I have been gone a lot the past two months for work. My husband and kids have been home. My husband and kids have been playing with my amstaff pup and running him on the treadmill cause its been very hot out and the kids are too young for them to go for long walks at night cause they are sleeping. We have a decent back yard that my pup runs around in, too.
My problem is that I think my being gone and my pup not walking/running daily with me has caused him to be overstimulated and pull so hard that I am barely able to control him. I have had a gentle leader for him and it was working so well like power steering but not anymore. Now, he just digs in and crouches to the ground and plows ahead. So much for his CGC test right now!
I have been walking him in the morning and when I get home after work with the leash behind my butt so he can't pull my arm off....along with it attached to his normal collar AND head halter so he is walking at my side. HELP! He sits when I stop and sits at every corner no problem. What do I do?

Two words. PRONG COLLAR. Bob

Amstaff Baby wrote:I have been walking him in the morning and when I get home after work with the leash behind my butt so he can't pull my arm off....along with it attached to his normal collar AND head halter so he is walking at my side. HELP! He sits when I stop and sits at every corner no problem. What do I do?

Every time he gets even a little ahead of you, stop in your tracks. Wait for him to come back to your side or call him to your side. Choose a command for this like, 'by me'. It will take time and patience for him to get it. Don't forget to use your clicker or give lavish praise when the dog goes to the position you want. It will take you some time to accomplish your walks at first, but eventually the dog will understand that if he wants to walk, he must do it under your control. I train my pups this way and I use a flat leather collar or a slip chain. I do not train with head halters because the dogs learn nothing about obedience from them. Take off the head halter and your dog is out of control again. I know that some people are using a harness with the ring in front of the chest. These are also supposed to train the dog to walk without pulling. The theory is that if the dog feels backward resistance, they pull even harder. I choose to use the method I described without using the gimmicks meant for people who do not want to take the time to do some serious training.

Prong collars etc are a quick fix for the situation but will not take care of the problem. Peggy's method is a better way to create a good contact with your dog and obtaining obedience without other tolls than your voice and attitude.

A method I also use is the same method used for horses.You lead the dog in the leash make sure it's behind you, following you at all time. When it pulls in another direction - you turn in the opposite and "pull" the dog with you. best place to train this method is on a large field empty parking lot etc where you have plenty of space and have the opportunity to move wherever you need to keep the dog following YOUR lead no matter what direction you have to go. You don't have to say anything to the dog not even look at it, pretend you are carrying a bag and walk with determined steps look straight forward and always turn to the opposite direction than where you dog is trying to lead you.

This method worked wonders with my two very persistent ladies Katica & Muffins who would not sub comb to any "normal" training methods. Bets part is I don't have to grab them yell at them or get agitated at all. Just keep calm and be consistent. You might have to march around for a good while before the dog gets the idea, but when he does you will have a dog that will look at you all times always waiting for directions and with a calm confident attitude.

I use this method every time I go out for a walk with my dogs. If they are riled up when we get out from the front door I start walking back and forth to the sides, for as long as it takes for them to collect themselves, calm down, and start following me instead of trying to lead me.

I don't know if anyone else anywhere has tried this method because I adopted it from a show I saw about horses, thought this might be something to try on my dogs. And it turned out to be a fantastic way to become the "leader" without any fuss or complications.

Badazz wrote:
A method I also use is the same method used for horses.You lead the dog in the leash make sure it's behind you, following you at all time. When it pulls in another direction - you turn in the opposite and "pull" the dog with you. best place to train this method is on a large field empty parking lot etc where you have plenty of space and have the opportunity to move wherever you need to keep the dog following YOUR lead no matter what direction you have to go. You don't have to say anything to the dog not even look at it, pretend you are carrying a bag and walk with determined steps look straight forward and always turn to the opposite direction than where you dog is trying to lead you.

I have used this method also and have found it to be quite effective.

Isn't is great when you find great methods outside the "normal" standards

30 Seconds to Bob wrote:Two words. PRONG COLLAR. Bob

AGREE.

My 7 month old pup is cracking the scales at 70+ lbs. and he can be a puller! We've been working with a trainer that uses the same technique desdribed above ... however my problem was as pup was getting bigger he was also getting stonger and planting my feet when he pulled was becoming a game; a game I was loosing because he could literally yank me off my feet. Our trainer suggested we try a front walk harness - it's like having a different dog! I know it's not just the harness but it took away his ability to really throw his shoulders into a collar and pull and gave me a chance to work on polite leash walking. I have also found that a couple of minutes of free play in the yard before a walk gives him some time to shake off the "sillys" before we go for our walk.

As for prong collars I am NOT a fan ... I have no issue with EXPERIENCED trainers using them for specific purposes but someone who does not know what they are doing (IMO) will cause more harm than good.

