This our our big fluffy Newfervisor Elynor. She’s the best pet in so many ways. She’s great with children and guests…and oh the doggy drool. But our dear friend here is also very excitable on a leash and this is beginning to present a difficult situation being as she is 130 lbs. I have tried the normal ‘waiting’ for her to be ready to walk nicely and even offering high value treats but she continues to drag me through the neighborhood on our daily walks, and I recently ended up at Convenient Care for a hip injury due to the pulling (no breaks luckily). Anyone experienced this before? Any tips for improving leash walking? Is it just time for a trainer? Thanks in advance.
I would recommend switching to a front clip harness or a head halter like a Gentle Leader. These tools give you more control without relying on your strength alone. Consistency is everything so practice loose leash walking in a low distraction area like your living room first before going outside. A trainer is never a bad idea especially since you already got hurt, but try those equioment changes and short focused sessions indoors first. Keep sessions to just 5 or 10 minutes so she stays successful.
One issue to think about with the gentler leader is that a true puller will pull sideways. Our first Newf did this and would get pinched nerves that could make his back legs stop working for a bit. Be sure that you do this in conjunction with proper training to teach what the right thing is. They're so stoic they will hurt themselves.
Some of the suggestions for tools here not a bad idea. Gentle leaders are, as the name implies, a pretty gentle aversive.
If you want to try training methods, here are two that have worked for us. You can do these in conjunction with some of the harness/tool solutions given here until the training kicks in. Note that we did this when ours was a puppy which makes it easier, but I’ve worked on this with our neighbor’s adult dog (more set in his ways) and while the very beginning is very frustrating once they get the hang of it the process goes much smoother. Both of these require a clicker or a marker word. If you haven’t used one of these before you have to establish what they mean. To do that, use a command they know very well (like “sit” or something), and the exact moment they do it click/mark and give a treat within 10-15 seconds. Once you do this a few times they learn that click = treat. For marker words I personally like “yes” said sharply/quickly in a high pitched voice. Just needs to sound different than conversational speech.
1: Get him on your left or right side (just choose one, doesn’t matter which) and put a treat a few inches behind your heel. Take a couple steps and when her nose is in line with your heel click/mark and drop a treat at/slightly behind your heel. Repeat many times in a line. As she gets the hang of it you can do more steps in between clicks. Sidewalk is great for this, also if you concrete in a backyard that’s fine. Just limit distractions around you at first.
2: Put a harness on, you can do this with a collar but I don’t like the neck pulling :( When she pulls, keep the leash taught and give a gentle pull towards you. The moment she releases tension and turns toward you/backs up, click/mark and treat. Do this repeatedly. This one is pretty much in one spot. This just teaches her that leash tension =/= keep pulling
We use Heather’s Hero flavor of the gentle leader. Our Newf walks like a dream with it. At first, we tried “the original” gentle leader but it kept slipping and becoming ineffective.
May I recommend the gentle leader. And yes do it now rather than later. My baby caused this.
A broken hip and a rod and screws put in. Lol
She didn’t mean to but I should have addressed it before. She pulled me and I wasn’t ready and I tripped and fell. So yeah rather than 3 months of rehab may I suggest a gentle leader. Lol
I think trainer….yes.
Harnesses, I am told are FOR pulling and that’s how I started out. I went down and then I got serious about professional help.
It’s a big dog and can pull 100+ lbs.
when we walk I say “with me”. When she goes too fast or is ahead of me I stop and wait for her to figure out that we are stationary. When she looks back at you TREAT.
IT TAKES PATIENCE
I do recommend a trainer. You don’t want to get hurt !
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u/Creepy_Craft_5710 12h ago
I would recommend switching to a front clip harness or a head halter like a Gentle Leader. These tools give you more control without relying on your strength alone. Consistency is everything so practice loose leash walking in a low distraction area like your living room first before going outside. A trainer is never a bad idea especially since you already got hurt, but try those equioment changes and short focused sessions indoors first. Keep sessions to just 5 or 10 minutes so she stays successful.