Hello everyone,
First I'd like to offer some background information- My name is Vanessa and I have a 1 year old Husky named Reximus (Rex for short). My husband and I got Rex in January from another soldier who couldn't keep him. SO for the past 3 months we have been training Rex and undoing some of the bad habits he came with (begging at the table, jumping on counters, demolishing the garbage can and its contents, just to name a few). We have been successful in correcting them and are pleased that Rex is a well-rounded pup with a great temperament in a happy home. However, there is one issue that I haven't been able to get a handle on: Rex is TERRIBLE on the leash. WE have tried everything, starting off with the regular collar, to the prong collar to the harness, from 6ft leash to retractable and back to the 6ft. He is constantly pulling even if he ends up choking himself out. He gets 5 walks a day, all of which are equally horrifying, especially if we come across another dog... Then the lunging begins and the screaming and howling (people probably think I'm killing him somehow). The thing is that he's not lunging out of aggression, or anger or anything like that... It's because he wants to play! He gets so excited and so distracted by this other dog that he just goes completely bonkers. Even if he doesn't scare the other dog and his owner away and I can somehow convince them to let our dogs sniff, it's still an ordeal combined with lots of jumping and chaos. We take him to the dog park 2 times a week, and there is a local tennis court that has been deemed a local doggy hangout which is in walking distance that I take him to almost daily. He gets out plenty, at first I thought it was because he had pent up energy, maybe I was't walking him enough, or maybe he just wasn't socialized the right way, but no matter what I do, even after a two hour walk and a day at the dog park, I cant expect the same reaction if we run into another dog while out.
I need this resolved, and fast... I'm currently 7mos pregnant and I'm becoming physically unable to control his lunging and pulling, and am concerned how I can walk him if he behaves that way with a baby strapped to my chest or with a stroller.

Thanks all in advance.

**UPDATE**

Thanks all once again for all of your tips and advice, it really helped us to improve our techniques with Rex. The first thing that I realized was playing a huge part in how our walks went was my demeanor. I found that by me getting frustrated and getting riled up that it was influencing him to go more nuts once he started acting up. Which I mean, it's hard not to get riled up in this situation, and having all my neighbors hate me because of the way he goes nuts they think Rex is gonna maul them and their thinking I abuse him because of the way he screams,yea, hard not to get overwhelmed. But all that aside I found myself being more assertive and calm and kind of letting him know that things were different and his usual antics weren't flying anymore, and to be honest I really feel like he sensed that. In addition I re-implemented the prong collar, I did end up removing one of the links which I can tell made a huge difference right away. Also the first time around when I would try to correct him I was using more of a pulling motion bringing him closer to me as opposed to the quick snap which he absolutely responds to. Also now he stays to my left side at my heel (still perfecting that, although I'm confident that by the time the baby comes he won't be crisscrossing in front of me anymore) and is on a shorter leash closer to me. Also I found that correcting his behavior BEFORE he starts is one of the charms I was missing. When we do see a dog and I notice that his attention is now on the dog, before he has the change to even aim one paw in the other dogs direction I'm able to snap and say "ah ah" and divert his attention back to me to get him to sit while the other dog disappears from view. Also if he really starts super acting up I've stopped walking, turned right back around, and walked straight back home. That's something that is extremely helpful in that he knows his walk is gonna get cut short if he goes overboard. I give him a little bit to calm down and the head back out. Its still a work in progress, but now that I see what works I'm definitely sticking to it!

I'd suggest going back to the prong collar.
Are you using it correctly?
It has to be only a little loose without pressure.
(You can take out links.)
Then hold the leash in your left hand with only about two feet of slack to the dog
For correction, you've got to snap it with a firm "heel."

My wife cannot control our husky with a regular six foot leash.
With the prong collar on that leash, he obeys her, and is even respectful of it.
He doesn't want the snap.

Prong collar here, when used correctly (like how Michael explained above) works wonders. Don't let him pass in front of you from the beginning. A quick firm snap with the heel command of your choice. It's catching him when he least expects it and right when he starts to misbehave, if you correct after the fact he won't understand.

Also when reacting to other dogs, rule number one when not wanting them to react, is to ignore and not let them meet, it just reinforces the behavior. If you let them meet during a walk, he will expect it every time he sees another. Make him sit to let them pass, and get his attention on you, either with his favorite treats or toy. The key is for him to pay attention to you at all times during the walk; even if on loose lead.

ETA- I consider walking human/dog bonding and separate from dog/dog socializing lol Play time and walk time are separate.

I agree with the prong. There is no way it is being used correctly if he's still lunging and pulling. It needs to be placed high on the head, behind the ears and should not move or slide down. If it is it's too big and needs to be made smaller either by removing links or getting a smaller size prong.

