STRONG dog pulls- until we can get the money for a training class, what can I do?

I've said all good things about Cass here, but this is one of the things that she really, really needs work on. She pulls. I can handle it, and my mom can't walk Cassie because she can't handle the pulling. She knows how to sit, lay down, leave it, and is learning "wait" for when the door opens.

I take her for daily walks, stopping every time she starts to pull. My mom's boyfriend, the only other one who dares to walk her (he loves her a lot) does the same thing. It is especially bad when she hears another dog though, because she is starting to calm down on a leash, but when she sees something? Training goes out the window, she whines and tries to bolt away. If it's an outdoor cat, she'll tug towards it.

When she is in this state, treats do NOT work. She won't eat when she is stressed out, and I can't get her attention on me. So usually what will happen is I'll try and walk her past calmly and if that doesn't work, turn around until she is calm, then try again.

I'm getting a clicker today, hoping I can train her to get her attention back on me. She's stubborn, but so am I! I WILL find the right methods.

Any advice?

Background: 2 year old boxer mix, found wandering around a city. Was O.K. with dogs, but started getting too excited after she was spayed (tell me, how in the world does that happen? -_-). Was in a kennel for about a week before we adopted her.

Oh, she wears a collar at all times, and I used to hook the leash onto it, but she pulls so hard she hurts herself and she even figured out how to get OUT of the collar while on a walk. So switched to a safe, fabric, no-tug harness that goes around her front and back and belly. It just rears her up on her back legs, but doesn't really deter her.

And please, I only use positive reinforcement on my dogs.

I don't know how your dog would react to a prong collar but in most classes pullers wear them and even a child could walk them. They instinctively know when they have it on and come to a perfect heel. After some time the dog will heel with just a plain nylon or leather collar. No pulling or yanking involved, the collar does the work. You might ask a proffessional trainer to show you how to use it if you're unsure. They're only inhumane if a handler pulls or jerks the dog hard while it has the collar on. Best way for the dog to learn to heel properly with it on is to change direction frequently making him keep an eye on you.

Ok, to start out - YES to the clicker! My dog learns 2x as fast with the clicker. It's simply an indispensable tool that almost every animal can benefit from being trained with, IMO. I highly recommend that you use a combo of a Halti attached to a martingale collar. The Halti will give you the extra control you need right now and a properly fitted martingale cannot be slipped out of.

A few things this dog needs to start learning ASAP - obviously, you'll first need to work on getting her to associate the clicker with a treat, which I usually like to do over a few days so the idea really solidifies. She needs to learn "watch me", or "look", the latter is the command I prefer. I taught my dog simply by holding a treat between my eyes and clicking when he made eye contact. You can gradually start asking for longer and longer eye contact, but like all training - don't overdo it.

You need to start teaching her to heel as well. The video I provide in a few paragraphs includes that.

If your dog is not taking a treat, that means you've allowed your dog to get over-threshold. I've attached a link, but I will sum it up quickly - that essentially means that you've allowed their fight/flight instinct to kick in and when that happens, the dog will not accept treats and learning stops. The key to working with a leash reactive dog is absolutely to keep that balance of exposing them to the trigger and keeping them sub-threshold. But I will briefly explain a few ways how, and attach some links for further reading on the subject.

Ok, here's a link that will help to read first, as it explains the basics of the issue - http://www.4pawsu.com/onleashaggression.htm

You can take a slightly more traditional path and teach her to focus on you around the trigger and *gradually* start exposing her more to the trigger every session, constantly keeping her sub-threshold. To do this, you'll need some high value treats (warmed up veggie hot dogs is my dog's food of choice :)) and you must be very interesting and energetic during training. You need to be very in tune with her body language and if she loses focus on you, you need to turn and refocus her quickly. Here's an example of this, with a dog that is very dog aggressive on leash. Watch it with the sound on. Personally, I don't know if I'd ever use that much pressure with a head halter, but it provides a clear example. It also shows how to lay the foundation by teaching them to heel.

My personal favorite is Behavior Adjustment Training, or BAT. It's an excellent method that I have found great success with. The best thing about it is that it equips the dog with their own tools to control their environment. That's all the dog is really trying to do when they lunge and bark - they are insecure and need to control their environment, and the only way the know is through lashing out. What we need to do is teach them an alternative way to respond. The link may be a bit complex to start out with (It took me several reads and trying the method myself before it "clicked" in my brain.) Make sure you watch the videos, too, as they help.

I really didn't do a great job of explaining these things, so if you need me to explain further, just ask. I could write about this for many paragraphs so I tried to keep it as short as possible.

I hope you can successfully get Miss Cassie to not react negatively on leash, however you choose to go about doing it. :)

I smiled reading Asiel's reply, as the first thing I was going to say was, glad you are not using a prong collar! :D The place I use for training, they don't permit prong collars or chokers at all.

Anyway, I have a few ideas:
A harness is a good thing. Dogs who pull can end up with collapsed trachea, and that is a life time of hardship for both of you. Best to keep with a harness and skip the collar. (Bichons, which I have, are prone to collapsed trachea so we only use harnesses here.)

