Dog Trouble

[samurai_sushi]

Hey all, I have an Australian Shepherd who will be 2 in August. She knows a number of tricks and house rules. She's house trained, kennel trained, doesn't walk on the carpet, and is slowly losing a bad habit of barking. She also knows some other tricks like sit, shake, lay down, and roll over. However, I'm having a hard time walking her. I made the mistake of not halter training her when she was little. Now whenever she gets walked, she will always be as far ahead as she can on the leash, tugging it. I'm strong enough to hold her back but it gets annoying after awhile. I'm pretty sure there are some vets and people with experience. Any ideas on what I can do to break her walking problem? Appreciate the help.

 

[toeknee]

make her sit, when she becomes calm start to walk and stop and make her sit whenever she starts to pull while saying HEEL.
Good luck!

 

[sigmachris]

Watch the show Dog Whisperer he has a good way of walking dogs. Its like you are walking a show dog, have the collar tight around their chin with them right at your side or slightly behind you. I personally don't care for much of the show...I have seen 4 episodes and all of his solutions for problems is to walk the dog correctly, that will solve barking, dominance issues, etc..but he does have a good walking style.
Now I too have a 60 pound dog put isn't the best on leash. She actually walks better with me off leash but that doesn't work in a neighborhood. My opinion is that the walk is more for the enjoyment of the dog, so I like for her to get ahead a little bit, to sniff, and have fun. However, for the walk to be a big game of tug of war is not the way I want it to be. For the dog pulling your arm out is part of the game, to deter this is when she gets a little too far, tug / pull hard twice in a row as fast as you can. It is like BAM BAM, within a second, she will learn her boundary from there on how far she can get before Bam Bam. You can add a verbal command to the pulling action, so eventually you can say the verbal command and she should respond, if not then you always have the double tap Bam Bam.
Good luck...also dogs (especially working dogs like a shepard) don't start to lose their puppy energy until just after 2 years old, so she will start to mellow out shortly.
-Chris

 

[al mc]

Sigma has some good points. Personally for one that pulls on a walk I like to use a 'pinch
collar'. The harder they pull the harder it pinches. Worked like a charm with one of my dogs with the same problem. I would start with walks in a small area...like your back yard to get her used to it.
Also, along the lines of energy levels in a dog of this breed/age. Herding dogs definately need a 'job'. when they have a job they tend to develop fewer behavior problems.
Jobs...chasing a Frisbee, jogging with their owner. They look forward to doing their job and cause little trouble if they get to do it......These breeds are Definately a little high on the OCD scale....

 

[harris28]

I have a great dane and I use a pinch collar. When we first got her I decided to train her good because when she gets big it could be trouble. We were enrolled in training classes and everything and she is awesome. What we did was use the pinch collar and when she would go in front of me I would give a jerk and do a 180 and walk the other direction and I kept doing until she learned if she goes out in fron she gets jerked and turns around. I would actually turn sporadically so she was always watching me and it kept her on her toes. After about a week of doing this everyday she now walks beside me and will not go out in front. Then when I stop she imediatly sits at my side. Good luck and get a pinch collar.

 

[keri]

HEAD COLLARS!! Love 'em, makes them use their neck instead of their whole body, and for a change they tire out before you do! Reinforces good walking w/o pulling behaviors, (Some dogs don't CARE if they get a pinch, this way they can't keep at it) try looking for either a "Halti" or "gentle leader" .

(It's NOT a muzzle btw)
I have a friend with a cattledog mix who goes NUTSO for cars driving by and it's the only way she can walk her when she has the baby stroller with her

 

[harris28]

Originally Posted by Keri
http:///forum/post/2457826
HEAD COLLARS!! Love 'em, makes them use their neck instead of their whole body, and for a change they tire out before you do! Reinforces good walking w/o pulling behaviors, (Some dogs don't CARE if they get a pinch, this way they can't keep at it) try looking for either a "Halti" or "gentle leader" .

(It's NOT a muzzle btw)
I have a friend with a cattledog mix who goes NUTSO for cars driving by and it's the only way she can walk her when she has the baby stroller with her
I used the Halti at first but my dog found a way past it. She could straightn and stiffen her neck and the collar would do nothing. So the pinch collar was brought out in the advanced training class and the instructor snapped her one good time. And that's all it took. But the Halti worked good until she figured it out.

 

[teresaq]

check your local area , places like petsmart offer training classes. Having trained a few in my time, a good choke collar and good instruction goes a long way. when walking let your dog go a head a little, then give a firm pull and a comand such as walk or back. when they are walking in the proper place praise them. keep repeating this process.

 

[agent-x]

Originally Posted by Keri
http:///forum/post/2457826
HEAD COLLARS!! Love 'em, makes them use their neck instead of their whole body, and for a change they tire out before you do! Reinforces good walking w/o pulling behaviors, (Some dogs don't CARE if they get a pinch, this way they can't keep at it) try looking for either a "Halti" or "gentle leader" .

(It's NOT a muzzle btw)
I have a friend with a cattledog mix who goes NUTSO for cars driving by and it's the only way she can walk her when she has the baby stroller with her
+1 we use them for our weimaraner's (although they do better off leash too).

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by SigmaChris
http:///forum/post/2457634
Watch the show Dog Whisperer he has a good way of walking dogs. Its like you are walking a show dog, have the collar tight around their chin with them right at your side or slightly behind you. I personally don't care for much of the show...I have seen 4 episodes and all of his solutions for problems is to walk the dog correctly, that will solve barking, dominance issues, etc..but he does have a good walking style.
Now I too have a 60 pound dog put isn't the best on leash. She actually walks better with me off leash but that doesn't work in a neighborhood. My opinion is that the walk is more for the enjoyment of the dog, so I like for her to get ahead a little bit, to sniff, and have fun. However, for the walk to be a big game of tug of war is not the way I want it to be. For the dog pulling your arm out is part of the game, to deter this is when she gets a little too far, tug / pull hard twice in a row as fast as you can. It is like BAM BAM, within a second, she will learn her boundary from there on how far she can get before Bam Bam. You can add a verbal command to the pulling action, so eventually you can say the verbal command and she should respond, if not then you always have the double tap Bam Bam.
Good luck...also dogs (especially working dogs like a shepard) don't start to lose their puppy energy until just after 2 years old, so she will start to mellow out shortly.
-Chris

100% the dog whisperer... 100% the best trainning tool I have ever used. Buy the book Cesars Way $12.95 best seller. And watch his shows, I have trainned my dogs in less than a month to walk next to me without walking ahead and with no leash. Cats, squirrels, rabbits, kids... you name it they wont leave my side unless I tell them too. IMO, IME best thing I could of done.. I have spent hundreds of $$ in the past on trainners for my dogs, nothing has worked this well and this effectively.... Just my 2 cents.
Regardless of how well behaved the dog is when she walks ahead of you like that she or he is telling you they are in charge, and you are not the alpha leader...

 

[mytank]

We have a 1 year old aussie shepherd/german shepherd mix and he LOVES his walks. The only way we could take him on a walk was to get a harness that goes across his chest then hook him on top of the harness. We tried the NewTrix, Halti and Gentle Leader and he would choke himself. I have spent hours trying to teach him proper etiquitte for leashes and it did not work. I think it's part of the breeding, he is just too smart for me. He goes ahead of me about 2 feet and sniffs/smells & snorts like he is clearing the way for his mom. He does have his "chores" around the house and he is kept thinking alot too. We have an orange food ball that dispenses his food as he rolls it around the house. Here is a picture of my little angel LOL
Attachment 189785