My sister in law is worried about one of her dachshunds, he constantly pulls on the lead and does it so hard he keeps chocking ad weasing. She is worried he will hurt himself. Thy tryed one of those head hultis but it ended up hurting his face so they stopped using that, appreantly there local training class wont take him and they cant realy afford a trainer in there area. They tryed the walking in the other direction when he pulls but that didnt work for them. Can anyone suggest a coller/harness for them to try to make walking him a bit easyer for them, As at the moment they dont enjoy there walks.
I know that whatever they get wont magicly make him walk to prefection and they are going to have to work on it with him, but im not sure what to suggest as ive never walked a dog as bad for pulling as him.

I am curious as to why the local training class won't take him?

I use the turn around technique and they soon get the message that we won't get anywhere if they continue to pull.

Using a harness is the only way to stop them throttling themselves but doesn't stop the pulling as they just throw their whole body into it.

I used Halti's on my cockers with effect and didn't have any problems, never felt the need when it came to the dachsies.

A harness will take thre strain of his neck, but you are right it wont be a magic cure!

Personally I couldn't get on wih the changing direction method to teach my pup not to pull, it just made him confused (bless him, it doesn't take much) so he'd sit down and refuse to go anywhere!

What I found to be great is the tree method.
As soon as there is pressure on the lead stand still and do not take one step forward (should be very easy to do with a dachshund), the INSTANT there is slack in the lead, praise, reward and walk on.

It can be a case of only getting 1 step forward before having to stop again, but the thing is EVERY step forward the dog takes while pulling, only reinforces the pulling. He's going to have to leanr that pulling does NOT get him where he wants to go and that the only way on is to NOT pull.
As with any lessons, one does not have to wait for perfect slackness in the lead in the begining, peferct slackness is something that can be worked towards (ie, when he's got the idea that slack lead = walking, then only the slackest lead can = walking, just as you maight only reward the neatest/fastest sit, once the dog has learnt what 'sit' is)

How old is he?
They could try to burn some energy off at home before taking him out (fetch/game of tuggy) and making sure he gets some mental stimulation before going out for a walk (eg. a short training session or some sort of puzzle for him to figure out).

Also, practice lead walking in the home & garden as there are much less distractions for him.

Try a stop pull harness, Pets at home do one which is good.I use one on my big lad as when he gets excited and wants to go after some usually small dog to play with it he can be very determined and I've ended up on the floor being dragged. The stop pull keeps me in control and he has never had problems accepting it on him,where as the head halters he really objects to.

I think this were people go wrong with the changing direction I find people only do it when out on a walk.

I do it seperately to this.
I take the dog into the road and walk up and down continuously turning and changing everytime they pull until they get fed up and begin to watch me and what I am about to do ...when I get to this stage I know I am onto a winner.
I had 2 boys who I bred stay with me a while back for 2 wks and they pulled really badly to the point the owner had been pulled over at one time.
There was no way I was going to put up with this so took each boy outside and practised and trained until they realised there was no way they were going to pull me, after a couple of days I was walking both boys together ... owner couldnt believe the difference but I dont think they had the patience and to continue the training I put in... this is where I think people go wrong if it doesnt happen quickly they think it wont work... you have to be consistent and repetitive.

what I do is:
using a training lead ..extended... stand the dog on the left side holding the lead across your body and putting the excess of lead into a loop , begin to walk as the dog pulls ahead turn to the right and at the same time releasing the loop so it becomes slack  the dog will be ahead of you but as you walk off the dog will need to turn and run upto your heel as they come close collect the excess lead back into a loop and continue .. I do left, right, turn in a circle up and down until the dog starts to watch what you are doing rather than pull to where he/she wants to go. I also say 'this way' and praise each time they walk nicely.

Hope that makes sense.

thanks veryone.
ill pass on all suggestions to them.

I am curious as to why the local training class won't take him?
from what she says the training class dont want him as he is too much for them. He loves attention so much he will keep doing somthing naughty to get attention, good or bad any will do. He doesnt realy listen and doesnt seem to lurn, i steped on him when i was down because he kept jumping on my feet when i was walking so tripped and steped on his tail, he just yelped then went right back to doing it. This has happened loads of times to him as he does it all the time to everyone.

How old is he?
i think he is around 10months

I am shocked that a training class can't deal with a dachsie, YES they can be stubborn and have selective hearing but all of mine as so eager to please with or without treats, maybe she needs to find another class.

I tend to shuffle to avoid standing on any parts of their anatomy, friends and family are amazed that I haven't tripped over them, it is what you are used to.

> He loves attention so much he will keep doing somthing naughty to get attention, good or bad any will do.

Ahh, poor little chap, he just needs somebody to show him what he CAN do to get attention in a way that is best for everone. Shame on the training club for not taking him, just goes to show they don't really know what they are doing, if they can't cope with a young, attention-seeking dog (this should mean he's eager-to-please in order to get the attention he craves).

Seems like he has much to learn besides the pulling problem, his owners really do need to find a good training class.

> He doesnt realy listen and doesnt seem to lurn, i steped on him when i was down because he kept jumping on my feet when i was walking so tripped and steped on his tail, he just yelped then went right back to doing it

Ahh, see that's the thing with pain/aversives when the reward (in this case getting attention) is greater than the aversive (pain of being trodden on), the reward will win.
Bless him, he's a dog, he can't understand words unless somebody has taught them too him and he doesn't know how he should behave untill somebody has taken the time to show him. His lack of learning is only a reflection of poor teaching.
He defiantely needs to go to a good trainng class that can intruct his owners how to teach him :)