i have a 4 month old ddb pup and she really pulls on the lead , when i take her out with my 2 y o Bullmastiff , is there any way i can stop this , obviously without confusing my BM?

thanks!

Hi Wells

I think the best way is to only take them out separately until you've got on top of the puppy's pulling.  I made the mistake of allowing my newest lad to enjoy too many walks with the older dogs and he's now a VERY accomplished puller >sigh<

Recently I've gone back to basics and he gets very few on lead walks with the other two unless I have my OH or daughter with me so that he's still getting 1-2-1 attention and I can keep my focus on keeping him 'working' for me and do the stop/start/change direction routine when necessary.

Personally I don't think there's a quick fix and from my own experience it's making things potentially much harder for you to overcome if you continue as you've described.

best wishes, Teri

Hi there are a range of products you can purchase to help train her not to pull, such as the Dogmatic, other haltis, the illusion collar etc:

I have a young dog that can pull at times, I use the illusion collar which is very effective, and I also take her out on her own on some walks to help teach her on a 1 2 1 basis.

I find that when she starts to pull, I stop, correct her by gently but firmly tugging the lead towards me, so that I have her attention, then carry on the walk, alot of calm and patience are involved with teaching a dog not to pull, believe me! but my dogs are learning well! :)

I agree with Teri, take your dogs out at different times.you need one to one to sort this problem out.
Try the stopping when he pulls and then carry on again once the pup comes to heal, reward the good walking with treats. it's not a quick fix but will work if you stick to it. May take you a while to get to the end of the road but keep it up, their like children so you need to be consistent and not give up else they'll soon catch on you don't mean what your doing.    

In addition to separate walks (which are a must if you want to tackle this problem) try practising in the garden too.  It really helps focus the pups mind on the job in hand rather than all those sights and sounds which are sooooo distracting!

If you concentrate on starts, stops and turns you will find that it adds another element to your training and helps her to understand what is expected when she is on the lead.

Do you take her to a class?  A good training class can be invaluable in helping with this problem (see APDT website).  Using a combination of food treats and other rewards with a clicker worked wonders with our youngest boy and he never actually learnt to pull.  I didn't take him on joint walks til he was about 6 months old and even then not regularly til about 8 months.  At 21 months old I still do much of his training 1:1 - he's just passed his Kennel club Good Citizens Gold Award, so I think it paid off !!

Good luck

no havent started puppy classes yet but i plan too next monday!

hopefully this will help - will start taking them seperately and see how i get on!

Hi

I am doing the same with my puppy but never know which way to turn when I change direction. Do I turn towards her or away from her or doesn't it matter?

I always turn away from the pup then it's more of a shock that what you've done. also try and have a loose lead when you change the direction so it's more like their own decision to follow you then shorten the lead once they are next to you again. when they are back by your side reward then continue walking. 

Thanks. I will try that.

I find turning into and away from the dog makes more of a difference. It is also a good way to start teaching Left & Right if that interests you. Turning away generally means you will be tempted to pull the pup around on the lead... turning towards them means they have to respond to your body positioning and will have to be at heal in order to do so. If my girl starts getting strong on the lead I just do some left and right turns until she is so busy trying to read where we are going she forgets to haul me along on the lead. Even better is if you can do this off lead, hence NO temptation to pull on the lead. I find the more I pull, the more she pulls. Just food for thought I guess. :-)