[nagdu] Pulling!

[Tami Jarvis]

Daryl,

I'm so glad Jenny is feeling better and getting back to normal!

To adjust her pull, have you tried just stopping and standing without 
having her sit? It seems to do well with pulling, too. That actually 
seems to work better than having the dog sit. I think that since the dog 
is wanting to go forward and fast, the halt removes the reward from the 
behavior. Moving forward again the instant the dog relaxes is the reward 
for agreeing to let you set the pace. So long as the dog is giving you 
the pull you want, you continue to go forward as the dog wants to do, so 
positive reinforcement. At least, I think that's why it works so well. 
It's amazing for teaching loose leash, and I've found it is working well 
to teach Loki the pull I want from him.

Developing the pace and pull I wanted with Mitzi also went well with a 
clicker, since I could click at the instant the pull was right, then 
follow up with verbal praise. I use the Las Vegas style method of 
treating -- adding the treat randomly to reinforce the positive value of 
the click -- so I could give her the treat when we stopped at a curb. 
I'm too clumsy to offer a treat on the go while holding the clicker and 
leash and all anyway. /lol/ A verbal marker also works to let the dog 
know when the pull is right, but the clicker is quicker to capture the 
exact instant.

hth,

Tami

On 04/21/2015 10:35 AM, Daryl Marie via nagdu wrote:
> Hello!
> Just got back from Toronto this past weekend, and I am a bit concerned about Jenny's propensity for pulling.  On Sunday, I was walking with some friends, and for an hour or so she just was NOT focused, not listening.  I got her to sit, sometimes for over a minute at a stretch, then she would just pull super hard when we started to get going again.  This resulted in my getting frustrated, her pulling harder, and around and around we went.  I know part of this is my fault - she'd spent the previous weekend basically crammed into bleachers for hours on end watching goalball, and I left her Halti in the hotel room - but I'm still a bit rattled by this.
>
> This is quite unusual for her, and she reset herself quite quickly after she realized that I was NOT going to tolerate her behavior, but would love any pointers for the next couple weeks until I meet up with an instructor and hopefully get a shorter harness handle.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Daryl
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