Hi

I have recently got a rescue dog who is very bad on his lead. He pulls constantly, and I am worried that he will hurt himself or me, or worse a passer by. Are there any other ways to stop this without using a choke chain, harness or halti??? Unfortunately we cannot attend training classes as we live too far away.

Does anyone have any experience of similar dogs, or have a useful method? I have tried different positions and anything I can think of really, but it just seems to make things worse and occasionaly end up with us getting tangled up. I would like to stop this quickly as he is a big dog and too strong for my children to control, and cannot be let off his lead most of the time because of nearby livestock.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Claire.

You can train a dog quite well not to pull, why not join and we can go into more detail; meanwhile as this will take some time a headcollar is an excellent method of control which, unlike a choke chain, is very humane.

why don't you want to use a halti,as i use one on my husky,as well as his harness,which the lead is hooked through and cliped to the halti so it not to much pressure on his neck when being guided to walk nicely, and i must admit it has worked wonders.

Claire,

I have a rescue who pulled on the lead when I got him.  Just stop.  As soon as the tension goes off the lead - set off again.  It means stopping and starting an awful lot in the beginning but dogs aren't daft.  He'll soon get the idea that the walk stops when he pulls.  It worked for me but wildone has a point - halti's are the 'nicer' way to stop pulling (nicer than choke chains!).  Good luck :)

Halti's and Gentle leaders are great i have used them myself, if you dont want to use them try using treats or everytime the dog pulls change direction and then back again, your best bet would be to go and have training lessons but if you really cant do this then register with champdogs its a great site with lots of good info :)