Puppy Pulling On Collar

[SarahJ88]

So I took my 12 week old golden retriever to puppy obedience this past tuesday and she was pulling that much that she was choking herself trying to get to the other dogs to play. So my question is, what is the best harness/ collar etc to get her? I want to get a harness but considering that she is growing every day it's hard to know what kind to get and I don't want to have to keep buying 5 different harness'

Thanks in advance

[MolassesLass]

Why are you getting the harness? If it's because she was making choking noises, then you're looking at the problem wrong. You need to train your dog NOT to pull on the leash - which she won't learn overnight, esp. at just 12 weeks old - but this is why you go to training.

[poodlefan]

My recommendation is that you persist with the collar. Your obedience club should hopefully be teaching you how to get her focus on you and reward her for NOT pulling. You've only attended one lesson so don't give up hope.

Putting a harness on her will simply give her more power to pull. With some guidance you should be able to teach her to walk on a loose lead without having to wear a harness that will tangle her fur and potentially rub her.

[persephone]

What did the instructor/supervisor at the class tell you ?

Ideally ,you should be doing LOTS of practice walking on flat collar/lead at home..around the yard, in the house..rewarding a loose leash, praising your puppy ..so she gets used to walking that way without all the distractions!!

Puppies/dogs can be trained to a very high standard on an ordinary flat collar.

training a puppy/dog is all to do with the person holding the end of the leash - NOT what the dog is wearing

You might get some ideas from reading this page CLICK HERE

[Red Fox]

Sounds like a normal puppy

Keep her on the flat collar, or if you think she can slip it perhaps try a martingale or limited slip collar instead.

Teach her to focus on you/walk on a loose leash away from the group, move at your dogs pace (not everybody elses) and join only when your dog is ready. It might take some time... Don;t allow your dog to socialise/play with other dogs before or during class time. Class is for work - play comes later. If she is tired or bored give her a break.

^^Some intstructors may not like that, however do what's best for your dog. One of the biggest mistakes I made with my own dog as a puppy was forcing him into a class when he wasn't ready because I thought I was "doing the right thing".

For some dog a class environment is just way too much excitement. Start in a low distraction area and work up rather than throwing her in the deep end. It's worth it. Your puppy won't learn anything whlie she's straining at the end of her leash too worked up to concentrate.

Forget about a harness, it won't help and will only encourage the puling. Don't bother with a halti or no pull/front attaching harness either, particularly if you are wanting to move up through the classes and eventually work off leash.

[TeamSnag]

Have u tried a martingale collar? I use them on my pups

[persephone]

A flat collar/martingale/harness - whatever you buy , YOU need to learn WHY it works , and HOW and WHEN to use it correctly .

That is really important ...

To address a problem of pulling, a puppy owner needs to understand why puppy is pulling ... what needs to be done to correct it,and how to carry out the actions involved.

For example - a puppy who wants to play needs to be handled differently to a puppy who is being a bit pushy/wants to bully another ...and differently again to a puppy whose excitement/ pulling is because they want to submit /appease.....

[Bracken]

If you do go for a harness, get a front-leading one. They help stop the pup from pulling by causing them to turn whenever they try to pull forwards. This makes pulling less fun for them as they are continuously being turned away from whatever they are trying to reach and can help teach them to look at things while standing on a loose leash.

Maybe you could try using the front-leading harness on walks and at class to reduce the pulling there and then train with the flat collar at home where your pup will be less stimulated to pull.

[Scarlett Dog]

My pooch has always been a bit of a puller- although not to the point of choking herself. We are using an infin8 with her at the moment purely because we can take the nose strap off/on depending on when she's pulling.

Whatever you use you need to be consistent and have plenty of patience. One thing I've learnt is you can never be in a hurry to get anywhere with your puppy!

Goodluck!

[sas]

It's not really about the type of collar/harness, it's about training pup. Right now pup has a really high value on other dogs, so this is something you may like to work on, there is a method K9 Pro have called the Handbrake Method that helps teach dogs self control and calmness around other dogs, that might be something you're interested in.

Whilst your pup is learning you could try popular gadgets like the front connetcing harness, there are different designs and some work with some dogs and some don't - like any other training aid.

If you're interested in Clicker Training, Kinkopup's You Tube videos are alwats a winner: http://www.youtube.com/user/kikopup?blend=1&ob=4

[luvsdogs]

It's not really about the type of collar/harness, it's about training pup. Right now pup has a really high value on other dogs, so this is something you may like to work on, there is a method K9 Pro have called the Handbrake Method that helps teach dogs self control and calmness around other dogs, that might be something you're interested in.

Whilst your pup is learning you could try popular gadgets like the front connetcing harness, there are different designs and some work with some dogs and some don't - like any other training aid.

If you're interested in Clicker Training, Kinkopup's You Tube videos are alwats a winner: http://www.youtube.com/user/kikopup?blend=1&ob=4

Puppies need training, I used the stop/go method which works to a point but you have to keep at it, & she's nowhere the puller my other dogs have been without this method.

Love this site, you''ll find lots of videos on all manner of dog problems there.

