[22paseabelldaps]

I just took Chevelle for a walk.

I did the "jerk hard on the leash" method and when she pulled, I jerked and walked the opposite direction. There was a good bit of improvement! The first couple of times I jerked, she turned and faced me, keeping pressure on the leash, and looked at me like "What the hell is your problem?" but she quickly understood that if she got too far ahead of me, or pulled, that I would jerk on the leash, and she didn't like that. So I walked in all sorts of directions and while she didn't heal perfectly, she did (for the most part) follow me and she didn't tug and tug and tug. I'm pleased with the progress she made in 10 minutes. Thanks guys for all the advice. Hopefully tomorrow, after I start her diet, I will see even more improvement when I work treats into the training.

[jeaccatty]

Awesome! It really is a simple, effective method to use!

I don't ask my dogs to heel, and I don't always ask them not to pull... but when I do, I expect that they keep track of where I am at and not put tension on the lead. The bullies have formal and obedience heels, but just for regular walks I don't ask much!

[22paseabelldaps]

Neither do I, haha, I just don't want her to drag me all over the place. She does this cute thing sometimes though, that I don't want her to stop doing, where she grabs the leash in her mouth and trots beside me all "princess" like. I think she thinks SHE is walking ME. Lol.

[jeaccatty]

My girl Bindah does that, too! She LOVES to prance with her leash, and I think it's ADORABLE! I've always praised her for it, and it eventually turned into a "Where's your leash?" command... very fun!

[22paseabelldaps]

Hm, maybe I could turn it into a command. She does it all the time. It is adorable. The only time it because not adorable is when she starts yanking on it a lot...then I get kind of annoyed, lol.

[jeaccatty]

Whenever Bindah would start to do that, I'd do the same thing as if she was just pulling... turn around, ignore her, and go the other way. She learned quickly that she can carry the leash, but not be a brat lol until we get to the park and I give her a release command, then we tug with the leash like crazy! That's where the "Where's your leash?" started coming in... If she'd let go, I'd wiggle it and say "Get your leash!" and then I'd drop it entirely and say, "Get your leash!" and I worked up to not having the leash attached to her when I'd say it, so she'd go get it!

[22paseabelldaps]

That's actually super cool. A dog that fetches it's own leash.

[jeaccatty]

Both Bindah and my boy, Ruger, do it Though Ruger will fetch anything you point to, or give him the name for lol (he's my Service Dog). Bindah seems to get even MORE excited about going for a walk when she gets her own leash... it's really cute!