercise").

There are a lot of aspects to polite walking...
- How to handle the dog if you end up in an area with too heavy of distractions
- How to systematically train your dog for distractions.
- How to handle distractions you come across on walks.
- How to tell if the leash is loose or has tension
- How to handle the situation if your dog pulls.
- How to reinforce with a high ROR while moving
- Maintaining duration
- Training the dog to leave what he wants, potentially earning access to it.
- Training the dog for an appropriate response when there is tension on the leash.


Comp obed heeling is SO different than polite walking (and easier to train in many ways... ) but completely impractical for walks. 

A big part of it for dogs who want to see everything is teaching them that tehy can turn to the owner/handler to get access to what they want. Wildlife. Food. kids. People. moving things. Toys. Leaves blowing. All those things can become cues for your dog to be attentive to you. We wnat your dog to see a distraction and say "YOU are fooling me. You are trying to make me pull, but I won't! It's a trick!"


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

I spent a year teaching Ranger to walk politely on the leash - he pulled so badly when I got him, I had to wear gloves or else I'd get blisters and rub my hands raw. Tree method didn't work with him; he was happy to pull and stare at whatever the hell it was he was looking at 20 blocks away. *Intense* doesn't begin to describe him.

I spent 3 months teaching him to walk politely on a "choke" chain, correcting with him a little sideways tug (not backwards) when he'd start to get in front, but before he could pull. The tug was an instant increase in pressure, then release immediately - NO pulling or dragging. Like a snap of the fingers, that fast. (For anyone that rides horses, it was like a half-halt on the reins - take then give). It worked in the fact that Ranger soon learned what he was supposed to do in quiet areas but the second it got remotely busy, he didn't care about the corrections. So I upped him to a prong collar. Soft when he was soft, but he could no longer "tune me out" when a rabbit popped up in front of us. We worked and worked on it and built up from fairly distraction-free area to a crazy busy areas. He still has his downfalls (when lots of dogs around) but we're working on that now.

Fast forward to a year later, and my mom can now walk Ranger on the choke or prong, with no worries about him lunging or pulling. And if he does, he now has the training and she has the tools to not get pulled off balance. Once I showed her how to correct BEFORE he got to pulling, he rarely tries to pull with her. 

Actually, I walked Ranger last night for the first time in 7 weeks. He kept trying to get in front of him and was tuning me out which he hadn't done in a long time. I started doing some obedience with him on our walk - about turns, squares, the turn where you go right but the dog goes left (forgot the name of it), and left about turns. We did that for 5 minutes walking down a block and he was an angel for the rest of the walk. Just had to "tune him in" on the fact that were was somebody at the end of his leash. He's a little weird in the fact that the more a specific person walks him, the better he is for them. I hadn't walked him in 7 weeks...he wasn't great to start with.


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## GoldenMum (Mar 15, 2010)

I aslo use a prong collar, my trainer in class recommended it. I too thought they were cruel. Ali is right, they pinch, but cannot puncture. But I have now even switched my 9 year olds to prong collars, they have always pilled some. But as soon as the feel it tighten up the least bit, they slow right down. Makes it much easier to walk multiple dogs together.


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## sameli102 (Aug 23, 2009)

I do not believe there could ever be a worse puller than Parker _used_ to be. He had to be amongst the most ill mannered walkers there could ever be. To the point I was just going to stop walking him all together. He zigged, he zagged, he suddenly lunged toward any moving leaf, he is incredibly strong and would not only hurt my shoulders bad, it was outright dangerous because he tripped me up more than I can say. I got a prong and it helped. For a while. He eventually became immune to that too. I made like a tree but never made it further than 2 or 3 steps. I was going to try a gentle leader but I was determined he would either walk on a collar or he would stay home. I was aggravated beyond belief. I was so afraid I was going to hurt his neck.

After working with him for about a month I am finally seeing signs of huge improvement I feel very strongly that the difficult ones need to learn how to walk right with training in low distraction areas first, then move on to more distractions like the neighborhood. We now go everywhere I can think to take him to get him used to new places and lots of distractions.