[sheena]

I have just finished watching "Foundation Fundamentals" disc 4 & it was about teaching your pup to walk by your side. Starts off.. you need a bulldog clip (coloured with some tape), treats & a clicker. Sitting on the floor, give value to the clip by clicking & treating each time pup touches the clip with his nose. When you have this going well, then attach clip to part of your clothing (still on the floor)..pup nose touches..you click & treat. Always treat as close to the clip as possible. When you have this going well, then stand up & clip the clip to your trousers at pup's nose height. Pup touches ..you click & treat. Next step put pup in a sit stay & step away (facing away from pup). Call pup to you & if pup doesn't line up nicely with your leg as he sniffs the clip then move your body to straighten up..click & treat. Last step, do it at a walk...first treating every couple of steps & gradually extend this. Take plenty of time on each session before moving to the next & break it up with lots of play. When you have mastered it, gradually fade out the clip by treating when pup moves into position & walks nicely by your side with focus on you. Have fun At any time you feel you are not getting anywhere, go back a bit in the training.

ETA you need TWO identical clips because when you get up to the standing stage where pup is touching the clip, you need to have one on the other leg to teach both sides. Also when up to walking stage, with a clip on both legs you can do front crosses & turns. You can use clothes pegs instead of clips or anything that you can attach to make a target.

Edited January 30, 2011 by sheena

[jessie86]

Our pup used to pull like crazy, we bought the easy walker lead from pet barn, and it has 100% worked.

Its amazing, our puppy school recommended it, he is now a pleasure to walk!

[BMAK]

Agree on teaching the puppy to walk on a loose lead and to settle and focus rather than changing equipment so soon.

Don't forget your pup is only 12 weeks and very much a baby , and still hasn't had all it's vaccinations yet.

So he hasn't been seen many dogs before until now, he is obviously very excited to see everything from dogs/smells/people/kids/noises, Don't forget 'patience' and do the majority of your training at home with no distractions you will be better off when you go to your training.

I didn't know you could go to obedience clubs and start with a pup at this age, at the one i go to as they must be fully vaccinated?

I Don't whether it is a positive thing or negative, i know it is good to start young and from the get go, but the risk of having grounds where other dogs pee/poop who may not be vaccinated as well as so many other risks.

Anyway wish you good luck on your training.

[GoldenGirl85]

Our pup used to pull like crazy, we bought the easy walker lead from pet barn, and it has 100% worked.

Its amazing, our puppy school recommended it, he is now a pleasure to walk!

Ahh, but can you walk your puppy on a flat collar now?

Training aides are great to fix a problem, but they arent a fix on their own, you also need to teach puppy WHY we dont pull. It takes time, but at the end of the day its better than relying on a harness to do the job for you

[princess_nat_88]

My puppy goes a bit silly sometimes pulling when we go for walks because he is so excited, until he calms down. I have a puppia harness and it's great because it doesnt pull around his neck and choke him.

[aussielover]

What did your obedience club recommend?

Personally I'd keep the puppy on a flat collar. I'd ask the instructor if I could stand further away from other dogs at a distance where my puppy wasn't too excited by the others. Gradually you can move closer as you are better able to gain your pups attention.

I found in between exercises the hardest to keep the puppy calm, so I would ask if I could bring a toy or give food rewards to the pup for keeping her attention on me.

[Dogsrawesome]

I wouldn't recommend a harness at all they are designed for a dog to pull for example sled dogs and search and rescue dogs. Harnesses will just make him want to pull. A normal collar and training training training

[stonecutter]

We're having issues with pulling as well. Ziva is great on lead inside the house or in our backyard - we do loose leash training inside with kibble similar to the clicker video - but no clicker, just the marker word. But as soon as we leave our house - she gets so excited by all the different smells.

We stop every few metres for training (sit or down). I'll try the methods from the Dr Dunbar link.

[fuzzy82]

I wouldn't recommend a harness at all they are designed for a dog to pull for example sled dogs and search and rescue dogs. Harnesses will just make him want to pull. A normal collar and training training training

I wouldn't say a harness makes him WANT to pull. It makes it less uncomfortable to pull, yes.

I swapped over from a collar to a harness when my puppy was about 6 months old, because he would occasionally lunge at things going past and then cough and hack and I was worried about his trachea. He instantly transferred everything he knew about loose leash walking to the harness, and it was never an issue. I recently tried walking him without the harness, and it made no difference as to how much he tried to pull (I thought maybe he would pull less in a collar, but he didn't).

I started out just stopping and waiting for him to sit whenever he pulled. That didn't work at all, he didn't care and would just run right to the end of the leash as soon as we started walking again, and I would literally have to stop every 3 steps the whole walk. I then started giving him penalty walks, ie turning around and walking the opposite way a few metres then turn back and continue the way we were going, which worked much better. He's now pretty good most of the time, but still sometimes pulls towards a scent (which I never let him get away with, I either make him sit and ask for it, or do a penalty walk).

I also tried rewarding for walking next to me, but he got so focused on the treats and was walking in the heel position with his head up and forging, and it was too annoying. I don't want him walking at heel, I just wanted him casually next to me. But he was either in a forging heel or he would get distracted by a scent and leave my side altogether.

I still have plans to teach him to walk next to me, but in a casual way with his head in a natural position, but because he's good most of the time we have been working on other stuff instead.