[DianaM]

I think Renji needs to join that club. In any case, to give you an idea of how bad he is on the lead, the dead ring on a prong does nothing for him. I only got a response using the live ring. Sigh. If he does see something he wants to get after, even that doesn't really matter anymore. I got sick of relying on the prong, knowing I eventually want to get away from that and still have a good heel without a sulking dog, so I tried a different method, one recommended here by several people.

Last night after a potty break, I decided to take him for a walk and give this a shot. I hooked him to the dead ring on the prong, started him in a sitz, told him eaaaaasy in a low, slow tone and started off walking. Whenever he got a little bit ahead, I stopped. After a few moments, I again gave the easy command and resumed walking. There were quite a few stops and starts at first, but after that he understood it and actually was a lot happier than the usual leash jerks. Now, the correction is a stop (along with a tug on the leash if he hits the end of it), and the reward is moving forward. Renji walked very, very nicely! If I stopped out of my own desire, I instructed him to sit as I was stopping and praised him profusely for good responses. We had a good long walk with very good heeling! On the way home, a dog was barking loudly and crazily very nearby and Renji was extremely distracted, of course, and I used the stop-go technique quite a bit, but he did very well with that and didn't get as distracted as he usually does. This is excellent progress! My goal is to one day no longer rely on the prong, and this is a step in the right direction. I do want to give him an outlet for pulling. I'm looking into bikejoring (dog is harnessed ahead of bike and pulls bike) because when we first started biking, he seemed to pull me along more than me pedaling the bike! Maybe even weight-pull or carting. After this progress, I'm going to resolve to no longer use the live ring for walks and even attempt to reserve corrections on the prong for severely distracting situations (other dogs, cats, etc).

I bought a clicker which should be arriving today. Can't wait! I'm excited to have a better means for marker training and am looking forward to utilizing a more positive approach, especially when it comes to walking nicely.

 

[kelso]

Sounds like you guys are doing very well

great job!

i have a puller to, the prong does nothing (used to not anymore) so i have been doing much like what you described and it is working well. He is a very big strong pup and sometimes i think he just doesn't get it until we play the tree game. otherwise he thinks he is a sled dog

hopefully we can both be out of the puller's club soon

 

[Achielles UD]

Well, Prong collars are great... when used properly. I mena they don't stop a dogs pulling on leash just because the dog is wearing one!

Along with the training you are doing now, stopping when he starts to get a little too far ahead, I would also start teaching that the best place on earth to be when walking is next to your left side on a loose leash. Easily done. Give tons of really good food there! Make sure that the leash you are using (if you are using a leash and not just training in a fenced in secure area) is loose and not tight. I have taught all of my dogs this. Most were taught off leash. So whether or not a leash is on, they know where the best spot to be is and never pull

Clicker training is great too. Just start marking and reinforcing the spot you want them to be in.

Good luck!