Well, Popper is a fun little dog... that's absolutely no fun to walk. He's THE worst dog I've ever walked. He pulls harder than any dog I've ever met. He could pull me and all our other dogs in a cart down the street. It's AWFUL. I tried a Gentle Leader - no go. I ended up walking at a weird angle with my arm raised in the air because he would scraaaaaape his nose on the cement until he had a nasty bloody nose. He screams and cries the entire time. The first time we had an hour walk - people thought I was killing him or doing some horrible meanness to him. An hour. Of beagle squeaking/screaming/barking. I was particularly sad because my other two dogs have gentle leaders and do very well with them.
I had a lot more success with the sporn harness. He still pulled, but drastically decreased. Well my sporn broke (I guess it could only take so much). Now I'm back to a regular harness. He can't be walked on the collar - when he was smaller, pre-sporn, he pulled SO hard he has injured his windpipe. Even on the harness sometimes he will start hacking and wheezing if he's been pulling.
He is much better when I walk him by himself - but with five dogs, that rarely ever happens. I need to walk at least 2 at a time. He HAS to be the front dog or he starts his running in place/screaming/crying thing. I've tried doing the "jerk and release" harness corrections, I've tried telling him no, I've tried bribery, I've tried changing directions frequently so he has to watch me. He becomes aggressive to whatever other dog I am walking him with if he doesn't get his way, and he will bite the dog that's beside him, a quick, short bite, then back to being a spaz. I tried making it kind of a game today, because he loves games, and he acted a teensy bit better, but I don't know if it's because he got worn out and tired or because he thought it was more fun that way.
He's really intelligent so I figure he probably has a good idea of what I want, but I've either been letting him get away with it too long or he's just incapable of controlling himself. We have a similar problem in agility where he will do the next obstacle without waiting for me or my command (though we've only just completed the first course out of a 7 course program), and he has a lot of trouble with "wait" and "stay" when he's placed in front of an obstacle. He wants to go through life at 90 miles an hour and mommy flailing along behind.
Oh, and he's a leash biter. I have soaked the leashes in fooey, and he doesn't care. Bitter apple was a tasty flavoring. I have a chain leash I use sometimes but I don't like to use it because if he walks under roofus it cuts into roo. He drops it when I tell him to, but I think this behavior has become an attention-seeking behavior and I'm not sure what to do about it. He can and will destroy leashes in less than a minute unless I do something about it. He does do it mostly when he's not getting his own way (free and wild dog) or when he's bored (which he gets pretty easily).
Anyhow. I need help. I want to enjoy walking my dogs. He's not making it enjoyable. He's making me miserable. I can't imagine he's too happy either. I'm pretty sure I'll have to start him by himself and then add in another dog slowly to fix this... I'm just at my wit's end and need a fresh perspective. Right now my SO walks all the other dogs and I walk Popper. He's not happy. Nor am I.
I had a lot more success with the sporn harness. He still pulled, but drastically decreased. Well my sporn broke (I guess it could only take so much). Now I'm back to a regular harness. He can't be walked on the collar - when he was smaller, pre-sporn, he pulled SO hard he has injured his windpipe. Even on the harness sometimes he will start hacking and wheezing if he's been pulling.
He is much better when I walk him by himself - but with five dogs, that rarely ever happens. I need to walk at least 2 at a time. He HAS to be the front dog or he starts his running in place/screaming/crying thing. I've tried doing the "jerk and release" harness corrections, I've tried telling him no, I've tried bribery, I've tried changing directions frequently so he has to watch me. He becomes aggressive to whatever other dog I am walking him with if he doesn't get his way, and he will bite the dog that's beside him, a quick, short bite, then back to being a spaz. I tried making it kind of a game today, because he loves games, and he acted a teensy bit better, but I don't know if it's because he got worn out and tired or because he thought it was more fun that way.
He's really intelligent so I figure he probably has a good idea of what I want, but I've either been letting him get away with it too long or he's just incapable of controlling himself. We have a similar problem in agility where he will do the next obstacle without waiting for me or my command (though we've only just completed the first course out of a 7 course program), and he has a lot of trouble with "wait" and "stay" when he's placed in front of an obstacle. He wants to go through life at 90 miles an hour and mommy flailing along behind.
Oh, and he's a leash biter. I have soaked the leashes in fooey, and he doesn't care. Bitter apple was a tasty flavoring. I have a chain leash I use sometimes but I don't like to use it because if he walks under roofus it cuts into roo. He drops it when I tell him to, but I think this behavior has become an attention-seeking behavior and I'm not sure what to do about it. He can and will destroy leashes in less than a minute unless I do something about it. He does do it mostly when he's not getting his own way (free and wild dog) or when he's bored (which he gets pretty easily).
Anyhow. I need help. I want to enjoy walking my dogs. He's not making it enjoyable. He's making me miserable. I can't imagine he's too happy either. I'm pretty sure I'll have to start him by himself and then add in another dog slowly to fix this... I'm just at my wit's end and need a fresh perspective. Right now my SO walks all the other dogs and I walk Popper. He's not happy. Nor am I.