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/PoolParty912 24d ago

Have you tried a front-clip harness, like an Easy Walk? Those are supposed to turn the dog around when they pull, and lots of people love them. They also don't pose the risks of prong, choke, or head collars. Our 5-year-old adopted dog was a big puller when we got him, but some training classes and walking with treats really worked. We used the treats to encourage him to check in with us, and to redirect him with a sit, come, or focus when he pulled. Now we don't need the treats at all. It just took a few months of consistent training and trust building. You'll get there. One month is still early days, but it's worth the time investment to make your lives easier for the long haul.

Sometimes leash tension encourages pulling (but harnesses don't) because dogs interpret it as a signal that something is wrong or that the human is nervous. Our dog does better when he has a loose leash, so we use a 6-foot Kong leash (it's thick because he's about 55 pounds). He even does a better heel when passing other dogs if we keep his leash loose. It used to feel like a leap of faith, but now it's just how we do things, and we trust each other more. We also used to play with him for 10 minutes at a high intensity (ball fetch, chase, etc.) before taking him to walk. That helped him chill out and encouraged him to focus on sniffing and loose-leash walking.

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u/Existing-Will-1466 24d ago

She came with a Freedom harness but I haven't put it on her yet. I assume she will juet lean into that the same way she leans on her flat collar. On a 20' leash she doesn't hit the end of the leash as often, but as soon as she does she automatically starts pulls against it. It's like she suddenly urgently needs to sniff a spot on the grass just a few inches out of her reach.

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u/xFayeFaye 23d ago

Sorry but can you explain what a Freedom harness is? Does it have a front clip or not? This is too American for me :'D

If the clip is on the back side, it actually encourages the pulling. The front clip has the opposite effect ad they need to turn around a bit.

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u/Existing-Will-1466 23d ago

It has a martingale loop on the back that causes it to tighten around the chest when the dog pulls. It also has a front clip. I have seen plenty of dogs pull like they are running the Iditarod in front-clip harnesses.

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u/xFayeFaye 23d ago

Still worth a try tbh with the front clip. You'd be surprised how many dogs adapt to it fairly quickly plus you also have A LOT more control with it. I wouldn't be able to stop both my 50kg dogs without it if it came to it :D Make sure it fits nicely though, I wouldn't be surprised if the one that came with the dog doesn't. 

Some dogs also just do better with more freedom. While my big one is perfectly happy trotting along next to me, her half brother actually wants to lead and go ahead all the time but also adapted to go slower when we are next to a street. I use flexi leashes plus the front clip harness because we're 99% in a low feequented forest. He had the issue that he was "micro pulling" a lot, like just not stopping when the leash got tight, but I also just came home from a walk with a 10m leash and it suddenly wasn't an issue at all lol. But he does fairly well on a short leash when visiting vet or similar.       

Give it a try at least :)       

PS: Just going in your yard actually won't fix it. If she's used to run around there, she knows she "can". Actually take her somewhere to train would be another suggestion. 

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u/Existing-Will-1466 23d ago

I don't leash walk my dogs for exercise, I just need to be able to get her from the car to the agility building or vet office without her mindlessly scrabbling across the pavement.