Can she still get out of it? If not, fine. If so, try a Rope N Go. My Tasha is a puppy mill rescue, and I went through 6 harnesses in the first 3 months I had her, until I found this. She has never been able to get out of it. Here is the link:
http://www.ubraidit.com/supplies-thumbs.php?cat=81

Next, for training. Having a clicker is a great idea! Good job! I suppose you know or will find online instructions. The main thing with a clicker is: ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS click and treat. Click the INSTANT the behavior you want happens, in later stages. In early stages, any movement in the direction you want gets a click and treat. So depending on what you are training, you may work up to it in several smaller steps. The clicker allows you to capture the behavior much more quickly than you can with voice or offering a treat. When you work in steps, that is called shaping behavior.

Just in the house, when she is free and roaming around, you want to teach the command FOCUS. You hold the treat up at your forehead. The instant you get her looking, click and treat. She doesn't have to come to you, it is the attention you want, not physical movement, with this command.

For walking, use the Drunken Sailor routine. You won't make much progress for a few days, but this works! You start out with 4 steps forward. By this time, she is at the end of the lead and pulling. Turn left (or right, doesn't matter really as you will see) and take 6 steps. By now she has got in front again. Pivot right around to change direction and run 3 steps. She will run out in front of you. Turn right (or left) and take 9 baby steps. Just keep mixing it up with speed and direction. The idea is to get her to pay attention to you, not to take the front in walks. She has to follow where YOU lead, not the other way round. You can do this with treats, and with the clicker and treats as well. Each time she stops pulling and changes direction, that would be a click and treat. If you are getting dizzy, if the neighbors are looking out their windows and tsk-tsk=tsking, you are doing it correctly! If you and boyfriend do this consistently, in 3 weeks should won't be pulling. :cool:

Heeling: one definition of heel is: walking at an unaturally slow pace and having no fun at all as a doggie. :) While it is taught in the classes I take, it is explained to us this is to be used only in short spurts. For example to get around trash bins, or a short area of construction, or if for some strange reason there are suddenly cars in both directions (my dogs and I tend to take over the street, lol) So don't worry about teaching her to heel, IMO.

I understand about training classes being on hold for a bit. Do save up for them, she will benefit from it SO much! Until then, you will find this book very helpful: The Other End of the Leash, by Patricia McConnell. I found it at my library. Liked it so much I bought a copy off Amazon.com, but that is up to you.

If you have a wide long flat nylon leash you can try this. Attach the leash to the collar as normal, drap the leash over the dog's back, under the stomach, then around under itself so it makes one wrap around the dog that can tighten and loosen around the stomach as you move the leash. Dogs usually hate the feeling of the leash tightening around their stomach and so they may pull once and may even yipe but rarely have I ever used this method and had a dog pull hard a second time once they've felt it. Just keep in mind that a leash around the stomach and back can be just as potentially harmful as a choke collar is to the neck. Use your good judgement as to if it is stopping the dog from pulling and if the dog continues to pull hard don't use this method anymore.

Edit to add: this is not a training method, its simply a control method. It won't train your dog not to pull but it will make it possible to walk your dog while it hasn't been trained yet.

LOL Malibu's Mom and I posted at the same time! Sorry I've duplicated parts of what she said, I didn't see her post until after I hit submit.

That's alright Freedom! Our posts compliment each other well. I actually think you did a better job of explaining your concepts. :)

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Originally Posted by Malibu's Mom

That's alright Freedom! Our posts compliment each other well. I actually think you did a better job of explaining your concepts. :)

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Ha ha, thanks. Yes the 2 posts do work well together!

I keep going over all of this in my mind, re-reading it. Both of you, Malibu and Freedom, did an EXCELLENT job explaining it. The clicker will be my best friend :D. And that harness, I've never seen anything like it. Must be pretty strong.

Asiel, I must respectfully disagree with the use of a prong collar or a choker, thank you.

And thank you IRescue. I am looking for training overall.

I'll post back if questions arise, and with my progress with her every now and then.

Actually, I think I finally found out her motive to pulling-possibly eagerness, too soon to tell. I can't be completely sure, but we brought her to Petco for the second time in her life today (the first didn't go too well, too many dogs at once). There weren't a lot of people or dogs, but as soon as the double doors opened, there was a medium sized, female dog, standing there with her owner. The dog was calm enough for me to approach slowly with Cass, and to my surprise, she was very friendly and gentle with the other dog! A little excited at first, but she was so good. I'm still being extra cautious when she pulls towards dogs, but this is a good sign to start with. As always, when she's out of our house, she is very friendly with people (the people in the pet store got a kick out of her!). Otherwise, we have a little bouncer.

Also, I tried a little of the turn-when-she-pulls method, and she was a bit hesitant, but I think she's starting to get the picture. I stopped when she pulled in the store, which caused her to lay down on the floor in the pet store... here's a pic of her in the car on the way back. She was happy to be out- I promised her a tennis ball if she was good in there, and she chewed it up in 10 minutes :P.
http://petoftheday.com/talk/picture....pictureid=4441

I am sorry if this has been repeated, but if she has a harness that has a loop in the front, clip her leash to it and walk her that way. It will catch her off-balance at first.. but you have more control of her that way. My friend that is a dog trainer uses that method and I walked her deaf pup like that she was fostering for a hike and it worked for her like a charm!

