# Pulling on leash



## Kylerooke86 (Apr 25, 2018)

I have a 6 month old female and we are really struggling to find a walking method that works for us. Weve tried flat lead and collar. Halti head collar and a standard slip lead but she just pulls terrible with all thes methods. Any help or tips would be much appreciated.


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

Patience is your friend, probably with capital letters... Vizslas are not a bred for natural long distance heeling. and that is actually not bad considering the job they have had for over a 1000 year (at least). 

the good news is that they are much easier to train off leash than on leash. so we ended up after all the halters, treats etc with the following: concentrate both on on and off leash training while using off leash as a reward for good leash behavior. thought him the word PULL and asked him to pull from time to time, then to heel. they are smart and enjoy the mixing up of tasks.

Having said that we passed the CGC test at 10 months old and right before and after that had a big off leash run... had the perfect looking heeling pup during the exam, amazing even the judge lol.


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## gingerling (Jun 20, 2015)

Keep a few things in kind: First, if she doesn't get enough off lead time, she'll pull like crazy out of energy and excitement. If you give her predictable, off lead times, she'll accept the constraints of lead time better, typically after exercise.

The other..and I say this a lot..you need to teach them before you need them to demonstrate the behavior. Often, people just expect the dog to know what to do just because you've told them, and it doesn't work that way. They need intensive training that pairs their actions to your words with renforcement to get it. So, exclusive training sessions where you just work on good lead behavior is critical. Try walking down the street and when she pulls, simply stop walking and wait for her to turn around or walk back to you, tell her heel as she stands by your side, and proceed. Stop when she pulls, and repeat. You might not get very far, but that's not the point of this exercise.

V's are incredibly intelligent and eager to please, so when she makes the connection btwn your expectations and her behaviors, she'll comply..but it takes time and patience before you're in the situation where you actually need her to just do the thing you want.


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## Brianbr13 (Aug 9, 2017)

We were having the same problem and just switched to the Easy Walk harness which has made a huge difference. Plenty of off leash exercise is also crucial.


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## JasonLP (May 29, 2014)

Suitcase works well


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## gingerling (Jun 20, 2015)

JasonLP said:


> Suitcase works well
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP16gk6raag


Oh, my....!

I can see strangulation occurring very easily with this! Call me old fashioned here, but just b/c there's a YT vid doesn't make it a good idea. The best course of action with a V that's pulling is to train it not to.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

That is old fashion.
Us birdoggers call it the half hitch. It's probably as old as I am, and still used by many people today. 
I don't see where it would cause a risk of strangulation, as it's not tied off at the waist. If you drop the lead, it will come off the waist.


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## skillingsworth (Jun 1, 2018)

Lot's of good replies here. I would only add that training time is necessary and should not be when you decide to go for a walk or just be prepared for a lot of frustration. You should make specific times where your intent is to teach commands and that should be as often in short intervals as possible. V's will heel very well. My V actually does much better off leash than on leash. Finally, e collars are worth their weight in gold. I rarely correct with it anymore because when it is on, which is every time we go for a walk, he knows he must behave. He does good without it but is even better with it. Think of it as a very long leash, he will learn no matter where you are, he must obey you.


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## bertrand (May 17, 2017)

gingerling said:


> Oh, my....!
> 
> I can see strangulation occurring very easily with this! Call me old fashioned here, but just b/c there's a YT vid doesn't make it a good idea. The best course of action with a V that's pulling is to train it not to.


Hi Gingerling,

while i agree with you 100% that training the dog not to pull is the best course of actions, we have been working for the last 6 months with a trainer to help us with Breeze's on leash manners and her drive is so high that, while we have made progress, the suitcase wrap is sometimes our only option to be able to walk her without choking her or dislocating our shoulders.
Sometimes, I only use it at the beginning of the walk when she is super excited an full of energy and will remove it once she settles down or isn't as hyper anymore. There have been times though where her drive has been so strong/high (despite lots of off leash time) that she has pulled in spite of the suitcase wrap and I had to really tighten it before she would stop pulling as hard.


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## Garvs (Apr 8, 2017)

Patience! Lots and lots of patience. I used the stop and walk the other way method as well as using treats at the hip. It's slowly improving, but takes patience! Also we have a park near me that I use to my advantage because the better she does the quicker I let her off leash to run.


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## Laxdog (Aug 15, 2017)

Our pup is now 1 and all I can say is don’t use easy walk, halti, etc to ‘cheat’ your way to a nice leash walk. We got an easy walk and we’re like this is awesome! For like a month and then he figured it out and can pull harder than a regular collar and we wasted all that time not training our dog.

We are still working on it, mainly that first part of the walk after being alone or as we approach his favorite swimming spot are rough.

What we do is when he pulls we stop, tell him sit, pause a second, walk past him then say ok for him to follow. When this doesn’t work and he ‘half sits’ or goes before we pass him we turn around and walk the opposite direction. The turning around works exceptionally well for us when he is pulling at something interesting because we walk away from his reward every time he pulls. For the start of the walk jitters the longer pause after a sit command is more helpful, sometimes we even do a paw or a jump trick to get him to snap out of his frenzy and focus on you again. 

