Hard pulling on the leash

N

NHAnimator

Forums Regular
Jake is about 20 months old. He has a regular collar and we use a retractable leash.

When he sees a squirrel/dog/anything, he often decides he wants to chase it. This often leads to him running all the way to the end of the leash (at which point his head stops while the rest of his body continues to try to run). Obviously this is extremely dangerous - if for no other reason that his bark is distorted when he gets to this position. I assume that it is affecting his vocal cords (he has no real problem when he is not straining himself).

If I walk him with a squirt bottle of water in my hand, he is a different dog, with no interest in charging anything. But that is not a practical answer.

So I'd like to get some suggestions about collar and leash ideas and, more importantly, behavior modification techniques. Using the "leave it!" command has some success, but I don't want to use that when he barks at another dog that he is about to meet. My understanding is that that command should be used for things that you don't want your dog to ever approach (squirrels, food his isn't supposed to have, etc.).

Thanks in advance,
NHAnimator
 
There's something called, "Look At That". I'm sure someone else can explain it 100x better than I can. But basically, the goal is when the dog wants to go after something, they look at you.

I've been working on it with my dog for awhile. Ugh. It's not easy to break. Lemme see if I can find any other threads talking about it.

Here's my thread: http://www.sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=4051&highlight=control+unleashed
Here's another: http://www.sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=6733&highlight=control+unleashed

Here's a thread about Control Unleashed: http://www.sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=1387&highlight=control+unleashed

And this is a search I did for those words: http://www.sheltieforums.com/search.php?searchid=449004

See if those help. You'll probably find a lot of this in the Behavior section.
 
Last edited:
You could try using a head halter (snoot loop, halti, gentle leaders are common brands) or a harness that clips in the front (sense-ation harness, easy walk harness). These are good at helping you redirect your dog to something more appropriate (ie. you) which you can then praise/reward for.

You can use it in conjunction with training the Leave It but you should not need it for the Look At That game coz you should be training that game when the dog isn't aroused and lunging or barking.
 
I would not use a retractable leash until you confidently have full control over your dog.

I would go back to a 6 foot lead.

When our dogs pull we do this technique. Hold the leash in our right hand and loop our thumb in our pocket. Use a treat to get your dog on your left side. Then walk with your dog briskly saying "yes" then treating with your left hand. You have to keep your dogs eyes on you by constantly talking to your dog and saying "yes" and treating. If your dog loses focus on you, you need to either stop or turn hard to the right. I like turning to the right because this causes the leash to get tension on my left leg and gives the dog a little tug in the new direction. It is important to keep talking to the dog.
 
I agree with Michelle that that a head or similar type collar will give you better control. I am also not a fan of using a retractable lead on a standard collar - it puts too much strain on a dogs neck. I prefer they are used with harnesses where the pressure is spread.

I use the leave it command all the time for meaning dont go near it. But I also have an emergency leave it. It really depends on your preferences and the situations you find yourself in. You can teach them a variety of terms for leaving different things - food, dogs, people, chasing whatever.
 
romeosangiovese said:
You can use it in conjunction with training the Leave It but you should not need it for the Look At That game coz you should be training that game when the dog isn't aroused and lunging or barking.
Click to expand...

I suggested the Look At Me game, but I guess it depends on how fast the dog reaches his threshold. Koji's was too fast for Leave It to work, so I had to start the Look At Me game. Since starting the Look at Me game, his threshold takes longer to reach, so for me it was what I needed (and why I suggested it).
 
I like the Look At That game and agree that it's great for dogs that get reactive (over threshold) very quickly. You'd have to start training it at a distance for such reactive dogs of course.

In my earlier comment I was referring to the use of those special collars to teach Look At That. I don't think it's necessary coz you'd have to teach that game when the dog isn't reactive and hence such control not needed. If you've got food in your hands, your dog would be looking back at you quite readily if it's under threshold! :lol:
 
romeosangiovese said:
I like the Look At That game and agree that it's great for dogs that get reactive (over threshold) very quickly. You'd have to start training it at a distance for such reactive dogs of course.

In my earlier comment I was referring to the use of those special collars to teach Look At That. I don't think it's necessary coz you'd have to teach that game when the dog isn't reactive and hence such control not needed. If you've got food in your hands, your dog would be looking back at you quite readily if it's under threshold! :lol:
Click to expand...

Ooooohhhh. Nevermind my post then. lol. I missed that it was referencing the collars. I wish they'd work for me. Even the head, halti one, doesn't do anything for Koji. I had to stop using it because I was afraid he was going to hurt his neck. Sigh.
 
I just got my snoot loop last night!! Didn't get the chance to take it out for a whirl. I want to use it to work on Romeo's reactivity on leash. It's really hard to handling two dogs when one is reactive and the other is a lemming and will do whatever the other one does!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top