Walking without the harness - yikes!
I recently discovered a little scab under Tucker's armpit. I'm assuming it's from the harness he wears, and most likely from the fast rubbing he must have been suffering when we go for our "bike walks" (I ride the bike and he runs beside me). Obviously I'm not using the harness right now to give his little cut some time to heal. When we go for the bike walks he's fine with just the leash and collar, but going for a regular walk? Holy jeez, not a chance. I practiced having him heel as we walked in the yard the other day. I had bits of hotdog and rewarded him frequently. This worked amazingly. I tried to do the same thing out on the street yesterday, and Brad had to walk him becuase he was pulling me so hard. He didn't even care about the hotdog I had for him, and usually he would literally do ANYTHING for hotdog. I know that typically I need to work up to heeling on the street because the backyard had no distractions but the street is full of them. That's fine, I don't mind working up to that, but the problem is, what do I do in the mean time? We play in the yard, but he still wants his walk. We can't always do our bike walks because it's either too warm or I'm too exhausted. So how can we get him exercised without my arm coming out of its socket?! I really do not want to spend money buying any other kind of collar, because the harness does work quite well, this is just short-term until the scab heals. We'll keep to just the collar/leash on the bike, too, since that's where I think he got the scab in the first place. Any suggestions?!?! Thanks!  |
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| sounds like it might not fit properly and you need a new one any way. |
| If you can't use the harness, you should try the gentle leader and/or the prong collar.
My dog wouldn't tolerate the gentle leader at all, but adapted very quickly to the prong collar. |
| The prong collar just saved my arm sockets with Chap, and gave us a new sense of harmony in the family. I tried every kind of leash training I've ever done successfully with the others and nothing worked - hot dogs??? fughettabout it. He's a charger, and that's all there is about that. After four months of working with him, I walked him last weekend for the first time with the prong collar and he was absolutely perfect. He "got it" after his first ever-so-slight pull, and we are now (FINALLY) happy walkers. Yay, yay, yay, I can walk all three at once by myself for the first time ever (the other two are perfect leash-walkers). What a relief! |
| You could also use a round nylon choke collar to start with. If it is placed correctly (right up under the jaw and behind the ears) it gives you a lot more control and they don't tend to pull on it. |
Mel & Tucker wrote: Any suggestions?!?!
Distraction training is a hard thing to do. You want distractions, but still want your dog to succeed at least 75% of the time. Moving from the backyard to the street may be too much for Tucker right now. Do you have the ability to work in a side-yard where he gets little glimpses of the road (small distractions) without the full brunt of walking down the street? Does he have one distraction that is particularly troubling that you can work on (like having a child on a bicycle ride through the backyard while you're working with Tucker)? Barkley is getting a lot better on walks, and I only have to use his prong collar on occasion. He's far from perfect, but a lot better than he was a year ago. Here's the suggestion part: Walk early morning/late at night helped (less distractions and nicer weather) Work in the back/side yard with helpful children/people around (or whatever else is a distraction for Tucker). This way you control the level of distraction. Mental training - Barkley is more drained after 30 minutes of mental work (tracking, obedience, etc...) than he is after walking for an hour. I also found that having a number of different treats was important as he'd eventually start to ignore whatever treats I had - which meant he'd had enough of walking nicely/training, but the second/third treat style enabled me to get him home with my arm still intact. Hope that helps a little! Craig |
| now I am going to go check Laika's armpits. We also run on the bike and she has a harness. I actually have a attachment for the bike so both my hands are free to steer. Best thing ever! |
| I use a harness on Marley when we bike with the walky dog - I love it!! but you do have to make sure the harness is properly fitted so it doesn't rub (too tight and too loose are both problematic) |
| Thanks for all the feedback! I'm going to give the harness another try once his little scab has healed. It does work very well most of the time, so I will check the fit and see if I have it too tight or too loose.
