[nagdu] Pulling

[Julie J.]

Lisa,

A lot of dogs develop the habit of pulling on leash after they have been 
guiding for a while.  I suppose they get used to pulling and since pulling 
against resistance is the natural response for a dog, it  makes sense to 
them.

I use the same methods as Tami with more of the turn and go back the way I 
came from.  However if you use this method, do it in a familiar area and be 
sure to give yourself some sort of sound cue to reorient yourself.  With a 
dog just learning or relearning loose leash walking, you will do a lot of 
turn abouts in a short amount of time.  It is very easy to get dizzy and a 
bit disoriented.  I find the turn about method works best to get results 
with the dog, but I can only do so many turns before I start to feel dizzy. 
So I use the tree method sprinkled in as needed.

Going in the direction the dog wants is the reward.  Slack in the leash 
means the dog gets the reward of moving forward.  Tight leash means you go a 
different direction or stop.  You can use clicker if your dog is familiar to 
speed up the learning, but you should get good results with just verbal 
praise.  Like Tami said, consistency is really the key.

Julie
Courage to Dare: A Blind Woman's Quest to Train her Own Guide Dog is now 
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