Also snapping the prong is the absolute wrong way to describe the correction. In all honesty all it takes is a gentle flick to get the point across on a correctly fitted prong collar. It's a great tool which puts you in control of the dog. Snapping it or letting him self correct is one way to put the dog in pain. When we encounter dogs we pull to the side and sit. If he can't handle that try walking further and further away until he can relax enough to just sit.

This is the method I used, with a regular collar.

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/nopulling.html



This is her heel now, 3 months after I started working on it with her using that method.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1A0gl6waew&context=C46b3929ADvjVQa1PpcFO47DcHV8EcjqAmQAxaq_Smc4M6G-7bxD0=

You can see her lead (tied to my belt) there, at the ready. She was only off leash because we were pretty much alone, and she had been doing well on leash, but the idea is the same. the positive reinforcement is that being at my heel yields her her doggie trail mix (kibble and a few treats mixed in), whereas pulling gets her nowhere. She sees being at my heel as a win win. You just start small, and work up to making him walk a great distance, and you don't even have a treat in your hand

I like to use this method because I personally disagree with prong collar and e-collars.

Thanks Sean for posting that link! I'll definitely be giving this a try! Also, that video is awesome and such beautiful scenery.

Our trainer recommended the gentle leader to us. There is a lady that comes to our local dog park that walks two Huskies (one being about 75 lbs) at the same time. She uses the gentle leader with great success.

Hope this helps

We use a flat collar, we had a cinch at one point but that just made things worse for us. We used a form of that "loose leash walking" website. The problem is when your dog is strong enough that it's impossible to stand still. Maybe I'm a wuss, but if I'm standing still and Appa wants to go somewhere we go there. Period. So instead of standing still I would 180º and walk the other way. No matter what he was pulling for I'd just turn around and proceed the other way. I also rarely used treats... Appa is not a side of the body heeler, and I don't really care. If I do happen to take treats he is glued to my side the moment he gets one and has a perfect heel. I would rather he was out sniffing and exploring on his walks. He walks with manners on a leash and that's all I care about.

My in-laws dog is HORRIBLE on a leash. She pulls even when there are no distractions around, just tugs and pulls and pulls and tugs until she's gagging and can't breathe. It's the worst. For her I couldn't use a 6 foot leash, I had to go to a 30 foot leash. We went to a big open park and walked 50-paces squares around the park. Every corner I would stop wait a few seconds then call her name and walk the next leg of the square. There is no stopping mid-leg, and there is no talking. No praise, no negative comments. The only words out of my mouth were "Willow, Lets go!" when I was about to start walking. It took her one good solid zoom to the end of the leash and WHAMMO, experience, from then on she respected the leash and stayed within it's 30 foot limits. After a few squares I pulled the leash in some. I worked her down to a 10 foot leash within an hour and she was an angel. If I had more time to work with her or they would work with her more she could be a dream on a leash. It just takes consistency and time.

I think with some dogs it's less about being on a leash and more about feeling "confined" which is why the 30 foot leash worked. With a 60 foot circle to roam she didn't feel as confined to my side and could explore without the need to pull. Sure she would love to have gone further, but the negative reinforcement of snapping into the end of the leash at full speed wasn't worth it. She had 60 feet to explore WITHOUT that feeling. When she's on a 6 foot leash there are only about 12 feet, and so the pulling becomes worth it.

Maybe "snap" is the wrong verb. "Tug" would be better or "flicK" as Kristina says.
You certainly don't want to yank.
The point is that the dog needs to know the correction is coming from you.
Our trainer said, "Are you taking the dog for a walk or is the dog taking you?"

I personally don't use the prong collar. I can control our dog without it.
But my wife can't and she needs it.

I used the Gentle Leader for a short time on Adobo, she walked good but you could tell she hated that thing. My impression was that it itched her face. Of course after about a month she solved the riddle of defeating it, so I passed it on down the line to someone in the forum.

For me, the most important thing is to not think of it as "going for a walk" at first. You may have to leash train for months before you ever actually go for a walk. You have to be willing to stop (or do a 180) EVERY time the leash gets tight. With Dakota I stopped when she pulled and when she got tired of sniffing around and looked at me I would praise her and offer a treat. At first I treated her just for looking at me, and the I only treated her for coming back to me, and then just when she stayed near me and then finally only when she was staying by my side. Don't get me wrong, she's not perfect but she doesn't pull me. She also seemed to really hate the leash attached to her collar so I got an Easy Walker and she seems to like it better. I also don't make the two young ones stay by me the entire walk. I usually stop at certain points and tell them "go sniff" and they can have the whole leash to move around. But once we're moving again i tell them "walk with me" and expect them to stay near me.

