# Advice needed for a friend



## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

That makes me so sad to hear that she thinks her Will is a dud. Her training experience is what was a dud IMHO. I would seriously counsel her to find another trainer..... perhaps a one on one situation and one that would offer alot of positive reenforcement. I hope some of our trainers chime in..... they'll have lots more constructive advice. I would suggest trying the sensation or easy walk harness that have the connector in the front on the breastbone..... they are a great aid in ridding the pulling. However, the true answer is in the training and the bond with her dog.


----------



## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

She needs to find a way to get his attention focused on her. In our obedience class we used a method called "weenie walking", where you hold a treat in your hand either right in front of or actually touching the dogs nose and walk with him trying to get the treat out of your hand. You have to do this in a secure environment to start off with so that there are no distractions. A whole hotdog or sticks of string cheese work well because the dog can keep getting little nibbles of it and you still have some in your hand.

If he is not treat motivated she needs to find what does motivate him, his favorite toy, a ball, a squeaky ball or toy. Whatever will get his attention on her and what she's doing. Then practice, practice, practice, until it becomes habit for him to be interested in her. 

If she has not tried a Pinch Collar, she might see if that would help. For some dogs the Pinch Collar is a magic bullet, it's been called power steering, but not all respond to it either. If she does try the Pinch Collar, make sure she fits it correctly. It should be fit up high on the neck, acutally immediately behind the ears, and snug enough it can't slide down. It is really best to have a qualifed trainer show you how to fit the pinch collar, or look at the instructions on www.leerburg.com/prong.htm, http://leerburg.com/fit-prong.htm (but only the instructions for the pinch collar on that site, their other methods are for highly aggressive dogs that need harsh corrections). If the prong collar is going to be an effective tool for her dog it will be self correcting, meaning when the collar tightens he stops pulling. She should only need to use a minor correction, a slight tug, to get him to stop pulling. If her dog continues to pull with the prong collar it is not going to be right tool for her dog, and she should no use it. 

I hope some of that helps her. I agree with the previous post that her dog is not the dud, the training classes she attempted to go to were definitely the dud. A good instructor whould have set up one on one time with her and helped with the dog instead of kicking her out of class.

Please let us know how she does. I know the trainers on the board will have better suggestions. These are just my personal experience.


----------



## TuckerPupp (Apr 10, 2008)

Pulling on the lead is one of those problems that do not have an easy fix... I agree with everyone else... the dog is not a dud the training, or lack there of, is the problem. If she does go ahead and use the prong collar i would strongly suggest getting the advice of a professional trainer to instruct her on fit and use. Since the prong is a mostly self correcting tool misinformed people start using it like a choke chain with dramatic pulls that are improper and harmful. If it is on the correct part on the neck a twitch should be all you need. Or stopping. I used a prong on my Doberman, my Golden did not need it at. It took me a while to master the walk with my Dobie the Golden got it pretty quickly. 
When he pulls she either needs to stop or go in the other direction (i find turning easier) With a command, I use "let's go" to indicate I am turning and the dogs should follow. She may not get very far.. and yelling lets go and turning and walking in a different direction kinda makes you look crazy:uhoh:... But it works. If she does this every day... she will start seeing improvement. Good Luck to her... But it is sad to hear that she is so quick to dismiss her dog as dud....


----------



## Blaireli (Jun 3, 2008)

Penny & Maggie's Mom said:


> I would suggest trying the sensation or easy walk harness that have the connector in the front on the breastbone..... they are a great aid in ridding the pulling.


I have one of these for Tucker, and it has worked wonders. He has realized that if he pulls, it will flip him around so he's facing me, the opposite direction that he wants to be going! He's been much better about walking lately.


----------



## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

I'd recommend a Gentle Leader. I use them all the time and I've never had one break unless the dog had been chewing it between sessions. How exactly is the dog breaking it?

Training and bonding will go along way for your friend and dog!


----------



## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

mylissyk said:


> She needs to find a way to get his attention focused on her. In our obedience class we used a method called "weenie walking", where you hold a treat in your hand either right in front of or actually touching the dogs nose and walk with him trying to get the treat out of your hand. You have to do this in a secure environment to start off with so that there are no distractions. A whole hotdog or sticks of string cheese work well because the dog can keep getting little nibbles of it and you still have some in your hand.
> 
> If he is not treat motivated she needs to find what does motivate him, his favorite toy, a ball, a squeaky ball or toy. Whatever will get his attention on her and what she's doing. Then practice, practice, practice, until it becomes habit for him to be interested in her.
> 
> ...


I agree with trying the prong collar. We have had plenty of pullers and once they get that prong on its a whole different game then


----------



## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

I HIGHLY recommend the Halti head collar. We used this on our German Shepherd when she was young and used to pull us all over the place on her leash. It worked wonders. I also recommend (if she has cable or satellite) that she watch "It's Me or the Dog" on Animal Planet. The trainer on that show is EXCELLENT and I have even learned several things from her!


----------



## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

We use a prong caller with Gunner. He still pulls alittle but with reminders he stops.

There are no dud dogs only dud trainers or owners!!! That teacher/training group she went to sounds terrible. Unless your friend was not willing to work with her dog, and that doesn't sound like the case.

I recommend she find a different group/trainer who uses positive training. With hard work, her boy will no longer be a dud but a star!!!


----------



## GoldenOwner12 (Jun 18, 2008)

FlyingQuizini said:


> I'd recommend a Gentle Leader. I use them all the time and I've never had one break unless the dog had been chewing it between sessions. How exactly is the dog breaking it?
> 
> Training and bonding will go along way for your friend and dog!


She said he pulls that hard forward that the clip breaks. You know the buckle bit behind the ear. Heres a picture of the bit Will is breaking.The bit that says Halti is what he breaks off.


----------



## Popebendgoldens (May 16, 2008)

This will take a while to do but will work for any dog that pulls. When the dog starts to pull the owner stops and doesn't move until the dog has stopped pulling. Once the dog stops pulling the owner is to start walking again. When the dog starts to pull again, come to an immediate stop and don't move until the dog stops pulling. For the first couple of days, it will take 30 minutes or more to go 100 feet. But once the dog learns that he will not go anywhere if he pulls then he will become more manageable on the leash. Another good thing to try is as soon as the dog starts to pull you make an about turn and start walking the opposite way. You might feel like you are getting nowhere and going in circles but the dog will learn not to pull. The important thing to remember is that as soon as the dog starts to pull,IMMEDIATELY you do the about face and walk the opposite direction. While you are doing this don't talk to the dog, just do the action. I am a pet sitter and often have unruly dogs to walk. I spent 20 minutes with a papillon that had a harness and was a huge puller and it worked with him. Unfortunately his owners will let him pull so he has a tendency to pull when ever I walk him.

Pat


----------



## gunjee (Aug 28, 2008)

*I still don't understand how that part can break on a gentle leader...*



GoldenOwner12 said:


> She said he pulls that hard forward that the clip breaks. You know the buckle bit behind the ear. Heres a picture of the bit Will is breaking.The bit that says Halti is what he breaks off.


The leash is attached at the little loop hanging from the chin. Our Gracie pulls like crazy even with the gentle leader, but she can't break it because her neck would snap if she pulled it that hard. She does try to rub her face in the ground to get the thing off, though, and I guess enough rubbing on the concrete sidewalk could eventually wear away at the material to break the gentle leader, but if the snap is buckled correctly and pretty tight, right behind her ears up high, I don't see how it could break.

-Shilpa


----------

