Possible to teach dog not to tug against leash w/o prong?

clipclop · 06-20-2008, 05:15 PM

I know its a lengthy title... but will it be 100% necessary to outfit Wyatt with a prong collar so he gets the message to not yank my arm off? Right now i've been working with him and using a sharp leash pop but I must say it doesnt always get the message across. I am going to schedule a session with his trainer for next weekend.. but wanted to get the opinions from some of the people on this board as to what I can do to get the message across...

**voodoolizard** · 06-20-2008, 05:24 PM

i have never used a prong.. probably cos ya cant buy them in the UK LOL.

we used a choaker for a while.. now we are on just normal collars.. they do ok but took a while, zeus is now 18 months and i can only now walk him with a normal collar !!

JavasMom · 06-20-2008, 05:27 PM

Have you tried keeping your ground and not moving an inch until he relaxes on the leash? Once he realizes that he's going nowhere fast until he stays by you (use a training lead and/or bunch up your lead in your hand to keep him closer to your side), he'll (slowly) start walking nicely. Puppies can take some convincing - everything is so new they just want to rush ahead and take it all in at once. Keep plenty of treats in your pockets for praise. Also helps to make a point of making him sit when you reach a corner, before you cross the road.

Java was as stubborn as they came w/o a prong during Obedience classes. A pop was a minor annoyance - she'd look back and keep on charging ahead - you'd think she was an Eskimo sled dog and not a Dobe! Once the instructor put the prong on, she was on her best behavior after 2-3 corrections. All I can suggest is that you give it time w/o a prong, and even w/ a prong it won't happen overnight. What you want is to work up to when you can walk w/o the prong collar on.

I think Caesar Milan's DVD and/or website has info on how to make your dog walk beside you.

Santa · 06-21-2008, 02:07 AM

Yes, it's possible but it takes a lot of time and patience. Zac was a rescue and had spent three years learning to pull on the lead. I didn't want to use a prong but I was starting to wonder if I'd have to, when finally he got it. It took about 10 months - a year of constant working on this. I still use a halti in certain situations too, but mostly we have cracked it.
This may sound weird but one of my biggest breakthroughs came when I stopped talking to him while walking. Usually I would always be chatting, always tell him 'No!' when he started to pull, praise him when he walked nicely etc. My trainer suggested I not do that, the reason being that he associates then being checked with an action I'm taking towards him and could treat it as a battle of wills. If I check him silently, he thinks it's something he's doing to himself and accepts it as a natural boundary - as in 'Oh, I can't reach over there in my lead, OK', as opposed to 'I want to go over there and I don't care if Mummy doesn't, I'm going anyway'. Hope that makes some sense!

2RescuedDobies · 06-21-2008, 02:38 AM

There are several things you can do. Use food to lure him into position by your left foot, giving him tasty tidbits whenever he walks next to you. You begin to phase the food out after becoming successful. The idea is the dog learns walking next to you earns him something good.

You can also become a pole and just wait him out. Praise when he is not pulling.

Or you could walk in the other direction, praise the dog when they follow. Just take care that you don't jerk the dog's neck as you turn. Motivate thedog to come with you become more intersting than everything else around him.

As far as using food as a reward, mix it up do'nt give him the same thing every time. Use high value treats when starting and lower value treats later to proof the behavior you want. Hope this helps

zeus and me · 06-21-2008, 04:09 PM

when my dog is not watching me I do a about face and go the other direction......a few quick changes and they watch me

hrd2gt · 06-21-2008, 08:00 PM

i use a leather choker. it doesnt slide around, and if you keep it high on their neck, it keeps them payin attention to you and i guess its more sensitive there so they tend not to pull.. slip leads work well too, i had that before i found my leather slip/choke collar.

**sebsyd** · 06-21-2008, 11:02 PM

I am not a fan of either the choke or prong collar although I realize that many are. My last girl died from Wobblers and I swore I would never use a choke again. I don't know if the collar contributed to her death or not, but I was not going to take the chance with my two new pups.
I have had a very long and trying time to teach these two how to behave on a regular leash. I didn't think that they would ever learn. I started walking with them for a very short time with lots of treats. We progressed to figure 8's. Then, we tried loose leash walking with treats. I learned to stop dead in my tracks and refuse to move the minute they started to pull. In time, they seemed to get the message, but would still pull if they saw something. Now at 1 yr and one at 10mo, I can honestly say that we have at last broken through and they are really very good at walking now without pulling. Patience has paid off.

2RescuedDobies · 06-22-2008, 01:38 AM

Sebsyd you are absolutely right Patience does pay off. I think at times we as handlers have to look at what our dogs are trying to tell us. Maybe they're not ready to progress as quickly as we want them to. Maybe we're not using a motivator they particularly love. Sometimes it just takes the dog a while longer to really learn the concept.