[NAGDU] pulling

[S L Johnson]

Hello:

Many years ago I had a very hard puller.  Some schools have harnesses and
handles making a back and forth movement easy to control speed and pull.
However some harnesses do not have much movement in them so this is more
difficult.  After trying to control the pull with the harness handle
movements was not successful, a  trainer suggested that as soon as I felt
the pull getting too hard I suddenly stop and drop the harness while pulling
back on the leash.  As the dog continued to move forward they end up
correcting themselves.  Once the dog reaches the end of the leash then you
call them back to your side and maybe even do some quick obedience to get
the dog's attention.  Then pick up the harness again.  He also suggested
turning around as Julie described.  For some handlers turning around causes 
them to lose their sense of direction so facing forward is best for them. 
You have to repeat this every time the
dog pulls too hard.  The problem is is that sometimes you are in a hurry and
do not have time so you let the dog get away with the pull for that trip.
This sends confusing messages to your dog.  It takes a lot of training walks
just for this purpose to work on getting your dog not to pull so hard.  I
also did what Julie suggested and hold the leash very short and pull back
and forth with the handle so the taught leash causes the dog to correct
themselves if they continue to put their head down and really lean their
chest into pulling.  Julie's method of raising the handle a bit also works.
A trainer told me that getting a dog not to walk too fast or not to pull too
hard is difficult and takes a lot of consistent work.  Sometimes as the dog
gets older they will slow down and not pull so hard. Unfortunately sometimes
it is just a bad match and the dog is just too fast and pulls too hard for
their handler.  I have had guide dogs for over fourty years and spent the 
first ten years with very hard pullers.  It took me a long time to finally 
convince trainers that I needed a dog with a very light pull.  Good luck to 
anyone trying to solve this problem.

Sandra and Eva
-----Original Message----- 
From: Julie J. via NAGDU
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2016 8:31 AM
To: the National Association of Guide Dog Users NAGDU Mailing List
Cc: Julie J.
Subject: [NAGDU] pulling

Dar had asked about how to get a dog to not pull so hard in harness.  So
here are some suggestions in no particular order.

*try releasing pressure on the handle and then resuming your normal grip.
Itâ?Ts a sort of rocking motion or a back and forth movement.  Perhaps
someone else has better words to explain.  .  In my experience it will help
an excited dog who knows not to pull like a maniac remember and get with the
program. A dedicated hard pulling dog  wonâ?Tt be affected much by this
intervention.

*If your harness will allow, you can  angle the handle at a steeper incline.
This makes the laws of physics work in your favor.  The dog simply cannot
get the same leverage to pull as strongly.  Be careful to not increase the
angle of the handle so much that you canâ?Tt follow the dog properly.  Iâ?Tm
talking about changing your position by a couple of inches.

*Iâ?Tve noticed with Jetta when sheâ?Ts on a mission, sheâ?Tll put her head
down and then she can really pull.  If I can keep her head up, sheâ?Ts fine.
So I move her collar up and shorten the leash so if she dips her head the
leash will immediately go taught with no movement on my part.  In effect
sheâ?Ts correcting herself.

*If the dog is pulling hard to go toward a particular thing, turn and go
back the way you just came from.  This should stop the pulling.  then
reaproach and continue as long as there is calmness,  turn and move away as
necessary until you can walk past with reasonable pulling.  This method
takes time and patience.  Itâ?Ts best to use this one when you have set
aside time for training.

*Stop and have the dog sit or do some obedience or nose targeting or
whatever to get your dogâ?Ts attention back on you.  For Jetta I have her
sit and she likes to lean her head against my leg.  I scratch her ears and
talk softly to her.  Often thatâ?Ts all she needs is just a bit of time to
look at the new thing while calm and under control, then we can set off
again.

*My new favorite and the method Iâ?Tve gotten the best results with in the
most extreme situations is to quickly back up and call the dog to you.  this
one takes some physical dexterity and speed on the handlerâ?Ts part.  You
continue to face the same direction, but you drop the harness handle and
quickly back up a few steps.  As you are backing up call the dog and give
small repeated tugs on the leash.  It combines the best of everything:
incompatible behavior, attention redirection, reworking an error and
movement.  Use caution though.  Iâ?Tve backed up not perfectly straight and
stepped off the edge of the sidewalk.  And of course donâ?Tt do this in the
street, near stairs or anyplace where you have the potential to get hurt.

*and then there are your basic corrections, but I donâ?Tt think they are
very effective when used alone.  A soft dog might go easy, but a harder dog
just isnâ?Tt going to get it.  Youâ?Tll end up escalating the corrections
and enter into a serious power struggle.  I think the better way is to help
the dog choose on her own to do the right thing using one of the methods
above.

There might be some other ways to address hard pulling, but this is all I
can think of at the moment.  Good luck!
Julie
http://www.guide-and-service-dogs.com
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