Walking with a winch...

[Ratboy]

My 5 and a half year old Dobe/Lab/Husky?? King has never been great on a leash, he was at the "ok" point until I was hurt in a car wreck and didn't walk him for some time. Since then, he just pulls and pulls and it's torture to walk him. I have tried all the things suggested, turning around when he pulls, stopping when he pulls, etc. I put a harness on him and it's worse, as his choking (when he does it, he has an "iron neck") at least stops him. I tried one of the head halter, and he goes ballistic with it on, and panicks.

He has his reasons to pull, his pup, Dilbert lives on the end of the street and he wants to see him, then there's Romeo, the Italian Pointer, then George, the Hyena clone, then there's the Pug, April, then there's the Lab, Buddy, and so on without end. There are so many friendly dogs to visit that he just wants to pull from one house to the next. He burns out eventually, and is ok, not pulling badly until he rests up, but the first mile and a half is brutal. It's amazing how hard 62 pounds can pull!

Anyone got any oddball tricks to try. He will not take food on a walk, BTW, and it really doesn't work on him in general.

[MEG126]

my golden used to pull big time- it amazed me how hard a little dog could pull!! (not that she was THAT little, but not full grown golden) it's a common problem- we used the thingy that you put around their muzzle and it pulls their head down when they pull, i think you mentioned that you'd used that already though and it didn't work.

does he do ok when he doesn't have inspiration? are all his doggy friends outside waiting for him to walk by? if so then you could probably talk to your neighbors and explain to them what you're trying to teach king and ask them to keep their dogs inside so that he's not as motivated. or maybe a different walking route would help.

you could start working with him in your backyard so he learns to look and listen to you. is there a park nearby that you could put him in the car and go to, so that he doesn't have those (known) distractions? there's always the possibility of other dogs, but you could try going at not-so-common times.

he's going to have distractions regardless, but you can start out with less of them and build up - hope some of this is of some help!

[Renee750il]

Oh, I know this dog! My first GSD was like that. Obedience training was the best thing for him, and although once he passed the test he never did 'heel' again, he didn't pull anymore. It was very important that he not pull on me at the time since I had just been diagnosed with myasthenia gravis and didn't have the strength to deal with a high energy German Shepherd pulling on me.

By the way, please, please get a picture of George, the hyena clone! I've just got to see what he looks like! (lol) It goes without saying that some pictures of King are in order, too.

[Ratboy]

Originally Posted by MEG126

my golden used to pull big time- it amazed me how hard a little dog could pull!! (not that she was THAT little, but not full grown golden) it's a common problem- we used the thingy that you put around their muzzle and it pulls their head down when they pull, i think you mentioned that you'd used that already though and it didn't work.

does he do ok when he doesn't have inspiration? are all his doggy friends outside waiting for him to walk by? if so then you could probably talk to your neighbors and explain to them what you're trying to teach king and ask them to keep their dogs inside so that he's not as motivated. or maybe a different walking route would help.

you could start working with him in your backyard so he learns to look and listen to you. is there a park nearby that you could put him in the car and go to, so that he doesn't have those (known) distractions? there's always the possibility of other dogs, but you could try going at not-so-common times.

he's going to have distractions regardless, but you can start out with less of them and build up - hope some of this is of some help!

Well, I've tried the backyard walks, and he's great. When he's pulling, wanting to go to his friend's houses, he just wants to check to see if they are out there, and these places are a couple of tenths of a mile apart. There is NO alternate route, there are buds in every direction! I have a river on on side, so that limits the directions I can go.

I went to one of the parks nearby a few times and he seemed slightly better, but not much. The one that's convenient has dogs on both sides that bark non stop.

At least he doesnt have an "archenemy" like my last dog did, we had to watch for him constantly. The old guy who owned him (A huge yellow Lab named Logan) walked him on one of those extending//retracting leashes and I don't know how many times over the years Logan and Gus were almost able to get to each other. Logan hated Gus on first sight, and Gus seemed to fell the same way soon enough, and they weren't kidding about it at all, it would have been bad.

I lucked out one time when I took Gus to be boarded when I was going on a trip. I walked him back to the kennel, and he went inside ok, then turned around and froze. I turn around, and there's Logan, frozen too. We ended up moving Gus to the other wing. I warned the people at the kennel, that even though they were both old geezers, (Logan had a new hip) that they would go at it if they got together. She said they get a couple like that every summer and they would be ok, and they were.

Thanks for the ideas anyway..

[Ratboy]

Originally Posted by Renee750il

Oh, I know this dog! My first GSD was like that. Obedience training was the best thing for him, and although once he passed the test he never did 'heel' again, he didn't pull anymore. It was very important that he not pull on me at the time since I had just been diagnosed with myasthenia gravis and didn't have the strength to deal with a high energy German Shepherd pulling on me.

