Can anyone suggest how to stop my puppy pulling on the lead please? In the beginning she was good, but now she pulls really badly. Is there anything I can do to stop her? If we go for a ten minute walk we are worn out at the end of it and glad to get home and her tongue is usually hanging out of her mouth then she dives into the water bowl. Walking is no fun like this.

Hi Debbie ....if you go to the search button at the top of the page and type in PULLING , you will find quite a few threads on this subject.

A halti often helps with a pup that pulls hard , but quite a few people dont like them .....what sort of dog do you have?

Melody :)

Hi Debbie
What about trying a Dogmatic? I got one for our dog since he wouldn't stop pulling - he knows where he should be but it's not where he wants to be LOL :D It has stopped him in his tracks (so to speak) Now we enjoy taking him for a walk and he enjoys it more because he's not being stopped every two mins to come back to heel!

Lacey is a Golden Retriever puppy and she is heavy to hold now, which is why I need to stop the pulling before it becomes a real problem. I have never heard of a dogmatic could you explain what it is please. :)

It is one of a variety of headcollars on the market. this one is very posh, being of the best bridle leather, and should be softened up by neats foot oil!

Of the webbing ones My own personal favourite is the Gentle leader, but I have seen one made by one of the stall holders at SWKA, called a halter. Made of two tone webbing, which is a nice design.

Peronally I don't like the Halti, as it seems prone to ride up close to the eye on some dogs!

I know some people don't like them, but they sure make walking a lot less of a chore.

They will all at first try and rub it off with their feet, so you need to walk briskly so that they are less able to use their front paws. A vital thing to rmeber is that it is like power steeering, never pull back on the lead sharply when you have one on, thre is no need, and the effect on the dog is greater than with a collar!

Debbie, have you tried taking her to training classes? It's never to late and would be worth spending some time. For me, taking the dogs for a walk is one of the pleasures of keeping them.

Training classes will be a great help, also try reading a little booklet by Erica Peachey called TEach your Dog: Lead Walking available from Pets at Home.

Have you tried clicker training? If you pop into most pet shops they have a llittle booklet with a clicker which tells you all the basics and is very good.

Invest in an anti pull harness (try the Stop Pull by Kumfi) for when you cannot actually be training, and just want to get from A to b in a hurry. This is important or you will mess up your training and undo all the good, if one day you are in a hurry and let the dog pull :)

Train a little every day, refuse to move if the lead is taut, but praise or treat, and walk if it is loose. Initially lure the pup into position. Eventually the pup will work out that it only gets to go forward if the lead is loose, this way it makes it the dog's responsibility to keep a loose lead.

So imho you really need to read up a bit about it, go to a class if possible (make sure you like the trainer's methods first as classes do differ) and ensure that when you go "for a walk" use a harness or a headcollar.

When you have the time to train, which will be a little every day hopefully, then, use a normal collar and lead - after a while (and it may take some time as pups do get distracted and so on with the big wide world out there!) you will be able to use the collar and lead on a normal walk to the park.

I have one golden rule for teaching loose lead walking - never pull against the dog and never walk even ONE step with the lead taut :).

So - get your "Patient" hat on LOL!!! ;)

Lots of luck
LIndsay

Thanks for the tips. Lacey went to training (puppy) class, but it was only for 4 weeks and when she had to then go to the older dogs class, they broke up for the summer so there will not be any now until September. I think by then she will get even more into the habbit of pulling and I want to try and stop it in the beginning. I really do not want to use a head collar if possible because she is really quite easy to train if I know what to do, but I will use a head collar if that is the only way.

I think that's a very reasonable attitude Debbie. Can you contact the person who trains at your class and ask their advice so that you are training "in their way"? I'm sure that they won't mind giving you advice on the telephone so that there is continuity instead of mixing other methods.

Val, that is a really good idea but I have no way of contacting them. I do not even know what their name is. The thing is, we never got to take Lacey there for the last class because we had unexpected visitors call therefore I didn't get the chance to ask any final questions. The training they use is the clicker method so perhaps if I buy a book about it I will get some more hints.

The other thing I thought was to perhaps use a device which goes on the lead and lets off a high pitched whistle if the dog pulls. They then learn to stop pulling. Has anyone else used one of those things, and are they any good? The whistle is quite safe and does not affect the hearing in any way, but the dog does not like it. It's called a Happy Walker.

OK back to square one. How did you find the class? Newspaper, vet's notice board, friend ??? Someone, somewhere's got to give you a clue!! :D
If all else fails, try to remember what you were taught in your first 4 weeks. Sit quietly in a chair and take yourself back to those classes and I'm sure something was said about it.
Good luck Debbie. You'll be fine because you care and you're trying!!

I do care and thanks.

HI there

If they used a clicker method, they might be a member of the APDT - just a guess! So you could try looking under www.apdt.co.uk and under Members index. It is county by county....you may recognise the name of the club/trainer or whatever.

Hth a bit anyway
Lindsay