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Hello, my name is Maddie and I recently adopted a 3-year-old Husky/Collie/Golden mix. She came from a family, and is very well behaved in the house. She knows the commands come and down/off very well, however, my troubles come especially when trying to walk her.
Her previous family did not walk her at all. She is extremely overweight right now (about 20-25 pounds over) and other than adjusting her diet, I've been exercising her more. However, she has no motivation to run around in the yard, mostly just sleeps on the ground all day. So instead I've been trying to take her on walks/runs.
The entire time, no matter what I do, she pulls on the leash all the way. It's constantly like I'm using all my strength to hold her back. She's 85 pounds (!!), and I'm only 120, so it's a real battle. It's a steady pull when she's walking, but forbid she sees another dog- I have to dig my heels in and hold her back.
I don't know how to fix this for two reasons.
1: I cannot use "humans" as practice distractions, because she has no interest in people when we walk. We could pass an entire family and she doesn't care. The only thing that makes her pull aggressively is dogs, and even then it's only when a dog is right in front of her and barking at her. Otherwise, it's like she's focused on nothing, just feels comfortable walking straight ahead on the sidewalk but tugging me along. It's just a constant pulling, not like there's anything that she's focused on, just that she wants to move forward faster than I am.
2: She has NO treat or toy motivation whatsoever. I have never had a dog that is such a picky eater. It's a struggle to even get her to eat, even though I've been using a schedule to feed her. I could throw a steak in her face and she couldn't care less. Doesn't beg, doesn't respond to food at all. So I don't know how to reward her for good behavior. At home I can give her love, rub her head etc., but out on a walk, she just completely ignores me. If she does walk correctly and I "reward" her by giving her rubs, she doesn't act all happy like she does at home, she ignores me and then repeats the pulling. And she doesn't like toys at all. I've tried rope, rubber, tennis balls, plush, nothing works. She just doesn't play or chew on anything. The poor thing has probably just been ignored her whole life, and never learned to play with anything.
I could really use some help here. I've trained three other dogs in the past to near perfection, but despite that, I've completely found my downfall: a dog that doesn't like treats. I don't know what to do because she desperately needs the exercise. All she does literally all day is sleep. I'll walk around the house and she'll just of to whatever room I'm in, then lay down on the floor and go to sleep. Literally sleeps unless I'm walking her, rubbing her, or taking her to the bathroom. I've gotten to the point where I have a chronic pain in my right arm from the pulling, but I'm so desperate to get her walking that I put up with it. Every time I walk her I'm embarrassed because I stop every two feet trying to correct the behaviour, but she just doesn't get it.
I refuse to resort to a choke or poke collar, so don't even bother suggesting it. I would like to keep her happy and pain-free. I also have to walk her on a harness, because her previous owner told me she knows how to slide out of her collar, and I don't feel comfortable testing that. So the best I have now is a harness with a handle on the back for service dogs, so that when she gets out of hand I can hold her back, but still it pulls so badly on my arm that I can barely take it anymore. I don't know what I'm going to do, because I'm afraid if I continue on like this she's going to seriously cause damage to my arms. Even typing this is hard because I have to walk her about three times a day because she won't get energy out otherwise, and I have constant pain.
Her previous family did not walk her at all. She is extremely overweight right now (about 20-25 pounds over) and other than adjusting her diet, I've been exercising her more. However, she has no motivation to run around in the yard, mostly just sleeps on the ground all day. So instead I've been trying to take her on walks/runs.
The entire time, no matter what I do, she pulls on the leash all the way. It's constantly like I'm using all my strength to hold her back. She's 85 pounds (!!), and I'm only 120, so it's a real battle. It's a steady pull when she's walking, but forbid she sees another dog- I have to dig my heels in and hold her back.
I don't know how to fix this for two reasons.
1: I cannot use "humans" as practice distractions, because she has no interest in people when we walk. We could pass an entire family and she doesn't care. The only thing that makes her pull aggressively is dogs, and even then it's only when a dog is right in front of her and barking at her. Otherwise, it's like she's focused on nothing, just feels comfortable walking straight ahead on the sidewalk but tugging me along. It's just a constant pulling, not like there's anything that she's focused on, just that she wants to move forward faster than I am.
2: She has NO treat or toy motivation whatsoever. I have never had a dog that is such a picky eater. It's a struggle to even get her to eat, even though I've been using a schedule to feed her. I could throw a steak in her face and she couldn't care less. Doesn't beg, doesn't respond to food at all. So I don't know how to reward her for good behavior. At home I can give her love, rub her head etc., but out on a walk, she just completely ignores me. If she does walk correctly and I "reward" her by giving her rubs, she doesn't act all happy like she does at home, she ignores me and then repeats the pulling. And she doesn't like toys at all. I've tried rope, rubber, tennis balls, plush, nothing works. She just doesn't play or chew on anything. The poor thing has probably just been ignored her whole life, and never learned to play with anything.
I could really use some help here. I've trained three other dogs in the past to near perfection, but despite that, I've completely found my downfall: a dog that doesn't like treats. I don't know what to do because she desperately needs the exercise. All she does literally all day is sleep. I'll walk around the house and she'll just of to whatever room I'm in, then lay down on the floor and go to sleep. Literally sleeps unless I'm walking her, rubbing her, or taking her to the bathroom. I've gotten to the point where I have a chronic pain in my right arm from the pulling, but I'm so desperate to get her walking that I put up with it. Every time I walk her I'm embarrassed because I stop every two feet trying to correct the behaviour, but she just doesn't get it.
I refuse to resort to a choke or poke collar, so don't even bother suggesting it. I would like to keep her happy and pain-free. I also have to walk her on a harness, because her previous owner told me she knows how to slide out of her collar, and I don't feel comfortable testing that. So the best I have now is a harness with a handle on the back for service dogs, so that when she gets out of hand I can hold her back, but still it pulls so badly on my arm that I can barely take it anymore. I don't know what I'm going to do, because I'm afraid if I continue on like this she's going to seriously cause damage to my arms. Even typing this is hard because I have to walk her about three times a day because she won't get energy out otherwise, and I have constant pain.