Like I said we are still working on it so someone may have more experience or a better way but it’s helped us make a lot of progress towards a peaceful walk.


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## 2Gingers (Jan 25, 2018)

skillingsworth said:


> Lot's of good replies here. I would only add that training time is necessary and should not be when you decide to go for a walk or just be prepared for a lot of frustration. You should make specific times where your intent is to teach commands and that should be as often in short intervals as possible. V's will heel very well. My V actually does much better off leash than on leash. Finally, e collars are worth their weight in gold. I rarely correct with it anymore because when it is on, which is every time we go for a walk, he knows he must behave. He does good without it but is even better with it. Think of it as a very long leash, he will learn no matter where you are, he must obey you.


This has been my experience, too. My V is now 7 months, and he used to pull so badly on the leash that he would be practically crawling on the ground to get any traction. He was choking himself, and I was in danger of dislocating my shoulder and losing my grip. The various harnesses didn't make any difference; he quickly lost interest in earning prized treats and toys, and the start-stop and turn around methods just left us both frustrated and still needing an outlet for pent-up energy. Yes, he still got plenty of off-leash time in a fenced-in area, but that made the leash training even harder. With the introduction of e-collar training (2 months ago), we are both in a better, happier, and safer place. I don't have to correct him much at all when on his leash (or off). He will still pull a little on occasion (such as when people stop to pet him or he really wants something), but he is a 100 times better now than before. As Skillingsworth observed, mine heels really well (I was surprised at how easy that was for him!) and tends to mind even better off leash. When he is wearing his e-collar, I am able to hike with him off leash with confidence. He constantly stops and "checks on me" every 20 feet or so, but he did that naturally without any command or training, and I always give him lots of praise when he does it. I am constantly working on recall and sit/stay commands at a distance, but I rarely have to use any correction. He seems to know that being off leash on our hikes is a privileged and doesn't want to ruin it. :angel

Just remember that no singular method of training is best for all people and all dogs. I have used a variety of methods with mine depending on what he responded to best and in what situations. Use of an e-collar has been a great supplement to our training, so it may be worth checking out as another option.


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## Najo (Feb 16, 2018)

I just recently introduced Ryker to the E-Collar. We spent his first 6 months learning commands so I was confident that he knew what I was asking for. The very first evening that I put the E-Collar on him we a lot of time stating at zero and working up to minimum stimulation. I got to 10 out of 127, and within a few days of regular training sessions he is a different dog, he is very sensitive to it, and just to put it in perspective 10 feels about half of a 9v battery on your tongue. I only need to push the vibrate button as a reminder now after a few weeks and he snaps to the commands. It is a great training tool when used properly, but please educate yourself before using, there are many great instructional videos available.


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## armgwag (Sep 22, 2017)

JasonLP said:


> Suitcase works well
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP16gk6raag


That suitcase technique is a pain in the @$$ to deal with. It stops the dog dead in his/her tracks when they pull and you have to manually loosen it. It may work for some people depending on the body shape of the dog. Maybe a wider more round animal? With a narrow V I found it more challenging than helpful. It rubbed against his man parts too much to walk with more than a block. Also, your dog will pee all over your leash which is gross unless you like holding pee soaked leashes :devil 

Much better options to train loose leash walking IMO


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I've never had to manually loosen it.
As soon as the pressure is off, it should automatically go back to being loose again.


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## bertrand (May 17, 2017)

armgwag said:


> JasonLP said:
> 
> 
> > Suitcase works well
> ...


We have been using this technique for the last couple of months to walk Breeze as it is pretty much the only way for my shoulder to stay in its socket. "Stops them dead in their track"??? I wish that was the case. With the leash wrapped around her midsection, if she does want to go somewhere, she will pull so much that the leash is as tight as possible and i can't make it tighter. And if she sees a rabbit or a gopher, all bets are off. For us, after trying everything, this is the only thing we have found to make the walks manageable.


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## gingerling (Jun 20, 2015)

Really..the best way of getting them to walk civilly on lead is to just stop when they pull. No muss, no fuss...no high tech gadgets that utilize pain..just..patience.

You a have a high performance dog, they require fine tuning. You cannot take short cuts, take the time to train them and in a week or two, they've got it. But if you expect them to just do it b/c you're on Main Street and need them to, then you're bound for frustration.


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## lebanesemommy (Jul 13, 2018)

My 4 month old pulls a lot when gets very excited as he sees other dogs and people. He is such a social butterfly. Tonight, I put on the Gentle Leader (mouth harness) on him and he magically stopped pulling. He walked on my side heeling constantly and never pulled. At one point during our walk halfway, I switched the leash from the mouth harness to his collar and he immediately started pulling constantly over and over. After 5 minutes, I switched back to the mouth harness and he went back to heeling and being submissive and stopped pulling. Now, I have to research on how to wean him from the mouth harness to a regular collar.... lol


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