Any ideas as to how to stop your dog from pulling the lead?

[Senem Ertaylan]

Hi everyone, I was hoping to get some tips from you regarding loose leash walking.  Eva is 11 months old (we got her when she was 5 months old.) She's had basic obedience training and walking her has always been a challenge. I have tried using a harness and then a halter. No matter what I try she still pulls the lead. I also tried stopping when she pulls but no progress in 6 months.  She has a very sweet nature and she does behave very well over all but this is an issue that we need to solve so I will be grateful for some new ideas ;) Many thanks

[Dianne cook]

Hmmm....I feel a whole lot better after reading all this! My girls attend obedience and they are fairly good there. But at home in open spaces and along the country roads around us, they are steam trains!! One thing is for sure, there's no need to worry feeling quilty eating bad food I always know I'll burn it off when I take them on there walk. The breeder does jog with her Irish, tell me is this the pace the Irish keep till the end? They seem to prefer me at a power walking pace....as long as they don't zig zag in front of me and I end up on my face :0))
I have a figure 8 black dog head halter I might give that a go and see how one behaves!!
Goodluck Senem, let us know how you get on.

[Senem Ertaylan]

Hello again everyone, thank you for the great ideas. I will give them a try. It was a relief to see that this is a common problem.  we are not alone :) cheers again..

[david lyus]

we use a figure of 8 halter from Harvey Daniels gun dog supplies even if the dog gets the nose loop off which they occasionally do ,the bit around the neck tightens and becomes a standard gun dog slip.Even if the dog will walk to heel if you walk 2/3 of the blighters and they compete to be in front for pavement roadkill fast food.

[Dianne cook]

LOL....I can just see that picture of you David walking three setters and then they spot a take away meal :0))

[Ellen Turberfield]

Cornelia your photos could be me out walking Finlay, my neighbours laugh as I go past them at speed, when he was younger he would zig zag in front of me and did trip me up twice but on the way home he walks perfect it's because he doesn't want to go home (",)

[Gaby Clayton]

Hi, I can totally empathise with all of you who say you've tried everything you can think of! We were in the same position, but have finally gotten through to Finn, using a few techniques. Firstly, the CLICKER is an amazing tool! Finn isn't even that bothered about food but he loves to make the clicker click. When we first started out, we had a dog who would be at the end of any length of lead, scrabbling to pull as hard as he could after all the scents in the world. 

First of all we taught him 'close.' When he got to the end of the lead I would stop, say 'close' and wait for him to turn around and look at me. At that moment, he'd get a click and a treat. We used 'close' as meaning 'stay closer to me, and stop pulling' so it's different to 'heel' as he doesn't have to walk right at the heel. We progressed on from teaching him 'close' to getting him used to the idea that pulling was the opposite of what we want him to do. We'd walk along with him close, (saying 'close' or 'good close' or 'good boy' and clicking him and treating him often enough to keep him interested. Sometimes we'd do a 'find it' where he'd have to find a treat on the ground, which is a bit more fun for him and would get him really interested and excited about learning) and if he would start to pull, we'd turn around and walk the other way until he was walking nicely again, and then we'd continue on the walk. This bit could get really infuriating, but we persevered with it (thankfully!) 

I would VERY highly recommend using a clicker, without it, Finn would not have improved so much. He is now quite enjoyable to walk, though it's an ongoing thing as he's still young. 

Finally, another piece of advice is something a dog trainer told us. He pulls towards dogs and other animals. When he sees a dog, (for example,) I click him, though this has to be done before he has had time to start pulling at the dog. If he doesn't then respond to the click, I start walking backwards, saying 'good boy' in an exciting voice, and he comes back for a treat. He has already learnt that when he sees a dog, he gets a treat for coming back, and is SO much better at not pulling towards another dog! We don't see them often enough to have completely cracked this one though! :( 

Good luck with your training, I hope you find something useful and can enjoy your walks again! I never thought Finn would get to the stage he's at now, so please don't give up and resign yourself to a life of depressing walks! :)

[Deb Bouttell]

If I wanted to use the halti front harness, what size should I get? Evie is 15 months and smallish, I can't find a size guide. 

[Sue Paterson]

Whoa there! Just where did that come from and why?

Check out the forums...dead as a dodo in the main. I wonder why?

Sorry Deb I don't have an answer for you about harnesses but would be interested in how you get on if you get one, as I have thought of one for one of my strong young lads.

[Sue Paterson]

My reply above now looks somewhat odd, but I'm glad the post I responded to has been taken off as it was not appropriate.

[Jennie Benstead]

I use the medium size on both of mine they do adjust to make bigger or smaller...I would think that would be fine for you....they made a big difference with Riley and Cassie...good luck...

[Deb Bouttell]

Thank you Jenny, very useful and thank you Sue for   responding, someone told me what had been written...that's why I rarely use the site.