How can I keep my 85lb Black Lab from jerking my arm out of joint when I take her walking?

Answer 1

Keep the leash very short. like right by your side..When she tugs, stop..don't move until she relaxes...If she pulls ahead when you allow her more leash, turn around in the opposite direction..You can go to an empty parking lot, and keep working on those moves..
she will soon learn that when she pulls, she never gets to go where she wants..
Another option is here> http://www.cannyco.com/ check out the videos.. I got mine on eBay, and it only took 6 days to get here from UK..

Answer 2

Get your dog a properly fitted choke collar. Make sure you don't put it on upside down or it won't release when you give it a tug and will choke the dog.

Place the dog on your left side, very short leash, and tell him "heel". He doesn't have to stay quite in the heel position for now, you just want him to learn to stay close to you. When he pulls, you give a quick, sharp tug on the collar and repeat the command. Technique is very important - you don't want to be pulling on the dog's neck, so use a short, sharp tug and ease off.

Give him lots of quiet praise (calm is important here because the idea is to keep him calm), give him a few treats in the beginning as a reward for good behaviour. You can treat and praise him after walking just a very short distance at first, because the idea is to praise him for correct behaviour, not correct him for misbehaving. He'll very soon get the idea and you gradually increase the distances between praise.

Once you have a bit more control over him, you might want to consider finding a good obedience class to take him to. They can teach you how to train your dog, but it would be better for him if you had some control before you enrolled him in classes.

Answer 3

Put food in your pockets when you go for a walk. A lab wont miss the smell of meat. They will be curious to see if they can have some. As soon as the dog has a loose lead, tell her good girl and reward with a small bit of food. If she goes to the end of the lead and pulls, stop and call her back to you, and start walking, but call her back to you before she can take the slack out of the leash. You may need to lure her with the food in the beginning to get her to curb back to you (turns back toward you). Continue to reward her and tell her good girl any time there is slack in the leash and give a big payoff of food if she will walk at your side to get the food. You have to be able to let her know what you don't want - stop walking when she pulls on the leash - no reward. And let her know what you do want and that there is a payday of yummy pieces of food if she pleases you by walking at your side.

You may want to practice in a small area the first few times since you will be stopping a lot (in the beginning) and helping her to understand the new rules for going for a walk. If she is food motivated, she will put it together. Remember to reward frequently if she is walking by your side (deliver the reward on the side you want her to walk next to and hold the reward next to your leg)

Answer 4

well, I have a 85-90 pound Black Lab/Rot mix, he takes me for the walk! But I use a choke chain, and he doesn't like that so has learned to not pull as hard. You can also use a harness system, which also will keep them from pulling as hard. You just have to work with them a lot. I'm trying to break the block head from climbing the fence now!!

Answer 5

I worked with a 100 pound lab and got him walking great on leash, no pulling! It takes time, patience, training, and work!

I suggest starting in your back yard, off leash, and carry a bunch of treats like bits of hot dog. While you walk around the yard, treat and praise periodically for him being by your side.

Then, don't treat and don't talk for a while. When he comes back and walks with you, praise and treat again.

You can also do this on leash if you don't have a secure area.

Carry treats while you take him on regular walks. Tell your dog to "sit" when ever he starts pulling and treat and praise.

If this doesn't help, there are other methods that may.

http://www.libertydogtraining.com

Answer 6

Make certain that you step out of the house first when you go for a walk. DO NOT let the dog lead you out the door. This will set the tone for the walk. Make sure during the walk, you are walking ahead of the dog. Definately watch the Dog Whisperer, it sounds like you need it:)

Answer 7

Treats and toys don't work!! Those only work if the dog wants the treat or toy more than he wants to do something else. That is the fundamental problem with the current fad of "bribe doggy to listen."

You have to MAKE him do what you want even when he doesn't want to - and give him a very good reason not to disobey you.

Would you ALWAYS obey the speed limits if there was no risk of a ticket?? If you wouldn't get arrested, would you grow pot in the backyard if it made a lot of money for you?

I don't care what that self-promoting person Milan on TV says. You NEVER ignore a dog who ignores and disobeys you. All they learn is they can ignore you. That on-coming car is NOT going to "ignore" your dog and neither is the animal control officer. You don't need to do the advanced methods of gaining control over a headstrong, pig-headed, I'm the boss" dog unless you are working with one - hardly the average pet except for a few breeds. You can establish that you are the boss - the dominant one, the Alpha - by far less dramatic means than flipping the dog on its back.

