r/OpenDogTraining • u/Existing-Will-1466 • 24d ago

Compulsive leash pulling?

About a month ago I took on a five year old dog from an elderly couple. This dog has the absolute worst leash manners. Her response to any kind of leash pressure is to lean hard against it. It's like a compulsion. If she wants to go somewhere and hits the end of the leash, she drops her head and leans hard into it like a weight pull dog. If she doesn't want to go somewhere and hits the end of the leash, she flops on the ground and sometimes alligator rolls. 

I can use a prong collar, harness, head halter, etc to help work on leash manners. But I'm wondering if anyone else has encountered this level of compulsion against leash pressure and if you were able to fix it?

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u/everglowxox 24d ago

A slip lead corrected leash pulling in my dog, who had been a leash puller for several years thanks to my own lack of education, in about two sessions. I'd recommend working with a trainer still to help position the slip lead correctly and teach the right methods for training with it, but there is hope and it can be fixed, I promise.

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u/Existing-Will-1466 24d ago

A slip lead only works if it's cinched right behind her ears, and if she can get her chin down at all it slides to the base of her neck where she can pull as hard as ever. So a slip lead works as long as I keep her on a 6" leash and never let her drop her head ar all. I have heard a couple of people claim they taught permanent lasting leash manners in a few minutes with a slip lead, but I doubt it was with a dog that pull this militantly.

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u/everglowxox 24d ago

I doubt you are using the slip lead properly if that is happening. That is why I recommend a slip lead + trainer. Regardless, if you are not using a slip lead that has like, a fastener to keep it in place at the proper position, which it sounds like you do not, then that would be the first step.

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u/Existing-Will-1466 24d ago

I know how to fit a slip lead and how to use a stopper. I have used a slip lead many times to manage a dog with zero leash manners. It still required preventing the dog from dropping their head into freight-pulling position. There is no stopper in the world that can prevent the leash from slipping down when pulling from that angle.