Walking nicely on the lead .........

[Delia Bryce]

Hi

 

Murphy seems to have developed a ponchant for pulling me on the lead ....... This is new as he was actually doing heel very well on the lead,  but as he is almost 10mths he must be bored with it now! :-)

 

Our walk goes a bit like this, 5 mins from the house to the fields where he is fine (was actually good before) then he is off to run and play for maybe 30 mins or so but rather than walk home through the fields I like to take him along the very quiet road and its then when he is pulling worst of all .... I sense a tiny objection to my choice of route but hey ho we are walking and he needs to be on the lead .... Now he isnt charging ahead but he does want to sniff every blade of grass no matter how far from the pavement! He is (thank god) remembering to stop at the road ends, what I mean is he hasnt totaly reverted back to the I hate the lead days .......

 

We are having our first frosty mornings and although I am usually in wellies I am aware this could go a bit wrong as he is a strong boy ........

 

Few things I am not keen on are choker chains and the body harness things but I have seen dogs on the nose type harnesses? Oh and when I taught heel it went a bit like this;

 

Sit (treat in my hand)

then saying heel as we walked him staying in close to me as we walk with a loose yet short lead ....

 

How would you all have done it? and what are your thoughts on harnesses ........

 

Thing is he is so good and will hardly go out of my sight why is he still pulling as it must hurt !

 

Thanks

[silvia]

adding my peanuts on this... have you tried to change directions all times? it is a tip we had at the puppy training school: everytime he pulls in one direction just suddenly change it, going back or left or whatever in circle.. he's supposed to be confused and follow the lead... well, of course is frustrating if he have to go somewhere on time, but when i spend time doing this I notice it works, eventually.. I look a bit strange to other people in the street, going back and forward on the pavement, but eventually Oberon understand that we *never* go in the direction he choose.. not sure it works on the long time, lets hope :)

[Sue Paterson]

I now train all my dogs to a Halti from about 4 to 5 months as sometimes I need to road walk two together and as adults they can be way to strong for poor little old me! Steo walked well as a littl'un but I still trained him to a Halti for a few weeks...he's only 7 months now and walks very well to heel ( well with a tug now and then) but I now have the option of the Halti when I need it. Yes they do ride up sometimes, but with the usual training to treats incorporated, nothing too drastic for the majority of the time. I have also used a leather Dogmatic for Bridie, but she's now walked on the roads by my husband who relies on his strength in times of trouble! So a good aid to training I feel. And yes I've had comments over the years about 'muzzles' and am always happy to tell people all about the ins and outs of training aids. They can't wait to get away from me Ha Ha!!!!

[Lindsey Jones]

Dear Delia,

I use a Canny Collar www.cannyco.co.uk when walking the dogs on the lead I use a size 3 for my setters and could hold them with my little finger! Brilliant!

Hope you find this useful Lindsey

[Henry's Mom]

Hi Delia, I read with interest your letter about pulling on the lead. I too was apprehensive about tackling the icy pavements on the end of the lead when Henry decides to go!! As a rule I don't have big problems with him pulling, but as has been said danger is around the corner when weather conditions are bad. It is no problem for Henry to pull all 8st of me in any direction he wants to go if there is a rabbit to chase or a scent that has to be investigated. At 15 months old of course that is to be expected. In the interest of self preservation and his safety maybe more importantly, I have purchased an infin8 head collar. It arrived this morning and after about an hour of fitting procedure, we went on our first outing... It is a dream....... I can't believe the difference, I could have attached a piece of thread to it and arrived home safe and sound. The best £14-99 I have ever spent. One has to be gentle, use lots of reassuring words and favourite titbits but hey, this is the business!!!

[Delia Bryce]

Great news! I have bought the dogmatic and am very pleased with it too ..... So far so good!

[Cathy Smythe]

Hi - what size infin8 did you buy? I want to get the boys one, but can't find my tape measure anywhere for getting the size right!

[Cathy Smythe]

Thanks Fran : )

[Henry's Mom]

The one I bought for Henry is a size 4 and fits well. I didn't have a soft tape measure so I used a piece of ribbon and then measured that;-)) Used it again this morning and the pleasure of no pulling is beyond words ;-))))) Also, I attach my training lead to his normal collar and (if you have any horse riding experience) hold the end attached to the infin8 in left hand, dog on your left and the other end attached to normal collar in right hand. This way with a gentle 'half halt' it is such a sweet sensation to have the control without any pressure on the pooch. Good luck!