All the current fads - "postive only with treats and toys or Caesar Milan all promise the same thing - fast results with no real work. Do you see a police officer give his patrol dog a cookie every time he obeys? Do you see the partner of a Guide Dog give the dog a cookie because it took him across the street? Watch the AKC Eukanuba Obedience Championship Competition on TV next January and see if you see a single handler give their dog a cookie? The answer to all of these is a resounding NO becaue those dogs perform to get praise in the form of pets, hugs, a good wrestling about and your "happy" voice; and to avoid being corrected, scolded in a deep stern voice while the handler frowns at them, and made to do it properly.

Training a dog properly is WORK. W-O-R-K. It takes time, dedication, persistence and repetition. I have always said that I could teach any dog to the basics in 2 weeks - it was the owners in my classes that took the 10-12 weeks to teach them how to do it.


Here are excerpts from the material I give clients:

Step 1 Walking next to you nicely

(Short part for dog that jerks the leash and drags and tries to take off)

If we are talking a big heavy dog, be prepared and braced. Hook the leash on the dog's slip collar (see below on how to fit it and why the flat buckle collar is not going to work.). Get the dog on your left side. Take the leash and run it behind you over your hips to your right side. Hold the end of the leash in your right hand. With your left hand, take up the leash so there is some slack between your hand and the dog's collar - maybe a loop of 6-8 inches on each side so there is total of 12-16 inches of play (the exact length in the loop will depend upon your height and his - try different variations.).

Walk off. When the dog lunges forward to drag you, halt FAST and step backwards with your left foot throwing your body weight against her and taking the dog's lunge with your body. (You are basically snubbing him off.) You can even take a complete step backwards if you are fast enough. Let him hit that slack and snap himself back. (It works - I weigh 98 lbs and can stop a Great Dane like this,)

As you do that yell "NO" in a deep stern voice, and then in the same voice order him back to your side with "You get back here -NOW Heel". Make him get back there and move off again


Use a CHAIN slip collar that is fitted so there is 3 - 4 fingers of space between the dog’s neck and the collar. Put the collar on so the ring that slides comes across the back of her neck and directly at you. With a flat buckle collar, you are in a pulling match that you are going to lose with about any dog over 15-20 lbs.

Note: use the CHAIN slip collar because they learn to listen for the rattle of the collar and adjust their behavior before you have to correct them. Nylon slip collars just simply do not work 1/4 as well.

You NEVER keepa constant drag or pull on a slip collar. You snap it -pop release. In my clases, I always put then collar on the owners' arms to demonstarts- made the point real fast.

COLLARS:

DO NOT GO TO A PINCH UNLESS AND UNTIL THE SLIP ISN'T ENOUGH (combined with the leash behind hip thing.) Those are the last-ditch collars. If you have to go to one, use it only until the dog gets the point and then back down to a less severe collar. Contrary to popular opinon, those are a SEVERE collar and should not be used by uneducated handlers. They are popular because they are a quick fix (rather than the owner actually learning how to train the dog) but it is a lot like giving a monkey a set of razor blades..

Headhalters, funky harnesses and weird martigales are all ILLEGAL in AKC obedience. Worse yet, the minute you take them off,the dog KNOWS you have no control and everything from 'sit' to 'come' is now optional.


Now you both need a GOOD obedience class - and that is NOT Petsmart or Petco.

GO here to find contacts in you area that can help you locate and obedience trainer who works with all beeds and who does AKC obedience compettions - a much better recommendation than an add in a phonebook as they compete at what they claim to teach :

http://www.akc.org/clubs/search/index.cf...

http://www.akc.org/clubs/search/index.cf... (set on all breeds)


http://www.akc.org/clubs/search/index.cf...

Even it they are an hour or more away, they will know other people all over the state.

Answer 8

My answer is simple have you ever heard of the dog whisper? what he does is: let your dog know you're in control, pull on her leash a few times with little jerks and a few times of you doing that she should calm down. But every now and then she'll need to be reminded who's in charge so, don't worry if she doesn't listen to you the first time.

Answer 9

Get a front clip harness - made by Sensa-tion and by Premier No Pull Harness. There are pet stores that sell these. They attach by the chest, does not hurt the dog and work wonders.

Answer 10

Obedience classes