vtomlinson wrote:

For me, the most important thing is to not think of it as "going for a walk" at first. You may have to leash train for months before you ever actually go for a walk. You have to be willing to stop (or do a 180) EVERY time the leash gets tight. With Dakota I stopped when she pulled and when she got tired of sniffing around and looked at me I would praise her and offer a treat. At first I treated her just for looking at me, and the I only treated her for coming back to me, and then just when she stayed near me and then finally only when she was staying by my side. Don't get me wrong, she's not perfect but she doesn't pull me. She also seemed to really hate the leash attached to her collar so I got an Easy Walker and she seems to like it better. I also don't make the two young ones stay by me the entire walk. I usually stop at certain points and tell them "go sniff" and they can have the whole leash to move around. But once we're moving again i tell them "walk with me" and expect them to stay near me.

Yep! exactly what i did. When you can see that they are about to pull out all of the slack in the line, just stop dead. They will walk all the way to the end, and (using riley's word here) Whammo themselves. When keeonah does this, I just hold my ground, point to that same spot at my right heel, and call her back. We don't start walking again until she's right there. These dogs are pretty darn smart. Only took about 15 minutes before she realized that pulling got her nowhere, but being next to me meant progress. Of course, in the fifteen minutes we stopped and/or walked backwards probably 20 times

At this point, I don't necessarily mind if she is out in front of me exploring and sniffing, as long as there is slack in her lead. if she pulls it tight, we stop, and start over again once she heels.

I really suggest walking with the lead tied to your belt. You can tie it shorter, longer, or what have you, and it's your core doing the restraining, vs. them pulling your arm out of socket. It also leaves you hands free to manipluate the leash, offer treats, carry bags etc.

Let's keep in mind the OP is 7 months pregnant...

Daggum, I didn't keep that in mind one bit...

Thank you all so much for your rapid responses, great advice!

The reason that we switched from the pronged collar was because I was concerned that we weren't using it correctly in that he continued to pull as soon as something caught his attention, and I didn't want him to hurt himself. Plus I had seen quite a few huskies with the harness, and thought that maybe that was just more suitable for the breed. At this point though it seems the harness is encouraging him to pull even more as there is no discomfort for him while pulling. Some of the things we have tried are as follows: when he starts pulling to do a 180 degree turn and start walking the other direction, but all he does is start to pull that way too, contradictory to the point of that exercise which is so that he'll realize he'll get where he wants to go so much quicker if he doesn't pull; same with making him sit every time he starts pulling, which I think this is the worst because then you're fighting him to sit and then he just goes right back to trying to drag you; tried coming to a complete stop and not proceeding until he calms down, which is but a temporary fix which leads to him jumping and howling and creating a fuss until he gets his way. And as far as the other dogs that he goes nuts for, we've tried ignoring then and continuing to walk which works sometimes if you succeed in getting him to stop running in the opposite direction

I do agree also that walk time is not play time, and I was wrong in thinking that giving in to his tantrums to play with the other dogs was helping the situation - its just very counterproductive, so thats gonna stop. Now the other thing is getting him to heel, I didn't that that would work for him since all he wants to do it sniff everything, and I know it's mentally stimulating for him also to be able to sniff the different smells and whatnot - so keeping him so close and at my heel just didn't seem practical because all he would try to do would be get to the grass or whatever he was sniffing. And the other thing is him crisscrossing in front of me as we walk - you can imagine what happens when there is grass on BOTH sides of you... Like a ping pong ball.

Today was the perfect example, his second walk ended in disaster and I ended up returning home because he just wouldn't stop with the pulling and ran after the neighbor's dog, and the physical exertion that it took was just not worth it because I dont want to hurt myself from jerking the wrong way or being pulled down a flight of stairs. I'm in good physical shape, aside from the baby in my tummy lol and I am not short of patience with him, so its not like Im not dedicating the time to correcting this, it's that nothing I have done has yielded results, so I'm at a loss.


Is it possible that his age is a factor also?

VanaBerry1002 wrote:

tried coming to a complete stop and not proceeding until he calms down, which is but a temporary fix which leads to him jumping and howling and creating a fuss until he gets his way.

so keeping him so close and at my heel just didn't seem practical because all he would try to do would be get to the grass or whatever he was sniffing. And the other thing is him crisscrossing in front of me as we walk - you can imagine what happens when there is grass on BOTH sides of you... Like a ping pong ball.


Is it possible that his age is a factor also?

He will continue to do it as long as he gets his way int he end.

Dogs noses work from farther away than .1 inches. I am confident Keeonah is getting plenty of sights and smells from her safe position at my hip. I read somewhere that when your dog walks with you, there should be a specific side the dog walks on, and in training should be trained only to walk on that side.