Prong collars are not cruel btw, they can be a great training tool and need to be fitted properly and used right.. do NOT get one

ne if you do not know how to use it though or put it on or seek a certified trainer's advice how to use it and put it on. There are also martingles who are humane choke collars and don't really choke the dog when you pull up.

The weak point of the clicker trainer's argument is in the assumption that using compulsion (giving a dog a correction) is the same as punishment and/or force. In reality, a well timed motivational correction is merely a method of telling the dog that he did something wrong. ( I guess you think that the mother dog uses "violence" on the puppies, too?) Imagine trying to learn how to drive a car with an instructor who only told you when you were doing something right. And refused to tell you when you were doing something wrong. Sure, you might eventually learn how to drive (if you didn't kill yourself first), but the fastest and easiest method of learning ANYTHING is to know when you are doing something right as well as when you are doing something wrong.

The prong collar is like power steering. It is a phenomenal tool for teaching your dog to walk on a loose leash, as well as allowing you to give your dog a motivational correction in a manner that gets your point across. (No pun intended). Used by anyone who knows how to use it, this training collar is safe and humane.
Our club tried clicker training and decided we weren't getting the desired results in the long run so we don't use it anymore, just think if you were ever caught without a clicker.

To each his own I guess. I would never use anything but a prong as it allows me to work any strong dog that comes along without losing an arm or hurting the dog. JMO

No harm no foul eh? Not looking to start an argument, as we are both stuck in our ways on this one it seems! Just different training methods.

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Originally Posted by luvofallhorses

I am sorry if this has been repeated, but if she has a harness that has a loop in the front, clip her leash to it and walk her that way. It will catch her off-balance at first.. but you have more control of her that way. My friend that is a dog trainer uses that method and I walked her deaf pup like that she was fostering for a hike and it worked for her like a charm!

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I walk her that way already, one step ahead of ya ;). It does deter pulling a LOT. And then she looks back at me and usually slows down.

At this stage I would definitely call it leash-frustration, with the frustration stemming from her inability to greet the other dog or chase the cat. That's how my dog started out. But that almost always turns into leash reactivity unless it's taken care of early on, like it did with my dog. So I'm glad you've decided to address the issue before it turns into something more. :)

I also would suggest not letting her meet dogs on-leash for a bit. It might drive her frustration if she expects to be allowed to greet other dogs when she's on the leash. I don't really like on-leash meetings anyway, because the leash interferes with proper greeting behavior. I much prefer small playgroups. It's more of a personal choice, though.

We once had a greyhound we had adopted at age 5, who had behavioral problems that were never addressed, since before we had him- his trainer from the track would keep him locked up outside, since he got into everything in the house. In a few years his sight started going as well, which didn't help. I'm older now, I never want that for any dog, if I can help it.

Thank you for the suggestion.

I really like all the training messages discussed above. I know for a lot of people that first turn to a new collar or harness but sometimes it’s all about breaking the bad behavior. This is just an experience of mine; maybe it will work for you. But before I got my pups I was really fond of this German shepherd, he wasn’t mine but he saw me as family (I was the first/ only person for a while outside the family that he got excited to see come over instead of barking angrily at the door). He had always had a pulling problem, and they had the prong collar too but it didn’t even faze him. The weird thing was I started to take care of him while the owners were out of town, and he never pulled… walked right next to me. He isn’t neutered either. The only thing I can imagine that caused this was the fact that I had my eye forward. I think they looked at him most of the time during the walk, he in turn notices them watching him and assumes (especially shepherds) that he’s leading. Where when I walked him, he’ll look at me and then back to the road keeping pace with me. The key for me was to use my peripheral vision to watch him instead of a direct line of sight. Kind of like telling them, “I don’t care where you want to go”.
But this would just correlate with their natural behaviors and stimuli. For long term retention and social skills building it would for sure be in your best interest to train her. And my solution would just be a temporary fix that would really just work for you; if anyone new would try and walk her old habits would probably break out. Good luck :)

That's a very helpful tip, thank you. The training hasn't been going as well lately. I wasn't able to take her out for about a week, and once I started up again, my "training spot" suddenly had other DOGS. Cass gets too excited around other dogs to care what I want her to do. Today actually, I took her out for a 20 minute walk, and as usual there were dogs barking in nearby houses- she tries to pull forward when she hears them. This time, I watched a little kid let a dog OUT OF A NEARBY HOUSE, a boxer. I panicked. He came over to us and Cassie and him were both wagging their tails. Then, he got a little too close and put his paw on her- although she does this to other dogs to play, I think she was taken from her own liter early, as she sees this as a challenge from other pups. Or, maybe she just didn't want to play with a strange dog. They were suddenly both growling and barking at each other. I was pulling Cass away and finally the adult comes out, pulls him back and talks to me for a second, chatting nicely with me.

Cassie came home wagging her tail as if it were a GRAND old time. Lovely, yeah...