July 2nd, 2009
Leash Walking- Equipment tips
A great book on loose leash walking, or how to stop your dog from pulling is- My Dog Pulls. What Do I Do? by Turid Rugaas You can get this book on www.dogwise.com and other places too. Its very short and has lots of pictures. I would advise against using any forms of positive punishment when teaching any behavior, but especially leash walking, as startling or hurting a dog actually increases their stress hormones in their body causing the dog to be more hyperactive and more likely to become …
Tags: "dog, clicker, heel, how, leash, loose, obedience", on, teach, tips, to, training, walking
Filed under: Dog Training Tips
My dogs also wear harnasses but with the clip on the back. I’m not sure if we can buy the ones with the clip in the front, but I’m going to look for them
Oh darn. Yes, sounds like you’ve got the idea! That book Scaredy Dog by Ali Brown, is for shy dogs but also reactive dogs, but that is the basic way to counter condition. Now I can walk by this rotties house with Kiko and the dog slams against the gate barking and growling and Kiko doesnt even flinch. Her tail does go up a little, but thats no where near her exploding into demon chi mode like she used to
No… I’ve already tried that… He did get a little better but he still attacks other dogs (especially other males). So now, I’m trying to reward him for seeing dogs, just like you explained to fruitgrrl up in this page. Every time a dogs appears I reward him before he prepares to attack (yeap, he doesn’t show any signs, he attacks like a big cat, silently. Partiatly my fault…) and I keep rewarding him for ignoring the dogs while they pass by us. What do you think?
You know, it could be a little leash frustration- a lot of little dogs if you were to let go of the leash, they would stop barking and go to greet the dog in a normal way. So having the impulse control to be able to walk towards other dogs on a loose leash would in fact help with the reactivity. My little chi was like that, and every blue moon will regress- she does NOT like loose Black Labs running full speed in her direction!
I actually dont mind it then, as I dont like loose dogs either
I know! I will be using Doodle in more videos! She’s a hit!
That Doodle Bug is the cutest little dog I have ever seen!
Great vid Emily! I just brought a easywalk from the states so I could train my schipperke. I never thought he would get so agressive in a walk. Before, he was just pulling of exciment to get faster to other dogs, but in no time that exciment became an uncontrolable territorial agression. I’m counting on that harness and the power of positive reiforcement for curing my little buddie
really good information. I had never heard of a front clipping harness before, I’m thinking that that would be a very good idea for my girls. thanks for another wonderful video Emily!
Aw. Thanks!
I am not a fan of flexi leads either. There are so many dangers inlcuding the leash possibly snapping back into the person’s face and then the person has very little control during the walk which is dangerous to the dog…
Hi Kiko,
Just found you a few days ago. Today I got a 10wk GSD from the pound (I do foster for rescue)
started by loading the clicker and in 15min he gives me a sit…. MUCH better than the jump,nip, bounce he offered at the pound. I just waited till he got bored and sat, clicked and treated, repeated this a few times. I changed position and he figured it out. Thank you so much, Hoping to start this one out as a “kikopup” I am new got a clicker for mothers day, and found you, keep it coming.
If the dog is walking on a loose leash then it is not applying pressure to its neck is it? Is it just too dangerous because you can’t teach a dog to walking properly in a leash and collar?
GiRl U should cucK my CoCk First then kill ur dog and let me CuM on It
I keep tight fitting collars (don’t want them to get caught on brush or barbed fencing) for ID TAGs, easy to spot and allows people to restrain a roaming/lost pet. I see so many dogs spend time in shelters just because they have no ID. Microchips are good but a layperson can’t access it. I saw two dogs criss-crossing main street , stopped called number on tag and 15 min later they are back home, the lady was crazy with worry, ans happy to have them back safe. That is what collars are for !!
Hi Emily, thanks for you quick response Playing fetch is no go this guy doesn’t know how to play, get that a lot with pound dogs. But the long leash sounds good, I have a 25ft lunge line, My dream to have a secure fenced area to play and meet ‘n great for all my foster dogs… sad they are in 10×20 kennels most of the day till i come home and walk/ play
Oh the GSD is adopted, with your URL, treats and clicker, new owners seemed very interested in clicker after I showed off the pup
Teach the dog to not freak out over simple distractions that occur in its everyday life. The freaking out over what sounds like a gunshot could have been avoided by proper training, not keeping the dog in a restraint device like a harness.
Some dogs will pull if they are very anxious or unsocialized. These dogs will be harder to train because they are unable to learn as fast as a relaxed dog, because they are over their threshold. A good test is taking the dogs favorite treats on the walk, and if you stop and offer treats, and the dog doesnt eat them, he is very likely over aroused by being outside. WHat you can to combat this is working with the dog outside, practicing settles outside etc
1- you could play fetch first, so you break that habit of over excitement about the walk
2- practice the leash walking games in the yard first, where the dog can succeed
3- go to a safe area, and have the dog on a dragging long leash, reinforce the dog for staying with you “off leash” first, once your dog is with you, then gradually hold the leash shorter and shorter until its the desired length. This way you can start out with ‘pressure off the leash” is the norm and pulling is not
Not using a collar is not about restraining, its about keeping pressure off of the delicate trachea. A loose fitting back clipping harness is my ideal goal when the dog is never pulling, you could switch to a collar, but its not worth it, like if a car back fires and the dog panics and hits the end of the leash all that pressure on the neck when it could have been avoided.
I have a active, pulling foster dog, I try the u pull I stop change direction Q: how do I excise the dog, it takes 10-15 min to get to the mailbox and he just gets more focused on pulling each time we start again. I don’t want to just let him gogogo and enforce pulling. but if I stop turn each time we are hardly moving distance, Help
i don’t believe in using ANY equipment as a restraint device, only perhaps if you were building arousal or drive for dog sports. Toy dogs should never be in a collar, its just too dangerous. I’m with Turrid on this one, collars can just do too much damage to a dogs spine and neck.
Teach your dog to not pull on a leash and collar and you won’t need such restraint devices.
I think it’s great that you are putting such great USEFUL info out there for the public. Keep up the great work!
Yes, I will be using Doodle again in videos. She is amazingly smart. I actually had gone over there to get some footage of her pulling to show what to do to train a dog not to pull, but I couldn’t get her to pull! So instead I made this equipment video with her walking nicely in the background.
when i see this dog all happy and everything it brings a tear in my eye. Im a pitbull owner and i just love how a pitbull with the worst rep can be shown that it is not what the majority of the population concludes these dogs to be. It shows that its not the dog (for the most part), its the owner for how the dog turned out to be. You gotta make more vids including pitbulls in them. Thank You, hey you’re doin’ a good thing.