One of the most common habits dogs get into is pulling on the lead. It can quickly turn an enjoyable walk into a tug-of-war or a full on muscle workout for the walker.
The best way to stop dogs pulling is to never let them get into the habit in the first place. Start training when they are young and always insist they walk nicely on the lead. Once dogs start pulling it can be a hard habit to break. Dogs do not 'outgrow' pulling behaviours. Some may seem to stop pulling of their own accord after lots of unnecessary straining, pain or discomfort. In general most dogs get better at pulling the more they practise. If your dogs pulling is in order to chase something you will have to work on both habits together. Pulling on the lead is not a breed or gender specific problem as many believe, the bigger the dog however - the quicker the owner will try to sort the problem! Often clients call me out to deal with one problem and the dogs lead pulling problem delays training and is sometimes part of the remedy. For example, while walking to our training area to assess a dog who had extreme dog-dog aggression (while on lead) the owner was happy to let her dog drag her to the park, as they usually walked. Training a dog to not be 'reactive' while on lead usually involves training the dog and owner that the lead (and pressure around the neck from the lead) are not a trigger for unwanted behaviour and if anything, the dog should follow the owner the instant pressure is felt on the neck. |
For more advice please contact Elite Dog Training to book a session
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