One of my favorite things......

to do is leash up the dogs and head out on a long hike this time of year. OH...the weather is perfect, cool...crisp..fresh. The trees are full of color. Sooooo, we did just that on Sat. BUT it doesn't matter if we walk a mile or 3 miles......Addie pulls to the extreme (gasping, choking) while on the leash. Now, I've been working with her on a leash for her 3 years..since she was 8 wks. old....STILL the same. You could be jogging.............she HAS to try and go faster. So....while we walked along our country road....full moon overhead..breeze cooling our faces.........ALL WE HEARD WAS ADDIE COUGHING, CHOKING, PANTING, GASPING. Kinda broke the serenity of it all. LOL Are some dogs just never going to be good while leashed????? By the second walk, Hammie learned to walk well, and he sits if a car does happen by........Addie still will try to chase the car (thank goodness she is leashed!) I end up feeling bad for her. Sure doesn't seem like a good time to me. Well, that's my thoughts...any ideas? (oops...maybe this should be in the training section..sorry) If we hike in the woods (which is the more usual) she needs to run ahead..zigzagging back and forth at least 20 feet in front. She just always needs to go sooooooooooooooooooooooo fast. (which is why I never get a good picture of her) LOL

Codi puts on such an act when i put his leash on, he coughs and chokes and puts up such a scene that people think his collar is to tight...so much so people actually think i am hurting him on purpose...buts its because Codi wants attention, he does this lepord crawl thing when his leash is on until it pulls tight, then he rolls over and coughs and grasps for air like someone is strangling him, he has not done this once or twice, but everytime his leash gets taken out.

Brady does the same thing. He pulls so hard, and he is so strong. If I am walking him alone he is literally pulling me around, but my husband can handle him better. Still it annoys him too. I have actually had to plant my feet and lean backwards to try to stop him. He is walking in everyone's yard and sniffing everything, I have one of those retractable leashes which I did hear were horrible if you were trying to teach your dog leash manners. Someone said to get a pinch collar too (not a choke collar) but I still feel bad about it so I have not done it. I am interested to see the advice you get.

I found a regular halter makes most of this go away. It's much easier to control a dog with one, and they realize it and don't usually pull like they do with a collar. And I've had some who could PULL!

I am sooooo glad Shiva and Kharma aren't leash lungers! I'd have whiplash for sure. And Bimmer's just a gentleman no matter what. I really don't know what I've done to deserve that sweet little fellow!

Thanks for making me laugh! I thought my guys were the only lead tuggers in town. Bently wanders around like crazy. We have had him to beh lessons, private lessons etc., but to no avail. Thank goodness he doesn't usually care about other dogs. Dougall pulls until he sees another dog and then goes into border collie mode with a pull. Licore is the worst! Not only does he pull, but he HAS to jump every time he sees a dog. He was harassed by dogs when he was a pup. He was abandoned in a cage while other dogs walked around him. We can't seem to get this craziness out of him. So basically they are all tuggers, the only thing that changes is their body language when they see another dog! Yikes, what a comedy we must be to watch!! Of course everyone else in the neighborhood has such well behaved dogs... they just don't know what they are missing! LL

Well if Brady sees another dog, or a kid, or basically any person who even looks his direction....Watch out! He will pull me over there because he HAS to say hello to everyone, every dog, and every cat he meets. He is a lot stronger than me, I can not hardly hold him back. People in my neighborhood always make fun of me when he does that, saying things like "oh he wanted to take you for a walk?" ha ha ha ha ha. They should quit their day jobs and tour the comedy clubs.

The only world class tugger I've ever had was my little, 10 pound Toy Fox Terrier I had when I was a kid. I can remember my Dad having to take her leash sometimes because she pulled so hard. The only dog I've ever dealt with that was in her league was my sister's Jack Russell that my parents kept for a little over a year. It seems ridiculous now that I've got these Monsters - but they don't pull at all! They just try to stay close. Looking back at all the dogs I've loved, I've come to the conclusion that Terriers are just the bull-moose, world class yankers of the canine world, and all the choking and hacking and gasping just adds to their fun. It certainly doesn't phase them in the least.

Apollo likes to pull too, he could drag me and steve acrossed a driveway, and he did at the humane society. and when he sees another dog he dances sideways and walks right into your legs nearly taking you down, what's so funny about the whole thing is... he's only 50 pounds.... 50 pounds of solid muscle. Jeepers lol. and he really likes to walk with his nose down. Hounds do that i guess. and he'll zig zag infront of you, beside you, into your legs, behind you. I almost want to get a retractable leash just so he can zig zag atleast a few more feet away from my legs, i'm prone to being clumsy and i don't wanna end up falling on him. lol

My dog, Chili, does the opposite, sort of. She'll get going really good, even running a little bit, then she'll just abruptly stop. She's only five pounds, and my husband and I are so afraid we're going to step on her! I have to tug on her sometimes to keep her going because she'll stop every few feet just to sniff at something. She gets a little overwhelmed with her surroundings. Most of the time I just let her wander around in our yard on the leash instead of actually going on a walk. Are Chihuahuas usually pretty difficult to walk?

LOL! Poor little thing! I'm so used to these Monsters that I can't imagine walking such a wee mite. The little ones are just as enthralled with new smells as the big 'uns, though.

Chili does look really small in comparison to her surroundings outdoors! I think she gets intimidated sometimes. We have a tree in the yard that drops small pieces of fruit in the summer, and one day I was walking her around and I kicked one of them with my foot. She was terrified of it and ran away from it! I guess she didn't realize that I made it move. I know that if I had a dog any bigger than Chili, they would be dragging me behind them! Sometimes it is even hard to keep up with her when she gets going.