# Pulling on lead.. not listening to commands help!



## Luna21 (May 29, 2021)

Hello I have an 8 month old vizsla Luna.. she’s beautiful and generally well behaved. We have a huge field near our house and she has runs twice a day plus walks to school to pick my children up everyday. BUT she is just terrible on the lead. She pulls so much she blisters my hands.. jumps up on people and continuously pulls in front of me and lunges her body forward. I have a trainer and she was so shocked by her pulling she recommended that I use a pinch collar and that is something I am personally against and would never do. We have tried slip lead.. that made her worse and she would choke herself and her eyes would go red. It would really upset us seeing her like that so we now use harness with strong lead but she is just as bad. Can anyone recommend something I can use? I’ve tried all the training tips I’ve been told to do. Doesn’t seem to work. I’m starting to dread taking her out which is not what I want at all. Thank you!


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

8 months `old` driven vizsla and their pulling, always a lot of fun, that being dragged down the street feel 

and yes, it will take time to learn the heeling. In the meantime, the most humane solution i have found was to wrap the leash around her belly and create a loop. There are also special leashes here in the US designed for the same purpose, worked with both of my boys. in fact when we are in highly exciting environment i still use these, as my boys are much stronger than i am.









Amazon.com : Weiss Walkie No Pull Dog Leash & Training Leash - Small/Safety Orange : Pet Supplies


Amazon.com : Weiss Walkie No Pull Dog Leash & Training Leash - Small/Safety Orange : Pet Supplies



www.amazon.com





hope this gives you a workable solution with Luna.


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## Luna21 (May 29, 2021)

Thanks so much appreciate your advice!! I’ll try this and hope it works.. I now have a collection of many different leads 🤣


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

I have used the exact leash @Gabica recommends, it did work well to an extent ; however , we did eventually move to a sprenger collar after a session with a well known trainer in my state. It was night and day and at no times are we inhuman as it is light taps combined with praise and rewards for proper leash walking. That being said there are also body harnesses with clips low on the front chest which would force them sideways if they tried to pull, may be helpful as well.


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## Luna21 (May 29, 2021)

thanks for your advice we currenlty are using no pull harness with lead on front and back like you have and it is not working at all. She just loves to pull! 🤣


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## ana19 (Jun 26, 2020)

Tools don't train dogs, you do. You can't teach loose leash walking in a vacuum. You first need to satisfy her needs for sniffing before asking for any impulse control. It's just not fair otherwise!

The thing that helped with Aron's pulling is carrying a clicker and a treat bag with me. I carry a few different types of treats. I carry his kibble which is low value then medium value treats (hot dogs, cheese, etc), and squeeze tubes filled with cream cheese, baby food, or something similar which are high value. Click and treat and make a party for EVERY check-in. Remember, reinforcement drives behavior. Also teaching heel is helpful because it teaches them attention but I do not walk him in a heel position all the time only when we're passing people. I let him sniff. It's his walk. BUT if you do have problems with loose leash walking I would interpret heeling a short amount of time with a high level of reinforcement and then release to sniff. Then again, heel, treats, ok go sniff! Also, you can condition a kissing sound or tongue click that means hey, pay attention to me! You do this the same as with a clicker. The sound then treat! Also, when he pulled I would stop, and then when he would turn back to me, I would click for attention then treat. This helped a lot with Aron's loose leash walking but he still has days where he doesn't care about me whatsoever. So I put him in a heel for a short period of time and when I see I have his attention he's released. Another thing is to give it time. In loose leash walking, there are many things that may influence the pulling. Ask yourself, am I using high enough reinforcers? Am I walking in too distracting environments? If you're using kibble and trying to teach him LLW in a store that is full of people and other dogs then that is a recipe for disaster. You will get frustrated and your dog will get frustrated.

You want your dog to want to be next to you not do that because he has to (if he doesn't something bad will happen). Learning takes time and LLW is very complex. I first started seeing results after a week maybe but that will depend on your dog, you, and the environment. When you've built his reinforcement history, try to lessen the number of times where you cue heel. You'll see that if he has that reinforcement history built very well and for a period of time he'll come close to you without you needing to cue it. Again, reward every check-in and make a party of it. I'm cool with Aron being everywhere around me if his leash is loose (unless if we're passing other people or cars) but it all comes down to personal preference.


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## ana19 (Jun 26, 2020)

You should also start teaching heel in non-distracting environments like your home. Do a 15-minute heel session around your living room and your dog will be pooped. Build a strong foundation in your home and then try it out outside in environments that have low distractions. Generalize the behavior and turn up the level of distractions when they are succeeding in low distraction environments. Take your time and build a really solid foundation.


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## CanadianVizsla (Mar 5, 2021)

Dan_A do you have a link to which collar you use? Our 6mos old male can pull like crazy too! We have tried the loop collar and the one that goes around the body without much success. He does training walks with a dog walker 2-3 times per week which helps. I find it depends on the time of day and how tired/distracted he is. But, I'm concerned about having our 12yr old walking him and being pulled like crazy once he is full grown. Thanks!


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

@CanadianVizsla , I'll PM you as I don't want to highjack the OP's thread especially since they disagree with using the type of tool.