Pattison wrote:My 7 month old pup is cracking the scales at 70+ lbs. and he can be a puller! We've been working with a trainer that uses the same technique desdribed above ... however my problem was as pup was getting bigger he was also getting stonger and planting my feet when he pulled was becoming a game; a game I was loosing because he could literally yank me off my feet. Our trainer suggested we try a front walk harness - it's like having a different dog! I know it's not just the harness but it took away his ability to really throw his shoulders into a collar and pull and gave me a chance to work on polite leash walking. I have also found that a couple of minutes of free play in the yard before a walk gives him some time to shake off the "sillys" before we go for our walk.

As for prong collars I am NOT a fan ... I have no issue with EXPERIENCED trainers using them for specific purposes but someone who does not know what they are doing (IMO) will cause more harm than good.

Personally, I would use a combination of methods put out in this thread. First of all, I would go to a front clip style harness. If you think about back clip style harnesses and collars, they are both used for agitation work. Meaning, they use the dog's natural instincts to increase drive by giving them the ability to pull through their neck and chest. A harness that clips in the front takes away the ability to pull through the neck and chest. One trick to a front clip style harness that a lot of people dont know though. Try hooking through both your collar and your front clip of the harness. It wont put any pressure on the collar, but doesn't let the harness gap down to the dog's legs, and will help in the transition off of the harness and back onto a collar only.

Then once you have the front clip harness, I do a combination of things to teach a dog not to pull. The first thing I do, is I make it HUGELY rewarding to be by my side. This is NOT a competition/focus heel. This is a "hanging out by me" type of heel. When the dog is by my left side, I 'click' (using whatever reward marker you want. a click, or a "Yes!" or a "Yup!" or a "Good!" (although I personally dont like to use good) works just as well) and treat when the dog is in the position that is acceptable. They are going to learn that position is what gets them rewards. When he is pulling ahead BEFORE he hits the end of the line, change directions on him, and kind of drag him till he's with you. When he's in that good position again 'click' and treat again. Pretty soon, he's going to figure out that pulling ahead does him no good and being next to you pays out.

Hope that helps!
Ashley

I cant belive how well the aforementioned changing directions worked! my pup was obedient until it came time for a walk- 2 hours of this method with short run around breaks as a reward for consistency has instilled the habit of never leaving my side with the leash on. This forums a goldmine of information!

Thanks for the update, that's great!! Keep up the good job

I am now using a "Freedom Harness" it not only hooks to the martingale style loop on the back (for a dog that doesn't need as much control), but also has a hook on the chest of the harness, and the leash has 2 hook son it so that you can attach to both rings and then becomes the ultimate "power steering" for an unruly pup. As time progresses, you can switch to just attaching to the front, then to the back hook. It not only is a fabulous training tool, but empowers the owners confidence!

Badazz wrote:Prong collars etc are a quick fix for the situation but will not take care of the problem. Peggy's method is a better way to create a good contact with your dog and obtaining obedience without other tolls than your voice and attitude.

A method I also use is the same method used for horses.You lead the dog in the leash make sure it's behind you, following you at all time. When it pulls in another direction - you turn in the opposite and "pull" the dog with you. best place to train this method is on a large field empty parking lot etc where you have plenty of space and have the opportunity to move wherever you need to keep the dog following YOUR lead no matter what direction you have to go. You don't have to say anything to the dog not even look at it, pretend you are carrying a bag and walk with determined steps look straight forward and always turn to the opposite direction than where you dog is trying to lead you.

This method worked wonders with my two very persistent ladies Katica & Muffins who would not sub comb to any "normal" training methods. Bets part is I don't have to grab them yell at them or get agitated at all. Just keep calm and be consistent. You might have to march around for a good while before the dog gets the idea, but when he does you will have a dog that will look at you all times always waiting for directions and with a calm confident attitude.

I use this method every time I go out for a walk with my dogs. If they are riled up when we get out from the front door I start walking back and forth to the sides, for as long as it takes for them to collect themselves, calm down, and start following me instead of trying to lead me.

I don't know if anyone else anywhere has tried this method because I adopted it from a show I saw about horses, thought this might be something to try on my dogs. And it turned out to be a fantastic way to become the "leader" without any fuss or complications.

ooops...meant to quote the badazz comments above my reply
Very good advice Badazz.... I use this training method as well. I also, after alot of ground work has been done with leash training, on my own and in obedience class, walk the dogs with them at my side at all times until they are given the command to "break" to sniff or do their business. This control has really helped me walk two dogs together and look like I am in comlete control....even if they stil pull a little when they are exited. In my experience...most athletic dogs will pull through parts of your walk and really don't "get it" fully till they are about 5 (but then... maybe I havn't worked on the heal enough.... they are tough dogs, no doubt)

I put my 6 month old pup on a front hook harness yesterday and what a difference it made! I am also using the techniques described by X-pertice (also learned about that in our obedience class). She did great yesterday, and walked relaxed by my side for most of our walk. She still gets highly distracted by other dogs and people (wants to go play) but she is getting there. Class again tonight....