Advice needed please

[Kaz and Harvey]

This might be long I'm sorry

Harvey has been a nightmare today....he has not been socialised with other dogs due to his last owners being for want of a better word...Nuggets! and barks like mad at them but not in an aggresive way, he pulls you all over the place and I am quite a strong girl and he nearly had me off my feet earlier!

MIL has a white shepherd who is about 4, they have met and it all went well until Harvey became playful and Kiera (MIL dog) started to growl at him!

I have bought a halti but struggled to get it on him so am trying to introduce it to him slowly

I have looked into classes but they are charging £16 per session which I think is quite dear!

When he is on his own he is great and doesnt pull, but I am fed up of other dog owners looking at me as though I cannot control my lovely dog

So my question is....what can I do to stop this big strong willful dog from pulling me when he sees another dog?

Thank you in advance

[sami]

The way I dealt with it is to make the dog sit as another dog approaches and to command "leave" and rewarding if they do a good job.

I found trying to carrying on walking was too difficult to control.

Tracy

[kita]

Would he carry something like a ball/rope/toy in his mouth?

It is difficult to bark when your mouth is full!

Other than that I would persist with the Halti, I used to attach the lead to the collar first then hook it through the ring on the Halti, that way it does not ride up as much and you also don't get the sharp jerk on their neck. It still gives you the 'power steering' though.

When you put it on hold a treat through it and as it goes over his nose give him the treat.

If he learns that he cannot go out the door for a walk without it - believe me he will soon love you putting it on!!

Sue

[Stuart]

Dogs normally pull because they want to get where you are going fast, so the idea is to confuse them a little.

Everytime your dog starts to pull, tighten your hold on the lead, and change direction fast, then let the lead go loose,.. when he pulls tighten the lead and change direction again, and loosen the lead,.. keep doing this untill he is unsure which way you want to go, and he will eventualy stop the pulling,..it will not happen over night, but you should see results reasonably fast

I managed to get all my dogs to walk with me almost perfectly, the problem I have is walking all three, when I get them together they then feed of each other and the competion to pull starts,..turning with three dogs is not easy.

This happens only in the first 50 yards, after that they settle down, so together with answering Kaz`s question if anyone can shed light on my closely related problem please do so,...... but it is Kaz`s thread, so please answer that one first

[GV9297]

Hi Kaz

Welcome to my world - I had and sometimes still have this with Diesel. (He was a rescue not socialised etc etc - didn't get him until he was 15 months and 43 kg - its no fun wrestling with that) The amount of times I would be so embarrased by his behaviour.

This is an extract from KazP's latest thread "is this really my dog" and this is what I also did with Diesel - only it was harder with Diesel as he is not a foodie dog so not that into treats.

"He began by walking Abi on the lead indoors… loads of treats were used to reinforce a good heel position.

Once Abi had got the hang of it, he walked her in the front garden… if she started to pull, he simply stopped and started walking in the other direction (just a few paces)… again lots of chicken and praise were used. Everything was gentle and slow... no yanking the lead or frustration creeping in.

After that she was walked up the lane using the same technique… patience was the key. Gradually she was introduced to people and dogs… this was a little more tricky for me. Well in advance of the actual meeting, there was a lot of walking towards the person / dog, turning around, walking away, then turning back towards them… I guess to reinforce you being ‘in charge’.

Every walk commenced indoors for a couple of minutes."

Search for the thread have a read and see what you think. I would perservere with the Halti - remember you are in charge...... x x

[LOVEGSD]

I would practice lead walking in the home & garden, then practice outside. I used the change direction method with Diesel and I now walk him on a flat collar and lead with no problems.