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## John N (Sep 11, 2020)

We got one of these, works very well!









Dog & Field Figure 8 Anti-Pull Lead/Halter/Head Collar/Harness (Olive Green) : Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies


Free delivery and returns on eligible orders. Buy Dog & Field Figure 8 Anti-Pull Lead/Halter/Head Collar/Harness (Olive Green) at Amazon UK.



www.amazon.co.uk


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## heelmark (Aug 14, 2013)




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## Frida010 (Apr 24, 2020)

We have just experienced a massive breakthrough with e-collar leash training. We don’t use shock but only vibration, as for my sensitive girl this is probably as enforcing as a shock for others. Besides that shock collars and prongs are illegal here.

We have tried almost everything, I’ve spend hours and hours stopping when pulling, teaching her heel, etc. We bought harnesses (she still pulled) gentle leader (turned her into a very timid, shy dog) slip-leashes (choked her)..Nothing worked.

I had an unused e-collar which I was planning to use for recall when she sees another person carrying a tennis ball (that is the only situation in which her solid recall does not work). But I decided to give leash training a try first because her pulling was killing my shoulder.

I ‘buzzed her’ when she was pulling and stopped when she wasn’t while giving the command “slow down”. Since her focus heel is pretty good, but I don’t need her to heel an entire hike, I opted for a new command. The uncomfortable feeling of vibration made her immediately move close to me, and I stopped the moment the leash was loose. I then gave her a lot of praise and / or treats (usually praises make her tail wag more than food). Within a few minutes she understood the concept and it took me about 10 minutes per day for a week to fully transition her to command only. I still take the collar with me, sometimes I need to put it on but I haven’t pressed the vibration button in weeks.

It was a bit of a wild guess, but it has been a game changer for us.


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

I exclusively use sound and vibrate only with Ellie for emergency recall, it’s all she needs at this time. The e-collar allows me to have her off leash on our wooded trails as a safety net , particularly because of leash rules. I can’t have a situation where she causes a ruckus. It is very rare I need it as Ellie is apprehensive of other people and dogs when off leash if she doesn’t observe me giving the “ok” by interacting with them. I’ve been using the prong for loose leash and it works well but I do let her walk in front of me. She tends to start applying pressure to the prong and I have to give a gentle tap. Perhaps the e collar with your method would be a better option. I may try it out.


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## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

this stopped Ruby pulling, figure of 8 with the slip lead over her snout


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## Frida010 (Apr 24, 2020)

harrigab said:


> this stopped Ruby pulling, figure of 8 with the slip lead over her snout


I don’t know how you managed Ruby to be OK with something over her snout. I can’t put anything over Fred’s snout that doesn’t turn her into total submission. It’s just sad to see her turn into an unhappy dog, tail tucked between her legs. I couldn’t go on long relaxing walks like that. I did a lot of sessions with treats to make her feel more comfortable but nothing worked.


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## Luna21 (May 29, 2021)

Thank you for all your advice. We had a training session last week and trainer impressed with amount Luna has improved just in 4 weeks. We have been training a lot in a field in evening when other dogs are not around focusing on recall and walk to heel. As tedious as it’s been it’s worked. She recommends we use a french collar when out in public as she is still pulling- have not purchased one yet. Hubby is not wanting to use it but I am the one who walks her everywhere and takes her everywhere and I just want her to behave and to not look like such a stressed lunatic when I walk her!! 🤷🏻‍♀️


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## Luna21 (May 29, 2021)

Frida010 said:


> We have just experienced a massive breakthrough with e-collar leash training. We don’t use shock but only vibration, as for my sensitive girl this is probably as enforcing as a shock for others. Besides that shock collars and prongs are illegal here.
> 
> We have tried almost everything, I’ve spend hours and hours stopping when pulling, teaching her heel, etc. We bought harnesses (she still pulled) gentle leader (turned her into a very timid, shy dog) slip-leashes (choked her)..Nothing worked.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your advice it’s a real help


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## rchik43 (Apr 12, 2020)

Pillu is a 1 year old male V and I have been at loose leash walking for may be the past 4-5 months or so. I seem to have had several breakthroughs at different points over this time, and finally at a point over the last 2 weeks where he seems to be just walking with me, I could even drop the leash. ( although I don't...but it's that loose). I used a lot of info from this forum, the one that made the first significant breakthrough was a post by @gunnr ...where he suggested 'be a tree' let him self correct at the end of the line ...when he finally 'gives' in the tension...turn the other way right that instant. You have to get the timing right. I also discovered that my corrections were not effective because my leash was too short...while training. I had a 6 foot leash and he would get to the end of it and start pulling , before I could correct him...and its not possible to correct him when the leash is already taut. So I got a longer leash that gave me some margin to keep some slack in the leash and be able to correct him 'before' he starts pulling at the end of the line. This helped immensely. I have now gone back to a 6 foot leash...and my last breakthrough was something I picked up from an online trainer. Basically he said , when Pillu is walking...as soon as he starts going off...don't wait for him to go off on his own, as soon as he starts, go a little low and to his side ( so it doesn't hurt his trachea), and do a bit of a leash correction to bring him back to you (I'll try to find the video and post it here). This correction again has to be when the leash is loose. It has to be very quick , just intense enough and very well timed. Basically the intent is that part of his attention is now on you. I can't tell you how much this has helped , in terms of loose leash walking , as well as keeping him from getting too excited as other dogs pass by. Whenever we walk now...he is in rhythm with my walking , I walk he walks, I stop he stops...its quite amazing. He walks by my left side or at most 3-4 feet from me...

