# Walking Advice



## snow0160 (Sep 20, 2016)

I had to worry about this when I first got Lucky and I read up prior to getting him it was part of the CGC test. What I've done is get an easy walk harness. Every time a dog passes by I make him sit and wait for dog to pass by and prevent all interactions. Lucky has a bad dog manners and likes to get close in their face and a few times this resulted in little dogs snapping. He is not popular with little dogs. So i make him sit and tell him leave it. I would have treats when he obeys. The down side is if I do not tell him this, he will go up to strange dogs and does his Kung fu jump kick. He is very jumpy. I found the easy walk also made him heal way better. He also has very high prey drive and will go after squirrels unless I tell him leave it first. So I always have to keep a look out. It is gonna be rabbit season soon and our medium walk have full of rabbits by the lake. Our previous dog almost dragged me into the lake once chasing these guys. She was a lot bigger than Lucky. She also knew what the word rabbit meant and I had to start spelling it when I saw one. We used a gentle leader for her. It is a bit more effective than easywalk harness. 


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I don't like using restrictive harnesses for these behaviors. I would instead work on focused attention and use "Look at That (LAT)" training to help make the things that get Addison over the top cuckoo to be things that she can be around without the crazy reactions. Your situation sounds a lot like what another member, WinnieJane, asked about with her 8 month old spoo. Look here for a bunch of great ideas that would help you with Addison.

http://www.poodleforum.com/23-general-training-obedience/227537-good-dog-who-goes-bad-outdoors.html


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## snow0160 (Sep 20, 2016)

The issue is often explained by animal behaviorist as a breakdown in communication/focus/obedience. So the best long term solution is to work on focus training. I suppose the idea is your dog breaks focus and communication with you when he sees something more interesting. Focus training is recommended by trainers like Zak George and Victoria Stilwell. The idea is that if you refocus the dog back on you during a walk, he or she would learn to ignore distractions and therefore stop pulling. If you can manage to do this, that is great but in the mean time, you still have to walk your dog situation is that you still would need to walk your dog who pulls. I think that is why I would recommend the gentle leader products while you work on focus and obedience training. There are so many school of thoughts when it comes to dog training. Some conflict with others...you see this quite frequently in service dog community. I think in the end of the day everyone can suggest a different method you should go with the one that works best for your specific situation.


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## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

Archie used to go nuts pulling and jumping toward every stranger on walks, but now he only does it if I say hi to the person...I think over time he's figured out that if I don't say hi then he probably won't get to, either.

Anyway. General impulse control exercises help a lot, even if you don't practice them on your walk. I think of impulse control like a muscle, and some dogs need to work it out a lot before it'll be ready for them when they need it. So when you're at home, do a lot of sitting and waiting for things. When Archie's riled up, I'll pull out his tug toy and then make him "drop it" and "wait" a bunch of times mid-game (sometimes adding a sit or other command in there as well). The tug game gets some energy out, but the frequent stops and starts seem to help get his brain under control.

Do you take treats with you when you walk? One thing I used to do with Archie a lot is practice "look at me" and "walk close" when we were around a lot of people. So every time we came close to another person, he had to move in close and watch me, and then he'd get a treat as soon as they were past. I've also done it with his ball, where I'd hold the ball as a lure, and then as soon as the person passed I'd drop the ball in front of him so he could chase it briefly.

I'm sure if I were more disciplined about it, he'd eventually learn to always heel and focus around people. As it is, we've reached the point where he knows he's going to keep walking past people, so he just looks at them and goes on. If he forgets, I'll say "Keep walking!" in a happy voice and rush him past. That seems to help.

I also used to walk Archie on a front-clip harness all the time in crowded areas, and it helped A LOT. I've phased it out because I got worried about the harness messing with his mobility if he wears it too often, but it did help maintain control.


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## shell (Jul 10, 2015)

Wow, thanks guys, that thread is actually pretty awesome. There is a lot of great info I can use for Addison. I'm a little embarrassed. We really did do training classes shortly after we brought her home (Though you couldn't tell now). Impulse control is one thing the trainer and I talked about and we did some practice in class but I completely forgot about it. Addy can use quite a bit of work there.

