The longer he wears a GL the more he trys to remove it?

[jupiter11600]

*sigh* Well, we are trying the GL again, but it never seems to fail, he sits and trys to get it off more and more the longer he wears it. No we don't pay any attention to it, but he just does it. He constantly rubs his head on anything, breaks things when he does this and injures himself (Very sensitive skin that he gets cut easy) and the last time he bloodied the end of his nose while doing this. Any tips???

Do dogs go through a sort of teenage stage? Wiggles used to be getting very good at a lot of commands, Sit, down, stay, come, etc but now REFUSES to listen to me, he will listen to Fred, but only when he is beyond stern toned with him. I tried a lot of the methods in the books i was recommended, but that only seemed to make it worse and him not to take me serious at all.

As a reminder, Wiggles is a 1 +/- year old APT type mix (Exactly what do i call him as there really is no pit bull breed??? I tend to tell my neighbors that he is a lab mix as he's almost solid black and they seem to be very anti-pit bull and afraid of him, i know bad but I'm trying to keep the already strained peace) He gets plenty of *HARD* exercise, I finally bought a bike as I could not keep up with him. A normal ride for us is 4+ miles at a fast walk/trot for most of the way for him, Every other day or more depending on the weather. This will calm him down for about a hour then he is back to being a butthead. He is Nutered.

[Gempress]

Some dogs never accept to the gentle leader, which is one of the biggest complaints people have about it. I've heard the straps around the nose have a psychological effect on some dogs. If Wiggles is still fighting it, I would stop using it immediately. Try using one of those gentle leader harnesses instead, the ones that have a ring on the chest.

[elegy]

there is a pit bull breed. it's called the american pit bull terrier.

i agree with gempress- stop using it. he's telling you pretty loud and clear that he doesn't like it. why keep forcing a piece of equipment on him that he very much objects to? the easy walk harness may work for you and not be as upsetting for him.

and yes, they very much go through a teenage stage! lol

[jupiter11600]

I actually use a prong collar (Correctly fit and used) and love that, But i get such dirty looks, let alone lectures on using it. From even total strangers!! He responds well to it and all and training was going good. I can't use a GL on my beagle, it changes his whole personality. I used it for 3 months on him with no improvement, he would walk with his head down and his tail down if not tucked...

So far the 2 dogs I have tried it on, I have had *NO* luck with a GL, we tried the harness also, but they look at me like ARE YOU KIDDING? I just want to get them to be able to work with something that we don't get dirty looks and complaints about, as he pretty much takes me for a drag if he is on a flat buckle... I mean everyone raves about how good GLs are, But so far I have not been impressed VS using a prong. I mean mine go nuts like OH BOY OH BOY when they see a prong, and walk nice on it, were they see a GL they run and hide. Maybe it is the fact I tend to choose more dominating personality dogs rather then submissive? Well that won't change... Challenge or not I like my pooches to be confident of themselves...

I know APT are a breed, When i have to explain or write down his breed should I just put that? American Pit Bull Terrier mix? He's not a staffie or anything close to that type, Not the current hippo type fad, but a very well muscled, slim, trim wigglin machine!