I don't use a gentle leader, front harness ( didn't work for me), prong collar , or e-collar so far. I'm just using a martingale collar. I think if you have your technique right even a flat collar will work. I don't use a harness on walks, But I switch to a harness and a 50 foot check cord when we go into the woods or to any place he is allowed to explore/run around. I'm still thinking I'll get an e-collar for when we head into the woods and he has more freedom...not done it yet.


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## rchik43 (Apr 12, 2020)

I have no affiliation with this trainer , happened to land on this on YouTube …after several months of trying different things, although every thing helped to some extent … this made the biggest difference


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## Luna21 (May 29, 2021)

rchik43 said:


> I have no affiliation with this trainer , happened to land on this on YouTube …after several months of trying different things, although every thing helped to some extent … this made the biggest difference


I watched the video.. such a help. Will try this- thank you!


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

@rchik43 Thank you for that video. I have been using a prong collar and while effective , Ellie will still move ahead and keep the leash taught. I'm not comfortable using the prong with enough gusto to get her back to loose leash. I tried this technique yesterday with her regular flat collar and the effect was dramatic. Using the best timing I could and getting low for the correction really made a difference. When the leash is low with a horizontal pop, her head turns back to you by nature of the direction of the correction. I was able for the first time to have a nice loose leash walk with Ellie just on her flat collar. I used the technique about 5-8 times on our 30 minute walk and she finally got the point. I would even test her slowing down and she'd realize she was getting to the end of the leash and came back into the proper vicinity of me. I'm going to keep up on this as it is a game changer so far.


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## Murph (Feb 25, 2021)

Thank you for posting this video! I'm going to give it a try as well. Murphy has been a challenge walking since day 1. He has times where he does well and I think he's getting it and then it all goes out the window. He is 10 months old now and I really want to improve this. I don't recall our first V being this way but that was well over 10 years ago so maybe I blocked it out. Murphy just seems to be in his own little world when we are out walking, excited by every little smell, sight and sound. I also blame my husband, he takes him out on the trails when he's mountain biking and Murphy does very well running along...so I think he only knows one speed now..FAST!


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## rchik43 (Apr 12, 2020)

Murph said:


> I think he only knows one speed now..FAST!


😂😂… made me laugh , so easy to visualize that with Vizslas. For the same reason , you may want to try a slightly longer leash when you try this first, only to give you enough time/margin to give a correction when the leash is still loose… if he gets to the end of the leash before you correct, you won’t be able to do it. I used to have a 6 foot leash at first, I switched to a 10 foot leash to train him. He would get to the end of the leash on a 6 foot leash too quickly for me … now that he has improved, I switched back to a 6 foot leash


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## Murph (Feb 25, 2021)

rchik43 said:


> 😂😂… made me laugh , so easy to visualize that with Vizslas. For the same reason , you may want to try a slightly longer leash when you try this first, only to give you enough time/margin to give a correction when the leash is still loose… if he gets to the end of the leash before you correct, you won’t be able to do it. I used to have a 6 foot leash at first, I switched to a 10 foot leash to train him. He would get to the end of the leash on a 6 foot leash too quickly for me … now that he has improved, I switched back to a 6 foot leash


I will give that a try because when I tried this the other night and it did not go well at all! Maybe having a slightly longer leash would be better at first.


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## Nina - Åse (Dec 26, 2020)

Dan_A said:


> @rchik43 Thank you for that video. I have been using a prong collar and while effective , Ellie will still move ahead and keep the leash taught. I'm not comfortable using the prong with enough gusto to get her back to loose leash. I tried this technique yesterday with her regular flat collar and the effect was dramatic. Using the best timing I could and getting low for the correction really made a difference. When the leash is low with a horizontal pop, her head turns back to you by nature of the direction of the correction. I was able for the first time to have a nice loose leash walk with Ellie just on her flat collar. I used the technique about 5-8 times on our 30 minute walk and she finally got the point. I would even test her slowing down and she'd realize she was getting to the end of the leash and came back into the proper vicinity of me. I'm going to keep up on this as it is a game changer so far.


Hi All - I watched the video and was a little sceptical as all his pups seemed very obedient already (maybe it’s just Åse that isn’t 🤣) anyways put my 8 month puller on a normal collar and lead and was ready for the pulling to begin…. After a few of the ok then down low to the side pull back corrections out the door we were off - and not in a bad way! Loose leash wise it’s the best she has EVER been - we did an hour and a half down country roads and when she was on the leash I could hold it with 2 fingers! She did amazing and I congratulated her - maybe too much as she decided to throw herself at the last 2 people we saw 😂🤪 anyways something I am certainly going to keep putting my time into!


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