It is possible that he is just at the age where he will be a big brat just to be a big brat, but even at this life stage, consistent training can curb the worst of the behavior. I will say though, that at this point, your biggest enemy is being physically limited in your current state.. but.. as i am a boy... i got nothin there

There were many walks that we never got further than 10 feet from the house. Back and forth back and forth back and forth... Etc. etc.

The jumping and howling is getting him his way, and to stop it it will get worse before it gets better. He has to make sure you heard him before he realizes you are ignoring his cries. Not a fun situation.

I also thought the harness would encourage pulling. But I think Sabaka does better on a harness than just his buckle collar. Like Michael, my husband walks him using the harness all the time. I use a prong collar even though I suit him up in his harness just in case a loose dog comes up to us. He will still lunge around with the prong on if there is a loose dog sniffing and hopping around him, so I will switch him to his harness so that he will not get hurt.

Sabaka is only 17 months old, so age is a factor but personality is probably a bigger factor. Sabaka LOVES other dogs and will go crazy if allowed. We have worked on the "leave it" command A LOT. I use that command when he focuses on another dog or a cat or a squirrel as well. I guess many people say "on by" to the same effect. Sabaka's poor leash manners have mostly been caused by outside influences and not just his hyperactivity and his desire to pull. Even though he is hyper and a puller, he is easily controlled unless he is fixated on something.

Good luck!

When I walk Meeka its funny she starts off triYng to play with my leg and tries to play tug with the leash. then she will be the most behaved dog in the world then just like that decide she wants to be nuts again.

Im using choke chain, and the thickest choker you could find in the pet shop. BUT, one of the huskies manage to break the choker yesterday! This is not the first time a husky broke free from the choker, so any suggestions what is strong enough to hold?

Normal collar is worse, less durable than a choker!

Explain how it broke, please? I can't even imagine a dog pulling hard enough to bend or twist or break the metal all the while experiencing pain from the prongs.

Can you attach a picture of the break in the collar?

Maybe a dog running at full speed to the end of a long leash could break a metal collar. But you should have the dog either at your side or, as Riley said works for him, walking with leash manners. Teach your dog to sit and if you see something that usually causes your dog to bolt or jerk (like a squirrel) be proactive and ask him to sit and wait until the thing passes out of view. We do this often for people, other dogs, cats, squirrels, kids on bikes...

The big metal piece right at the end just break open.

Both (or 3 times) incidents happens when the dog suddenly bolt to chase a cat.

I should add that my choker last me for about 1 year plus before it snap, and it's those stainless steel material.

was it a O ring that snapped?? was it welded or just pushed into a O.

I had Blaze blow a D ring on a harness because it was not welded.

**UPDATE**

Thanks all once again for all of your tips and advice, it really helped us to improve our techniques with Rex. The first thing that I realized was playing a huge part in how our walks went was my demeanor. I found that by me getting frustrated and getting riled up that it was influencing him to go more nuts once he started acting up. Which I mean, it's hard not to get riled up in this situation, and having all my neighbors hate me because of the way he goes nuts they think Rex is gonna maul them and their thinking I abuse him because of the way he screams,yea, hard not to get overwhelmed. But all that aside I found myself being more assertive and calm and kind of letting him know that things were different and his usual antics weren't flying anymore, and to be honest I really feel like he sensed that. In addition I re-implemented the prong collar, I did end up removing one of the links which I can tell made a huge difference right away. Also the first time around when I would try to correct him I was using more of a pulling motion bringing him closer to me as opposed to the quick snap which he absolutely responds to. Also now he stays to my left side at my heel (still perfecting that, although I'm confident that by the time the baby comes he won't be crisscrossing in front of me anymore) and is on a shorter leash closer to me. Also I found that correcting his behavior BEFORE he starts is one of the charms I was missing. When we do see a dog and I notice that his attention is now on the dog, before he has the change to even aim one paw in the other dogs direction I'm able to snap and say "ah ah" and divert his attention back to me to get him to sit while the other dog disappears from view. Also if he really starts super acting up I've stopped walking, turned right back around, and walked straight back home. That's something that is extremely helpful in that he knows his walk is gonna get cut short if he goes overboard. I give him a little bit to calm down and the head back out. Its still a work in progress, but now that I see what works I'm definitely sticking to it!

This is great news, Vanessa. Keep up the good work!

Good work!
I think that most of the learning in dog training is being accomplished by us humans.
We have learned an effective way to control our dogs.
They have just learned to react to us.
Our job is to be calm and consistent.

I screw up when I am stressed and try to do too much at the same time.
Like carrying out three bags of recycling with Bodhi on a leash.
Then I react differently from what he's used to.
Must remember, focus on him.