By the way, please, please get a picture of George, the hyena clone! I've just got to see what he looks like! (lol) It goes without saying that some pictures of King are in order, too.

I'll try to get a shot of him with my Cellphone camera. You're gonna laugh, he's about as close as a dog gets to looking like a hyena. He's got huge teeth and jaws, and the coat is very oddly patterned too. I'll try to post a couple of pics of King and Molly (She's much better looking than he is, and looks great this time of year, nice and shiny and no bald spots!)

I know someone with MG, he's doing great now, after a year and a half of all kinds of problems with it. He started out having problems opening his eyes, and keeping them open, and went through a whole bunch of odd stuff, then suddenly, he was ok again, and has been fine for a while now.

[Renee750il]

Here's something you can pass on to your friend.

I got po'd at a new neurologist I had to switch to back when I was 16 and went into remission purely for spite by the time I was 18. (lol) The guy was an absolute jerk, telling me I'd get worse and worse and eventually be disabled. What an absolute idiot. I spent several years as a serious bodybuilder after that - 6 hours a day in the gym working with heavy weights (240# bench press, 450# squats, 45# dumbell flyes, you get the picture - not bad for a girl ;}), 15 mile bike rides with lots of hills, then running the bleachers at the high school football stadium. So much for getting worse and worse . . . All that after not being able to hold a hair dryer up long enough to dry my hair for three years, choking for no reason, and not really wanting to eat anything I had to chew for very long because it just wore me out.

The trickiest part of dealing with MG - aside from the frustration of the whole situation - is getting the medication right. You have to learn to regulate it yourself; the Dr. can't do it because he/she has no way of knowing exactly how you feel. The kicker is that if you're on too high a dosage it has the same effect as too little. It's all a matter of balance.

[RD]

Are you familiar with the NILIF concept? It could work wonders for your dog, who seems to just be an energetic, dominant dog. The nice thing is that once you start working w/ NILIF inside the house, the dog will listen better outside the house.

That, and the above suggestions will probably keep your dog manageable. Have you tried a prong collar? They are definitely NOT for yanking on, but they can keep the dog from pulling your arm out of its socket.

[Ratboy]

Originally Posted by Renee750il

Here's something you can pass on to your friend.

I got po'd at a new neurologist I had to switch to back when I was 16 and went into remission purely for spite by the time I was 18. (lol) The guy was an absolute jerk, telling me I'd get worse and worse and eventually be disabled. What an absolute idiot. I spent several years as a serious bodybuilder after that - 6 hours a day in the gym working with heavy weights (240# bench press, 450# squats, 45# dumbell flyes, you get the picture - not bad for a girl ;}), 15 mile bike rides with lots of hills, then running the bleachers at the high school football stadium. So much for getting worse and worse . . . All that after not being able to hold a hair dryer up long enough to dry my hair for three years, choking for no reason, and not really wanting to eat anything I had to chew for very long because it just wore me out.

The trickiest part of dealing with MG - aside from the frustration of the whole situation - is getting the medication right. You have to learn to regulate it yourself; the Dr. can't do it because he/she has no way of knowing exactly how you feel. The kicker is that if you're on too high a dosage it has the same effect as too little. It's all a matter of balance.

Yeah, he had some problems with his throat, but all I seem to remember is the eye deal. I didn't see him very often, and had no idea something was wrong until I went over to his house (he lives a pretty long drive away) to take him some old magazines I was going to toss. He had his eyes taped open, and MG was the only thing I had ever heard of where you couldn't keep your eyes open. I asked him as soon as I saw him, and he was shocked that I knew it was MG. At the point I saw him the first time, he had been diagnosed for about 6 months, and was already "coming out of it", so to speak. Oh, now I remember him saying something about his legs being "shakey" a year or so earlier...

He doesn't want to talk about it much, I don't know what he takes for it, but he says he's "fine now", and I don't even think he's called in sick at work for anything lately. I know he had a huge chunk of days off he used up this summer.

[Ratboy]

Hmm, I think I'll give that a try. Ignoring his demands to be petted/smootched is going to be hard though, he's really pushy about it.

[SunnyNJazzy]

Hey i went to a seminar by a pro. trainer by the name of Dan Mar ever heard of him? well neways hes really good and hes into the no hittin no hurtin no whuppin type trainin (thats how he says it lol) and he has a 'check cord' which is a stiff nylon cord about 6 ft. long... and he uses it to teach a pulling dog to heel. The concept of it is it is the dog hurting himself not you hurting him.
so heres what you do
take the check cord and loop it under his belly and back around the cord on top of the back(so theres basically a complete circle around the dogs flank/loin area which is the most sensitive spot on the dogs body.) now whenever the dog pulls it pinches that sensitive skin causing the dog to stop...
now in the seminar he took a rottie that from the audience that was known for pulling and did this and the dog immediately stopped and walked on his side... So give it a try it worked for my dogs w/ just a leather leash or you could try a horse lead rope... Good luck!