In the mean time, I'm going to try tiring him out a little BEFORE the walk, as was suggested by Craig - maybe some training first and even a few rounds of fetch and tug, so that hopefully he'll be more fit to focus. It's just so odd how when the harness is on, he's generally a lovely walker, and as soon as it comes off and he's just on collar, he is literally like a completely different dog! It always takes me by surprise! I'll also try the "if you pull I'm going to be a tree" routine and see how he fares. I've done it before but gave him a treat every time he came back to me, but the clever little bugger quickly figured out to pull then look back at me and get a treat every time! No more food rewards for that! Cheeky little devil  |
Mel & Tucker wrote: It's just so odd how when the harness is on, he's generally a lovely walker, and as soon as it comes off and he's just on collar, he is literally like a completely different dog!
Do you have a collar on him at the same time as the harness? When we were getting Barkley to walk nicely on a flat buckle collar, I'd have him wearing both collars (buckle and prong), and regularly switch which one the lead was clipped to. It didn't take long for him to figure out that he had to walk nicely whenever he has a collar on. The same might work once you're able to use the harness again. Walk him on lead (hooked to the collar), but have the harness on. If/when things get tough, switch to the harness, and then switch back to the collar later. The other possibility is that he's forced to walk nicely with the harness, and he's "allowed" to get away with pulling when he's got a collar on. Might just be a case where you have to be more firm or more in control when he's wearing just a collar (which seems to be what you're working toward). Let us know how it progresses. |
| I would suggest a few hard firm tugs of the lead to check the hound, and make it clear that it is not acceptable.
If this doesn't work, then stand your ground, every time the pull comes on halt and start off again, repeat this using calm talking until the idea sinks in - it won't happen over night though. Archie pulls like a train if I let him, spare shoulders are another Idea!  |
| Hi Mel and Tucker,
I pretty much agree with what most people here said but there are a couple of things I would like to add. Pulling is very common and believe it or not the reason dogs pull is because they get to where they want to go. If they want to smell a tree they pull you to it and the reward is smelling the tree. So it is extremely hard to teach them not to pull! Also, Tucker is great when you take him for bike "walks" because you are the one picking up his pace not the other way round. We, humans are very slow for them.
I personally don't like harnesses unless you want them to pull a cart or a sled. A harness usually reinforces pulling - except the no-pull harness. I like Ron's idea to try the Halti or the Gentle leader - these are two different things though! The way to teach him not to pull with a Halti/Gentel leader and teach him walk on a buckle collar is actually pretty simple but you need to have patient. Put a buckle collar and the Halti/GL on him and attach a leash to each. So you would have Tucker on two leashes. When you start walking, keep the leashes loose. As soon as he starts pulling, give him a little tug with the leash that is attached to the buckle collar, then stop, which will make the leash that is attached to his Halti/GL turn his head. As soon as his head turns towards you, you can praise him and/or give him treats. When you are working on this hold the leashes closer to you so don't let him walk miles away from you. He will soon learn that after a tug on the buckle collar his head will turn so after that you can just give him a tug without stopping to turn his head with the Halti/GL and after that you can drop the Halti/GL and only walk him on the buckle collar. If he pulls too hard, you can always turn around and change your direction. We live 3 minutes from the woods. Sometimes it takes us 30! minutes to just get to the gates. If the boys are pulling me or don't behave I just turn around and walk home or I just change my direction. If they walk well, their reward is sniffing in the woods. But even in the woods off leash, I make them walk right next to me and after 20 minutes I let them run, sniff, potty and explore and then get back to me and walk next to me again. Our walks are very structured. Working with distraction is pretty hard but I disagree with Craig about Quote: You want distractions, but still want your dog to succeed at least 75% of the time. I would correct that to 95% of the time. But I do agree with Craig on Quote: Moving from the backyard to the street may be too much for Tucker right now. and the rest. The only way you can make Tucker work faster if you work in his pace.
I also like Craig's suggestion about the walks (walk in the morning, play before the walk, etc.) Honestly, for me the "If you pull I'm going to be a tree" never worked. Every time I tried it every dog started to sniff into the air and didn't care if I stopped or not. What worked most of the time was the turning around. I just worked with a "tiny" 185 Lbs Great Dane who was pulling on leash. For half an hour we were trying to get from A to B, which was only about 20 feet away. Pumpkin was exhausted by the time we got to B but we did manage to get there without pulling. She cried and whined every time I turned around. But at the end of the day you will figure out what works the best for you and Tucker. Craig, I do have to say you have some pretty good ideas!  |
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