Dobedad

Town Hall Topic – Loose Leash Walking

* How did you teach your Doberman to not pull on a leash? Any particular methods did you use?
Still a bit of a problem at a year and a half old. We use a "gentle leader" (very similar to a halti) and she will not pull. Flat collar and if she is not in a heel, she'll run as far ahead as the leash will allow. I hate to have her always on a heel when we're walking for an hour but she just doesn't quite realize that pulling me in any direction she wants is not acceptable. I think she pulls ahead because the farther ahead she is, the more time she'll have to sniff, pickup, etc. any interesting object we come across.

* At what age did you start to see any improvements? How often do they need reminders?
Every day she needs reminders but around a year old she definitely improved.

* What type of collar and leash do you use? (prong, harness, flexi, etc)
Generally use a flat leather collar. Used a gentle leader for much of our walking from about 6-12 months of age. We use a 6 foot leash for most walking. Also have a 16 foot leash we let her drag in the open field behind our house.

* What distractions are the hardest to overcome?
Pretty much other dogs are her biggest distraction. She thinks every dog is her best friend and every dog just wants to play and chase as much as she does. Also people that she knows well will cause her way too much excitement.

* Are there any particular situations that you find more difficult to walk in than others? (Large crowds, parks, other dogs around)
Parks or well travelled routes where there are just tons of smells to get her attention. She probably walks the best when we are in crowds, i think becuase she's a little overwhelmed.

Kratty

* How did you teach your Doberman to not pull on a leash? Any particular methods did you use?

After many unsuccessful attempts, we did not really make any progress until we were in puppy kindergarden classes where they explained a technique that helped us out alot. It was very important that we need to have Nikita paying attention to us during the whole walk or needed to be aware of our presence. Also she needed to know we were deciding where we go, not her. We used the "Name Game" to work on her attention. When we walked we would call her name, if she looked at us, she got rewarded. Very quickly she learned this and responded to it. While walking, she would have to slow down and walk next to us to get the reward. this helped with get her to walk next to us. She even started to look at us without asking, because she wanted a reward. If she did this, she got rewarded. We also used the "Anchor Method". If she made the leash tight, we wouldn't move. Once the leash was loose again, we proceeded. If she was starting to lead us, I changed our directions. This caused her to follow us. She learned this quickly too. She had to be aware of where I was going, or she would tugged in that direction. Using those techniques helped out tremdously

* At what age did you start to see any improvements? How often do they need reminders?

We started seeing improvements around 7 or 8 months. It took about 3 months of hard work to get to this point. Sometimes it would take us an hour just to go around the block, which now only takes ten minutes....She still needs reminders at times, but not like it used to be.

* What type of collar and leash do you use? (prong, harness, flexi, etc)

We started this training using a Premiers No-Pull Harness. This is a great tool. Everytime she would pull, it would cause her shoulders to be pulled together which would slow her down and cause her to swing back towards us. Now, we only use a a flat collar. I like the double handled leash for walks. Its a regular 6 ft leash and has an additional handle about 2ft from the collar connector. We use this alot and is great for walking in crowded areas. The length keeps them pretty close to a heel position.

* What distractions are the hardest to overcome?

Everything was hard to overcome at first, but I found if you see the distraction first, you can get the attention first before you come up to it. This made it alot easier. If you do not see the distraction, then its very difficult to overcome.

* Are there any particular situations that you find more difficult to walk in than others? (Large crowds, parks, other dogs around)

Its usually when we go to a new area we have not been in, that we have some issues at first. But now we can work through it with OB commands which can pretty much resolve them in the first 5 minutes. I try to expose her to every possible scenario I can. If we come upon a distraction that is new, we will work on that right there and now, until its not a distraction. By recognizing the distraction first is key, if not, then getting her attention back to you is my next step....I've learned alot about myself, by all this frustration and work that needs to be done. But its all worth it.

Codysmom

* How did you teach your Doberman to not pull on a leash? Any particular methods did you use?

when we were training Cody, we fount the choke chain to be pretty worthless. My daughter would always put the gentle leader on him. I would use the prong collar. after a while I did the stop/start method mentioned above. as soon as he started to pull we stopped. sometimes it was every step, but before the walk was over he got it.


* At what age did you start to see any improvements? How often do they need reminders?
Cody started to improve about 2 years old. and needed constant reminders, particularly if he hadn't been out for a couple days.
Apollo, appears to never have been on a leash by his behaviour. Odd, considering he has impeccable house maners. So I will likely be taking 3 hour walks around the block soon with him.

* What type of collar and leash do you use? (prong, harness, flexi, etc)
Apollo came with a nylon collar with the same configureation as a prong collar, and that works ok. What is a flexi and a sensation harness?


* What distractions are the hardest to overcome?

small children with ice cream that is mouth level

Are there any particular situations that you find more difficult to walk in than others? (Large crowds, parks, other dogs around)

we haven't really had Apollo out in these situations yet, so I really don't know

Great thread Kratty. I have definitely learned a bunch from it.

dobiegurl

How did you teach your Doberman to not pull on a leash? Any particular methods did you use?
At first I used the 180 method which is when your dog gets ahead of you you turn the opposite way but Chico decided he was still going to continue his way. I tried alot of different techniques I can't remember but eventually I turned to pulling his collar.



At what age did you start to see any improvements? How often do they need reminders?
I started seeing improvements with Chico's heeling at about 12 to 15 weeks old, then at about 6 months he went through a "I don't remember anythign" phase. So I had to go back and re teach everything.

What type of collar and leash do you use? (prong, harness, flexi, etc)
I used a prong for training. When we are at the park he's on his buckle collar and 20ft lead. I tried a halti on him but he went crazy, so I stuck to the prong. Now he walks calmly on a buckle collar, but sometimes I have to put the prong on to correct him.

What distractions are the hardest to overcome?
The hardest distractions WERE other dogs. I had to work hard to make him ignore other dogs.

Are there any particular situations that you find more difficult to walk in than others? (Large crowds, parks, other dogs around)
Nope. My dog knows heel and thats all that matters. Nothing around him should matter (he should still be alert) and it never does.

LapDog

How did you teach your Doberman to not pull on a leash? Any particular methods did you use?

We do the standard put the dog on your left side and hold a treat in front of their nose. If they pull you say Back and guide them back, eventually you will be able to stand up straight and they will just watch you with their head and nose right by your left thigh.
We also sometimes walk the other direction that she is going...that way she learns to follow us. random turns on a longer leash they begin to catch on that they have to go where you go.

At what age did you start to see any improvements? How often do they need reminders?

Duchess is almost 2 and she still needs reminders...if we bust out the treats she is perfect! but when we don't have treats and a regular collar she needs to be reminded quite often.

What type of collar and leash do you use? (prong, harness, flexi, etc)

she knows when she is "working" and when she is just walking so for training we use a regular collar and 6 about a 2 ft. braided leash. she does perfect when she knows she is working...but On walks we put her prong on with a 2ft braided leash.

What distractions are the hardest to overcome?

She tends to naturally walk faster than we do on walks now that she is older...but as a puppy her nose was GLUED to the floor smelling everything!

Are there any particular situations that you find more difficult to walk in than others? (Large crowds, parks, other dogs around)

she walks better in large crowds...I would actually say she does worse when there are no distractions...she is great with other dogs on the leash since we have always taken her to the pet store as a puppy and to training facilities to train.

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