I have been lazy with training.  

I will watch the videos when I get home.


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

For the person who is "lazy" about training and isn't going to be doing competition, I really think an Easy Walk or Gentle Leader will be the easiest, most effective thing you can use, especially when the dog is young and strong. I use the Easy Walk on both dogs if I don't want to worry about anything, but they are both trained to loose leash walk as well on a buckle collar. It's better to use a quick fix than to not walk your dog, I think!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

There are safe, effective and non restrictive ways to teach a dog not to pull using a flat buckle or similar collar and a leash. I will have to disagree about using gentle leaders and easy walk, etc. I think they tend to be a crutch since they give quick results, but then when an excitable dog sees something that really revs them up they will pull despite the restrictions those harnesses impose. Since these types of harnesses put physical restrictions on how the dog moves there is more potential for injury then in that situation IMO.

Focused attention is the key to solving all problems in training and daily life behaviors. It is something that should be taught meaningfully and refreshed often. This also seems like a good time to chime in about the virtues of ongoing participation in training oriented activities, whether it be "mental" walks, therapy dog visits, taking a for fun agility class or serious performance training keeping the training going deepens your bond with your dog, reassures your dog that you care for their mental and physical well being and safety and gets everybody off the couch. Good all around!


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

I totally respect your viewpoint, Catherine, but having used the Easy Walk on Fiona, Maizie, and Frosty, they've never come close to being injured, and I always feel safer with the dog in the harness. If people can put in the time to train their dog, of course that's the preferable situation.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

ZM I hear you, and would recommend a harness when it seemed appropriate (like I think they are good for small dogs), but I had to give my POV about training to get what you want as a long term answer over using tools as short term answers.


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## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

Front-clips (and other harnesses) can be a good bridging tool if teaching more slowly and methodically is impractical for whatever reason. For example, I don't have a yard, and though mental exercise is good, sometimes the little dude just needs to get somewhere. Plus when he was new he'd only eliminate if he walked a certain amount first, and stopping and starting just interrupted that. Over time I've been able to use those tools less and less, but they can give some control in the short term.

These days I only grab one if I'm going somewhere I KNOW is going to be totally crazy for Archie, and I don't have good options for working with him slowly there. I'd rather have him hit the end of the leash and get stopped by a harness than his flat collar.

That said, front-clip harnesses can interfere with a dog's gait, so they're not ideal. They just offer more control than back-clips, which can sometimes encourage pulling from what I've seen.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

I used a gentle leader for a week on my dog. I had injured my shoulder arm (couldn't dress or drive for a week). My minipoo was new to me and about 10 months old and she was pulling hard so I bought a gentle leader. She hated it - I fed her tons of treats to help adjust her. Frankly she hated being led around by the nose which is kind of what you are doing. It really scared her about getting both it and her lead attached. 

I used it for a week and when my arm was improved I went back to her regular collar. As soon as we went back to her regular collar, she returned to the pulling - so a week of gentle leader didn't make any dent in her bad walking behavior. 

And it sort of looks like a muzzle to people who don't look closely or who aren't aware what a muzzle looks like - imagine walking your dog in the neighborhood leaving the impression that your dog is so vicious it needs a muzzle.

With Easy Walk type harnesses, some dogs pull so hard that they rub against the harness and they develop abrasions. I researched them here on PF and found old posts where people were complaining their dogs got cuts from the harness. If you go this route, do check each time you remove the harness if it's causing redness or other injuries.

As for my dog- she is a work in progress. Just when I think the pulling has stopped, something new catches her attention and we need to go back to basics to get it back under control. One thing I do is if I see trouble - like a very reactive dog, I put myself between it and my dog so it turns her focus back to me. If necessary I add distance - a wider space so she again keeps her focus on me. Lastly, when she pulls, I walk backwards the way she is pulling and as soon as she turns and looks at me, I say "yes" and give her a reward to remind her that focus on me is more interesting and rewarding. One of my trainers had us turning circles and all kinds of directions - anything but the direction the dog wants to go. I used to get so dizzy doing it this way - I like the backing up system better.


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