Are You Taking Your Dog for a Walk?
or, is your Dog Walking You?
This is our dog, Jade, wearing a no pull harness. We keep a regular collar on too just for the dog tags. But, Jade, our escape artist, is an exception. We need to hook the tie-out cable to both harness and collar when camping. Otherwise, she slips out of either one when used by themselves.
Well, if you end up being dragged along the street by your dog every time you go for a walk,
I think it’s safe to say that your dog is the one taking you for a walk.
If this is the case, there are things you can do to change this. It is possible to go for a nice walk. One that you are in control and not your dog.
Do you find yourself running behind your dog every time you take it out for a walk?
And no, you’re not running because you’re bursting with sudden energy either, but because your dog is yanking and dragging you along behind it.
Well, I’ve owned dogs for a long time and I’d like to give you some advice. It’s what I do with my dogs and it works for me, so maybe it’ll work for you too.
How to Stop Your Leash-Pulling Dog
First, think of what type of collar you’re using on your dog. Is it a basic collar? Meaning, a plain old ordinary collar around their neck? Or, do you resort to choke collars or prong collars?
Myself, I don’t use collars on our dogs anymore. At least not for going for walks. About the only use we make of their collars is to hang their tags and for when we go camping to hook them up to their tie-outs. Honestly, I’ve never tried the choke or prong collars on our dogs. I just don’t like the idea of it.
What Do I Use on our Dogs?
Have you ever tried a harness? I know, yes, dogs wear harnesses to pull sleds around, but a different type of harness might help your dog’s pulling problem.
Consider using a no pull harness on your dog. In my experience, I’ve found that these harnesses help give you more control, although they do not completely stop a leash pulling dog.
You do still have to work on training your dog to listen to you.
These are much less stressful for the dog since it is not choking the dog and causing it to cough and hack like a regular collar. Harnesses are not just around the neck, but around the whole chest and upper body instead.
Train your Dog
Like I mentioned earlier, these harnesses do not completely stop your dog from pulling, but while you’re starting out, it sure helps! The best thing that will help overcome this problem is to train your dog properly.
You can have a dog that will walk calmly by your side if you work at it and be patient.
Before I Knew Any Better
Our dog Pepper wearing an anti pull dog harness. These are a great training aid for walking a dog that will constantly pull on the leash.
One of our dogs, Pepper, is famous for being the “puller” in our house. She’s part Husky, German Shepherd, and Yellow Lab.
In the past, she was the one taking me for a walk. So, I know what it’s like and it isn’t much fun.
When using a collar, the plain old nylon kind, she’d start out our walk by pulling me out the door so hard I felt like I was flying!
Choking, Hacking, and Wheezing Along…
I didn’t want to use a choke collar or any type of collar that would cause pain on any of our dogs no matter how “bad” they were to walk. I felt bad enough when I could hear her gasping and choking with all the pulling she was doing with a regular collar.
No matter to her though, she’d drag me down the road only stopping to sniff here and there, wheezing and coughing the whole way…
Hey, now! What?
I didn’t mean I was the one wheezing and coughing, it was Pepper, our dog doing all that!
Of course, we were both much younger then, lol…now, I might be joining her in a duet of cough and hack after practically running after her to keep up.
At least she used to be like that when she was on the leash. She’s improved a lot once I realized that something could be done to stop this daily exercise of me getting dragged down the road much to the neighbors delight.
I’m sure anyone watching must have been utterly amused by the entertainment provided by us, especially on the days when the road was snowy and slippery! Heck, I sure would’ve been, that’s if I wasn’t the one stuck on the other end of the leash, “walking” the dog.
Any of This Sound Familiar?
I actually started to dread taking her out for a walk since I knew it would be a struggle with her yanking me in every direction. My arms and shoulders would ache by the time we got back and I’d be exhausted from trying to keep up with her.
I was getting so tired of doing this day in and day out, so I knew something had to be done. There had to be some way to get her under control and actually be able to enjoy taking her for a walk and not the other way around.
Five Things You Can Do to Stop Your Dog Pulling on the Leash
- Use bribery- I mean treats
- Use a No Pull Harness
- Short leash-don’t let your dog wander all over
- Turn the other way if they start pulling ahead
- Keep your dog’s attention on you
You’ll need time and patience to keep on training your dog every time you go for a walk. Keep its favorite treats in a small pouch that you can clip to your belt and remember to use them every time your dog is doing what you want it to do.
Keeping your dog’s attention focused on you distracts your dog from wanting to take off in every direction it finds enticing. Once its attention starts wandering, and you see they are getting too interested in something else such as that pesky squirrel in a nearby tree, you can usually get it back by calling your dog’s name and rattling the treat bag around too. Once your dog’s focus is back on you, reward it with a treat and a “Good girl” (or boy).
Below I’ve added a little about a harness that will get your dog’s attention…in a good way!
The one shown below is the SENSE-ation No-Pull Dog Harness, which is highly recommended by many dog owners who already own it. Once your dog starts to pull, the dog ends up facing you instead of being able to keep pulling forward due to the leash being attached to the harness’ ring on the dog’s chest. Pretty cool, huh? Now, your dog is facing you, rather than continuing to pull you along your merry way!
Want to get one for your dog? Click the image to shop at Amazon!
Hope this helps you out with your dog. It’s no fun going out for a drag down the street!
Does your dog take you for a walk? Have you ever tried using a No Pull Dog Harness
Please let me know in the comment box below! I’d love to hear your ideas, thoughts, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I’d be thrilled to help you! 🙂
-Sherry