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

[Freedom]

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

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

[ToBeEvergreen]

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 . 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.

[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!

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.

[Asiel]

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

[ToBeEvergreen]

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.

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!

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.

[Malibu's Mom]

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.

[ToBeEvergreen]

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.

[B&Baussies]

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