Posts Tagged ‘pulling on leash’
Dog Pulling on Leash – How to Fix It
Are you one of those dog owners who has to deal with the incredibly frustrating behavior of a dog who refuses to listen to you on your walks — who pulls on the leash until you feel like your arm will be pulled off, rather than simply walking quietly by your side.
A dog pulling on leash is a sign that they believe they are running the show and that you’re simply there to follow their leadership. As a result, they’ll often pay attention to squirrels, other dogs, new smells, bicycles, kids on skateboards…essentially anything other than you, his owner and handler.
It’s a very common behavior problem among the dogs I train, but it’s extremely easy to solve.
What’s even more helpful is to see videos of trainers who know how to walk with their dogs so you can really watch their methods.
We’ll talk about this more in a second.
First, we need to cover three very easy fixes for your dog pulling on leash issue.
1. The Pack Leader Harness. It’s unfortunate, but pretty much all of the collars that are available today make this problem worse, because they basically encourage your dog to want to pull even harder.
Instead of a typical collar, a choke chain, or a prong collar, try a different method such as a Pack Leader Harness. This type of harness fits in exactly the right way around your dog’s body and applies pressure where you need it in order to focus the dog’s attention back on the handler.
On the Internet, this type of harness is very easy to find. Just do a quick search on Google and you’ll find places where you can order it.
2. Learn what you can about training with a clicker. Clickers are a great tool, kind of like the duct tape of dog training tools. It can really help you in training your dog to avoid a whole host of unwanted behaviors, so it’s worth considering learning how to use one.
Simply put, the dog starts to expect something positive when he hears the click. After you plant this expectation in your dog’s mind, he’ll instinctively start to focus his attention on you as soon as he hears the clicker sound.
We don’t have a tremendous amount of space in this article to go through the ins and outs of clicker training, but there are plenty of resources where you can learn the basics.
A clicker is useful in correcting leash pulling, because the sound will redirect a dog’s attention away from the distraction and back on you.
3. Food rewards. Any dog owner knows the power of the food treat to mold a dog’s behavior. When using treats to stop a dog’s leash pulling problem, what you basically want to do is introduce the food to your dog, and then let the dog use his naturally powerful sense of smell to direct his attention and his movements in the direction you want.
This is a little bit difficult to demonstrate without actually seeing it done, so let’s cover that right now.
Thankfully, stopping a dog from pulling on his leash isn’t all that difficult. I’ve been on a lot of TV programs where I’ve shown dog owners these very same techiques, so I’d like to show you a complete video that reveals exactly how to do this in less than half an hour.
Right now, check out this dog pulling on leash post on my website, where you’ll find a complete tutorial that teaches you how to use a pack leader harness, a clicker, or food rewards (or all three) to train your dog to walk calmly by your side and always listen to what you want him to do.
Two Best Dog Training Commands To Stop Dog Pulling
When we first get our new puppy or a dog from rescue, we typically wish to know what kind of training, if any, the dog knows. Sit is about the very first thing a dog learns so many dogs know this one, even puppies. But as we move thru life with our dogs it is terribly helpful for humans to be able to direct the dogs from one place to another.
Having your dog pulling on lead is a bad habit that needs correcting instantly. This behavior makes for annoyed owners and possibly hurts the dog’s neck. There is a technique to change this behavior.
It sure would be convenient if our dogs could change direction or wait for a few minutes whilst we made our way to the automobile, round the block or in the house? Having a dog run across a busy street is frightening and deadly. That is something that occurs too often and can be curtailed.
My dog trainer, John Spieser, says that the first 2 commands he teaches a dog or a puppy are “wait” and “this way”. Using these two commands he can get a dog to go just about anywhere he wishes them to and keep the dog safe along the way. This is also used to get a dog to stop pulling on the leash.
The command “wait” is simple to coach your dog. For some reason, wait, feels temporary to a dog so he’s more prepared to wait there than to “stay” somewhere for ages. “Wait” is good for street corners. Tell your dog to “wait” at the corner while traffic passes. Or maybe your dog needs to stay calm whilst another dog, kids, bikes or whatever passes by. Perhaps you want him to wait for his food. Irrespective of the reason, the dog learns that it is only a temporary situation, soon to be followed by the release ( which is rewarding ) and doubtless more certainly stimulating for the dog.
The “this way” command is much better than come. The recall or “come” command tends to get over used and dogs may get resentful after hearing it often. Using “this way” allows the dog to keep moving but in a different direction. If your dog is running away from you and doesn’t respond to the typical recall command of “come”, then try implementing “this way” into your coaching routine. A dog hears this as a chance to please and still keeps moving. It’s much less restrictive to the dog and it is actually simple to coach this to a dog.
For more effective communication with your dog, try dog coaching commands that teach your dog how to move with you without being too restrictive. Consider making “wait” and “this way” a first part of your repertoire.
These two commands are successfully employed in changing the leash pulling behavior too. The two dog training commands that make the most sense are ones that give you a lot of versatility with your dog.
Get your dog or puppy moving where you need him using these 2 dog training instructions. Stop your dog pulling. Listen in the free audio from my dog trainer John Spieser.