First thing I did was inside on a 6 ft leash. He would walk as far as he could, causing the leash to tighten and I just waited. As soon as he turned to look at me I clicked and gave him a treat, then waited once again for him to walk away. We did this over and over. He eventually learned that when the leash got taught if he looked back at me he got treated. We moved on slowly to more distracting areas until he was becoming a pro at it, then I took him on the road. Once he was totally conditioned to look back at me 100% of the time I started phasing out the clicker and saying YES and treating him less and less. I always keep treats in my pockets for occasional reinforcement. If he forgets, I do a turnabout and or make him sit.

He gets very excited about going for a walk. I won't put his collar on until he sits. Once it's on and I raise the garage door he wants to lunge out the door so once again I make him sit and we try again, if he continues to lunge I make him sit again and we turn back to the house door. It's just this getting out of the garage that we are having to work on now. Now that he has had this much training I can use the _make like a tree_ and it is effective. He is just a very excitable dog and takes a lot more work than most.

I'm not saying he is perfect but he is learning and getting better and better. I can now walk him on a flat collar, something I never thought would happen. I take him out on a 40 ft long line and let him run, but as soon as he gets to the end of it instead of pulling for more he automatically looks back at me and I tell him "yes" and he comes running back. 

Yesterday on our long line walk in a huge field he saw rabbits, which he really really wants, especially since he caught one once. He froze and stared at, but I just kept walking and when his 40 ft got taught I said "lets go" and he came galloping along, no tugging. Then the real test....a whitetail deer about 100 ft away, the deer froze and Parker was very intense and froze his stance once again, I was waiting for him to just explode but I kept walking until we got taught again and even though the deer leaped off he came running along with me.

We have a lot of work and training to do but he is not the same dog I had last month.
My other 2 are great on a leash and always have been, some are just way more bull headed than others and Parker was king of the bulls!


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Ugh, I've tried all this. I have to be doing something wrong. Lilah pulled as hard or harder with a prong collar as she does on a flat collar. Same with the Gentle Walk harness, and she keeps tension on the leash the entire time with a Gentle Leader.

I don't move if there is tension on the leash, which means we don't walk at all. I stand still, 5 min, 10, 20, 30 (yes I have literally stood in one place waiting for her to stop pulling for 30 minutes)...and she's still straining at the end of the leash.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

When I took Jasmine to her CGC class, the instructor taught me an invaluable tool to get Jasmine to walk on a loose leash. Stop looking at her! I found that when I was looking down at her, she was really pulling, probably because I had too much tension in my arm because I was anticipating her pulling me. Once I started looking ahead instead, she stopped pulling. 

She was able to pass her CGC test while walking on a loose leash. When I walk her alone, she walks on a loose leash. Only when it's the three of them does she keep tension on the leash, partly because I am not going to spend out entire walk constantly correcting her.


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## Joanne & Asia (Jul 23, 2007)

Turning around and going the other direction every time she pulled worked for us.


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## archiejay (Mar 9, 2010)

Joanne & Asia said:


> Turning around and going the other direction every time she pulled worked for us.


Our trainer suggested this /\ as well. I use a choke chain, but I correct him quickly, the trainer also said we may have to move up to a prong. I am very faithful at walking him and it pays off. If I miss a couple of days he trys to pull alot more. Monte is around 5 months.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

If you're going to use a choke or a prong, I highly suggest you put it around your own neck and give the leash to someone so they can pull on it randomly as you try to go about your business. 

The stop-and-go method can take some real skill and finesse when the dog already has a pulling habit and/or a strong drive. If she's still straining when you stop, then change it up. You have to find a way to show her that giving you some loose lead makes you start up again. Maybe you reel her in a step and get a sit, and once you have her attention, you start up again. Jax was a pro puller when we got him at 5 months old, and he strained at the end of the leash like you describe. I had to do a whole lot of attention games and alternate skills before I could get that teeny bit of loose leash to build on.


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