[nagdu] Pulling

[Tami Jarvis]

Lisa,

I've gotten the best results with something like the "be a tree" method, 
with some minor differences.

When the dog pulls, I stop. If the dog keeps pulling, I take a half step 
back, then a full step if the dog keeps pulling anyway. As soon as the 
dog stops pulling, we move forward again, or in the direction the dog 
wants to go. I click or use a verbal marker ("good," in our case) the 
instant the leash goes slack, which seems to help my beasts get the idea 
faster.

It might help to start by just standing around with the dog for a few 
minutes at home, in a yard if you have one or maybe just outside. Wrap 
the end of the leash around your hand and put the hand in your pocket or 
some such to keep yourself from pulling on the leash. Unless you're 
better at remembering not to pull on it than I was at first. /smile/ 
When the dog pulls on the leash, just take that half step backwards, 
away from the pull, then reward when the dog stops pulling. Once the dog 
has the idea, take a few steps forward until he stops to pull, then 
stop. If he keeps pulling, take a half step backwards. And so on until 
he gets it enough to walk a bit more. So you're using successive 
approximation to work up to being able to walk nicely without pulling.

It's important then to never let the dog pull and always remember to 
practice loose leash. That is just incredibly frustrating, and at first 
you may have to plan extra time here and there. Since you're retraining 
your dog, it may take longer, with a few more set backs. But it will 
come together relatively quickly. In my experience, it helped when *I* 
got the hang of loose leash. Now it comes naturally, so I don't 
inadvertently mess things up so much.

If the dog keeps pulling after I take a full step backwards, I turn us 
both around and walk the other way until the dog is going with the leash 
slack, Then we turn back in the direction the dog wanted to go because 
that is the reward. That only works when I'm using the cane while I take 
the dog on a leisure walk or if I know I'm on smooth clear ground.

I didn't know that technique with Mitzi, and she's also trained to leash 
guide, so now that she's retired, I need to do more work with her on 
doing loose leash in her collar. When we go walking, I use a walking 
harness and have decided to let her pull some in that, since she still 
wants to leash guide in it. I used the method to get her to pull less, 
and she's figuring out that she can just hang back and walk and enjoy.

With Loki, I started with loose leash in his collar from the very 
beginning and a modified version to teach him the pull I want in his 
walking harness. That actually worked, and it even worked to teach him 
to always do loose leash with the leash I have attached to the front of 
his walking harness, while he pulls to learn guiding skills with the 
regular leash on the rear attachment. Yay! I wasn't sure if that 
arrangement would work out the way I hoped or not, but after a little 
practice -- more for me than him, since he got it right off -- it's 
working really well.

In theory, the reward for loose leash is moving the way the dog wants to 
go, so you can add treats or praise or not while you're training. For a 
dog that has already learned to pull, I find adding a verbal cue and a 
marker (like the click or word) helps get the new idea through. That 
could just be a matter of personal style, though.

Good luck, and let us know what works!

Tami

On 07/05/2015 07:43 AM, Lisa via nagdu wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Taylor has developed a very unpleasant habbit of pulling. But only while
> he's not not in harness but on a short leash. Apart from that, I
> appreciate his pace very much. But when we're going for walks or just
> anytime he is supposed to stay next to me, the problem occurs. And it's
> neither because of major distraction, nor because of having to relieve
> very urgently.
> He's actually always in front of me. I did some research and tried
> several things, e.g. the "Be a tree"-method: Everytime the dog starts to
> pull, you'll stand still. When the dog comes back to you, you praise him
> a lot. It seems to work for a lot of people. The disadvantage of this
> method is apparently the lack of info the dog gets. So, why his owner
> suddenly freezes. So, when I tried this, Taylor would come back, get
> praised and then just walk calmly in front of me again. Maybe I'm too
> impatient and should try this again but I also wanted to hear your
> experiences.
>
> My school only taught me to give him a leash correction anytime he
> started to pull but I'm not convinced this is the right thing to do...
> So, as always, I'm curious what you all say.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Lisa
>
>
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