PA GOBBLER

my pup is really pulling on the leash when i walk him in town. he is pulling so hard he is chocking himself. its gotten so bad that when i let him off to run you can really hear it in his voice.. we are in puppy class right now and are working on heeling but we arent that good yet for a long walk on leash. i do have a choker collar but since he pulls so hard i switch to the reg. collar. my question is should i not walk him anymore till he gets heel? w/ him pulling will he do any damage to his neck? is there anything else i can try because he needs to get out and walk.. this seems like a stupid problem to have but its still a problem. thanks

AlaskaMagnum

Assuming the pup is at least five months old, I would get a German prong collar. Much easier on the dog, though they look cruel.

The thing about heel is timing. You want to teach the dog that the only safe place to walk is by your side. You jerk the leash when the dog gets away from your side, when he is at your side say HEEL. Do not say heel as you jerk. Don't jerk too hard either. Practice walking reeel slow, then faster, then start walking in a square. Don't forget the praise for doing it correctly.

I taught my five month old pup to heel in a week this way. She will now do it with just a regular collar anda leash. Heel to her means, stay by my side or some not so fun stuff is going to happen to you.

RUFNECK

5min a day walk with the choke collar dont speak or give commands as your dog does not understand them yet if the dog walks to fast turns stops or just dosnt move with you you jerk the collar it has to be hard enough to let the dog know whos incharge limit this to 5min a day of just walking no talking or correcting verbaly stop and turn often if dog stops with you reward with a treat if the dog starts to walk with you do the same reward the same when turning ive trained many dogs like this as does my trainer if you do it right results on 1-3 days tops if you want more details on training to walk private message me and i will be glad to help you dont need to pay a puppy class for this training save your money

Mite

You could always use a halter. Those things that wrap around behind the shoulder and neck so the pressure isn't on the neck. I used a command lead with my pup to teach heal. A very stiff nylon. It's suppose to use nerves behind the ear. Big difference between the lead and collar. I tried tying the lead around her belly but stopped since I've noticed she really hates it and was probably hurting her inside. Didn't want to take a chance that it will land her in the vets.

Some trialers I know don't mind the pulling. Something about letting the judges see intensity in the dog?

wildlands

AS magnum said a prong collar works great. It will loosen up quicker than a chocker will to release pressure when your dog comes back to heal. Just go for walks your dog will correct its self with this collar. As the dog starts to pull away it gets tight and when it comes back to you it gives relief. Also after several sessions were the dog understand there are consiquinces for not being beside you, start makeing sharp turns opposite with your dog. This will force the dog to watch you instead of just walking. It will not take long for the dog to learn were it is safe to be.

PA GOBBLER

Mite- i do have that command lead and for some reason the choker collar works a little better.. but i havent tried it in a few weeks since before trying the choker collar maybe ill pull it out again and give it a try.. thanks everyone

Mite

I've noticed my pup listens more when putting on the command lead. I remember when she would fight both the lead and leash but now she fairly calms down with lead. On leash,she will sometimes fight it initally if she a leaf movement like when the wind blows. Shenormally ends up standing straight up on her hind legs. With the command lead she doesn't.

I've seenpeople use the prong collar and their dogs seemedwell behaved. Since you already own the command lead, try that. If that doesn't do it then try the prong collar. And if that doesn't work you could always tell people that you are a field trailer and make up some b.s. like "Look at his intensity!" Btw, how's the puppy's range? Does your puppy constantly look back for you (*sigh* like mine) or is he all business?

RUFNECK

That lead sounds good but seems like when you switch the dog dosnt listen by training you dog you should be able to walk without the leash

underdog

I agree with the pinch collar. When you give him a command, throw a little slack in it and jerk. Not hard, but so the dog feels it and associates with the command to whoa or heel. Pretty soon you can just just use the lead and won't even have to give a command.

Another trick to put power brakes on a dog is to just use your check cord, but pull it back, wrap it around the dog's flanks and take a half-hitch. They don't like the pressure on their flanks and won't pull like they will with a collar.

Mite

Half-Hitch! That's the term I wanted to say but couldn't remember. That's what I did to my pup using the command lead but I also noticed that she started throwing up so I stopped and all is fine now. It could have been the command lead or she was just sick. I don't know but didn't want to take the chance. There are leads specifically designed for it and they work well. I used it when the pup was getting adnormally unrulely.