[Willow&Jasper’smum]

Hey everyone. Today was a rough day walking my two dogs. I have a 3 year old Akita chow named willow who is generally very calm and is leash trained and I have a 7 month mutt named jasper who only walks okay when he walks by himself. Up until a couple of days ago jasper would walk past a dog and be calm and cordial. Today as I was walking outside of my house while walking the both of them he yanked me so hard I fell into the grass and scraped my leg very bad because the neighbors off leash chihuahua came running up to us and barking at us (why are chihuahuas such assholes). It was very embarrassing and this is not a behavior I am okay with. On the rest of the walk he also proceeded to yank me at any dog he saw and I mean really yank me, he’s seven months but VERY strong, he yanks so hard all while whining like crazy it sounds like he’s being abused. I dont know what to do can someone give me training tips? I’ve seen many ways to go about it and have decided I can’t walk them together for now as i swear he is ten times worse than when he’s by himself. (Ps he also does this if he sees a cat it’s absurd)

 

[3GSD4IPO]

What are you walking him in? Harness? Collar?

First of all, I would go back to walking each dog separately. Next, to preserve you from being hurt, I would walk "Jasper" in a prong collar. Try to keep slack in the leash. Anticipate when he is going to yank you and try to keep his focus on YOU. If he DOES go to "yank" he will correct himself through the prong collar and you should be able to retain control and not be injured. At this point your safety is more important. I am likely going to be maligned for my suggestion of using the prong, but it is more important that you do not get hurt.

The biggest issue is focus. At 7 months old, he is gaining natural independence from you and is wanting to 'grow up' and be out in front. This is normal. What you need to do is learn how to keep his focus. It is a lot of work. Once you can retain is focus under distractions, you will have better luck walking him and NOT going through being yanked off ypure feet.

 

[kiki272]

One thing about prong collars - our trainer taught us how to safely use it and it has been working really well for us. First, you don't use it immediately on the walks but you get the dog used to it around the house/yard in positive situations, so they don't associate the collar with bad things. Next, you get them trained on how to react to leash pressure. You put on the collar in the house/yard and keep the leash at the same level as the neck and slowly pull towards you, super gently. If the dog gives in to the pressure, that's a "yes" and treat. Do that for a week or two and you'll quickly see the dog responding well to the pressure. Next, you take it back outside on the street. Small walks first, lots of treats and stopping and turning. A few weeks later, we added "Slow down" right before he leans into the leash, then turns, "yes" + treat. We're now in the phasing out the treats phase and I'm hoping that we'll eventually move on to a flat collar.
Don't use the prong collar to punish. The dog needs to understand that he controls how the collar feels.

 

[3GSD4IPO]

I will add, AVOID steady pressure on the prong collar as steady pressure desensitizes the dog to the collar. Yes, the collar causes discomfort and I make no excuses. Far better a bit of discomfort for the dog than you ending up falling and breaking a wrist, arm etc.

 

[T Lledsmar]

This guy here really knows his stuff, kinda takes you inside the dogs head a bit...

This guy here demonstrates a quick drill where you turn about after a few paces. I've had amazing success with a slip lead doing that for 20 minutes a day a few days goes by and the dog starts to check in constantly...

 

[DaySleepers]

@T Lledsmar I think you've got the wrong link there!

 

[T Lledsmar]

Deleted

 

[T Lledsmar]

@T Lledsmar I think you've got the wrong link there!

Thanks, for some reason if I use the link tool, that video is replacing anything I put in that box. But, if I paste the link in as plain text it embeds automatically so, once again, technology is smarter than me.

 

[DaySleepers]

How odd! If it keeps happening, take some screenshots of how you're using the tool and post it in the 'site help' section - that's where the Administrators who handle the technical stuff check in most often. It might take some time to get a response, but if there's a bug that's the best way to make them aware of it.