Stopping a dog from pulling on walks - suggestions?

[rsieg]

This is about Ninja, my recently adopted mixed kelpie/shepherd, but as this seems to be a generic dog question I thought I could slip it in on this forum.

My question: Does anyone have a good way to limit the extent of a dog pulling on the leash during walks? Ninja loves walks, which is great, I’m getting back in shape walking him. But, he frequently pulls on the leash. He has short “good” intervals, but as soon as he senses anything of interest (strange smell, squirrel!, dog!, wind-blown leaf!, …) he lunges toward it. Not aggressive, he just wants to chase or play. It does give me a full-body workout on walks, but I'd love to be able to take a nice, sedate walk with him.

First suggestion I got was to carry treats and give him one to draw his attention to me when he goes for something. It kind of worked, until he gets bored with the treats, and it does not work at all if the stimulus is too strong (squirrel!, dog!, blowing leaf!).

At the dog obedience class we were told to immediately stop walking and wait till he stops pulling. Nice idea, but (a) we would never get anywhere, and (b) he doesn’t necessarily stop pulling if I stop. Other suggestions at the class there were to use a spray bottle with vinegar (not hit him in the face but close enough to smell), or use a pinch collar. I'm not going to use a pinch collar no matter what. I have tried a spray bottle with water (not vinegar, I think that could be damaging to the eyes). It works, but its not really practical to carry a spray bottle on a walk and pull it out just as he is lunging at something. (BTW, when he sees a dog he can pull full-strength on the leash and still loudly bark - I have no idea how he does that without blocking his windpipe.)

On my own, I’ve tried pulling back on the leash when he gets to the end and starts pulling. It does nothing: he doesn’t seem to get it, or just doesn’t care. I sometimes pick him up to walk past if he is getting overly excited about another dog (one benefit of having a sub-30 pound dog), but that's obviously not a workable long term solution.

I'm hopeful he will grow out of this (at least to do it less, I’m still not sure how old he is but positive the rescue’s estimate of 2 ½ is high), but does anyone have any other practical approaches that might actually work? Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

[1Moregrey]

I love the gentle leader for dogs just like this.  You really have to just stop and let him self correct.  If done properly no pulling on the neck, does not interfere with breathing and as fast as he learns how to walk like you want put a leash to his collar and walk him with a double leash like you would ride a horse with double reins. Work at it until you are only using the collar but have the gl on for backup.

I know that was fast and a lot of info.  Point is they work great and the dog gets it fast then you wean them back to a collar as it is a training tool.

 

[Houndtime]

I have the Two Hounds No Pull Harness and I think it really works.  I use the double lead with it.

Edited November 14, 2023 by Houndtime

[rsieg]

1Moregrey & Houndtime, thanks for these ideas! I've never used a harness, I see how that chest connection and the double lead would give more control, and similarly with the gentle leader. Only challenge might be getting either of those on Ninja as he doesn't tend to stay still even having his collar put on :-)

[spottydog]

Re: getting the gentle lead and/or harness on - hold a treat so he is looking through the loop that goes over the muzzle or head, slip in on as you are giving the treat. Bob’s your uncle!

[Scoutsmom]

If you use just a collar or a harness where the leash clips to the back (top), the dog will instinctively lean into the harness and pull.  Get a harness with the clip in the front on the dog's chest.  When the dog pulls, he will get pulled to the side, defeating his purpose in pulling.  This has worked wonders with my pit bull mix who is a VERY strong puller.  Now I can walk her and be in control.

[Apollo_the_Grey]

I know I'm late to the party but here's my take.

I adopted a 5 year old cirneco that pulled like she was a husky.  Literally 22lbs of "we are going my way."  The method I used to untrain that behavior is very very simple, but requires patience.

I turn into a tree.  I stop moving, sometimes I'll change direction, sometimes I just stop.  The second she relaxes, I "good girl" her and we move on.  The second the leash gets taut again, I stop.  Rinse, repeat.  Additionally, you can add something further: as the human, you can wait for your dog to look at you, or even turn their ear towards you.  Once you get that little bit of attention: start moving again and praise verbally.   It takes about 1 week for most dogs to figure this out.  My headstrong little Cassie took about 3 weeks, and she still occasionally relapses when there are squirrels about.  But generally she is a treasure to walk with, just as Apollo is.

Edited January 16 by Apollo_the_Grey