Trouble Walking on a Leash

[HarleyTheGSD]

Varick pulls so much when I take him for walks. I tried stopping and waiting for him to stop pulling when he does, but all this does is keep him from pulling for a few seconds, then he starts to pull right away. I've also tried going in another direction, but then he just pulls in that direction. What can I do to make walking easier? He is too young to wear a prong collar.

[Barren's Mom]

We've been using something called "gentle leader" that goes around their nose and back of their head. Of course this will take some getting used to. My dog Barren hated it because I had control of his head and therefore he couldn't pull me everywhere he wanted to go. We also got a 2ft leash to teach him to stay close. Both things have helped emmensly! My only complaint about the gentle leader is that it would rub the fur on his nose a little bit - nothing painful or problematic though.

[1sttimeforgsd]

How old is your pup?

[mego]

My puppy did this but yesterday and today we took her for a walk with a friends older dog who is really good on a leash and shes actually improved alot from learning by example. If you have a friends dog who is good on a leash maybe that would help?

[Jag]

Please don't use a head collar on this type of dog. I'll reserve further until I know the dog's age.

[Cassidy's Mom]

Here's a previous thread with lots of good tips: Leash pulling monster

I posted some links on that thread - please read them!

[trcy]

My two older dogs are huge leash pullers. I finally bought the easy walk harness and it has helped so much. They are also smaller dogs...20 and 30 pounds. I delayed in leash training them.

The GSD was leash trained very early. I had him on a leash at about 10 weeks. He does not pull. I got a martingale collar, because I'm so used to the pulling with the other two dogs. Our trainer said he doesn't really need it though.

[trcy]

Originally Posted by Jag

Please don't use a head collar on this type of dog. I'll reserve further until I know the dog's age.

My two pulling dogs hated the gentle leader head collar. All they did was roll on the grass trying to get it off. No walking was done.

[AngelaA6]

Originally Posted by trcy

I finally bought the easy walk harness and it has helped so much.

This is what I did for my pup. He's only 57 lbs at the moment (still growing), but he doesn't pull at all when the harness is on. It's like an auto calm. He doesn't pull towards other dogs or when he sees people when he has his harness on.

[Longfisher]

Originally Posted by 1sttimeforgsd

How old is your pup?

They all pull.

Just put up with it and do all the necessary corrections until they're about 5 mos. old and it will all start to sink in for them. We're to the point that we now dispense with the training collar and use the flat collar for all Zeus' walks. When he pulls we just say, Nein, and pop the leash and he stops.

One thing to avoid is to become frustrated to the point of jolting them with the corrections. Emotions flow both up and down the leash and if they sense frustration and negative energy from you they'll quickly come to dread the walks.

Pulling can be very frustrating. If the dog loves his walks and if he pulls and you just take him home it's punishment enough.

LF