# Please Help! She wont walk on a leash behind me!



## Alli.baby (Oct 19, 2013)

Ally is almost 10months old. When we walk her on a leash she's really walking us!! She's getting stronger every day and I'm petrified that she's going to get loose from me and either hurt herself or someone else!! We already paid for training which didn't work out at all. I'm extremely desperate on fixing this tremendous problem. Please help me!! 

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## TigervTeMar (Jan 4, 2014)

2 weeks ago my guy was like this as well. considering his size (and getting bigger still) totally unacceptable behavior. he's had training as well. I bought a prong collar and a traffic leash, which is just a very short leash. if you opt for a prong collar make sure you watch some vids on youtube about how to use it properly. with the shorter leash it would be impossible for her to get 6+ feet in front and just want to take off. concentrate on keeping her head/shoulders around your own legs when you walk, and don't walk quickly! walk your own pace. it will probably be awful at first but my guy has already gotten way better.

another thing I tried was with food he (obviously!) gets excited. he used to run to his feeding spot but whenever he did I started saying NO and returning to the kitchen to start over. these days he'll walk, still excited, next to me. no leash, nothing. but he gets that he's not to race past me, but walk by my side. I'm really impressed because he's doing this even when he's so excited about his food. 

hope some of this helps! look at it as a challenge 

edit - I'll add that between regular collar and prong I tried a choke collar but he pulled anyway until his breathing was ragged. Think other GSD's are like this too. For some reason they don't mind choking themselves out but they don't like the pinch of the prongs


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

Study up on the proper use of a prong and maybe..if the situation dictates...take 15 minutes to get to the end of your driveway....

SuperG


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## Alli.baby (Oct 19, 2013)

Thanks so much for the advice! At this point, I'll try anything!

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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

I got a long walking stick. Held it horizontally, angled downward. Whenever he tried to get ahead, he would walk into the stick. Didn't like that very much, so he learned to heel.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Sunflowers said:


> I got a long walking stick. Held it horizontally, angled downward. Whenever he tried to get ahead, he would walk into the stick. Didn't like that very much, so he learned to heel.


I did something similar to teach my dogs to walk behind me. But with a shovel (hey, we get like 7 months of snow cover here). 

The shovel blocked their way if they tried to nose ahead, and I first started training in shoveled walkways with a wall of snow on each side so they couldn't get around me or the shovel very easily. Just worked on it in our driveway. 

Now I can be out in a field or walking on trails out in the woods and they get behind me on command - still working on the focus for them to remember to stay behind me (they get distracted and start moving around or ahead), but we don't normally walk like that. For me, it is a safety/control thing for when I want to take control on an off-leash walk. 

For regular on-leash walking - I would start using a prong as others suggested. I'd also try to burn some excess energy off before a walk or a training session, so he is calmer. If you have a yard, or have access to a field, play fetch, or have a flirt-pole sessions until he is good and tired, THEN go for a walk with the goal of teaching proper heeling.


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## David Winners (Apr 30, 2012)

http://youtu.be/YEnoPXgWG0U 

This is my favorite prong collar video on YouTube. 

David Winners


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

That's a really good video. I love his flashy little trot when he's doing the right thing. lol


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## Longfisher (Feb 28, 2013)

*Zeus*

Puppy pulled like crazy and wouldn't heel for a long time. Used the following steps.

1) Went to choke collar. No real results other than frustration on the part of the handler.

2) Helicoptered loose end of leash in front of dog to keep him in heel position. Marginal results. Dog only heeled when the leash was actually helicoptering.

3) Put kibble treats in my left pocket and occasionally treated him. Just got a stain on my trousers and he only heeled when he was hungry.

4) Got prong collar but didn't know how to use it properly and had it too loose. Only ended up punishing the dog with it like I did before with the choke collar. Abandoned it.

5) Went to Schutzhund meeting and got instruction on how to use prong properly. Also, was told to make quick 90 degree turns during the walk of the dog wasn't heeling to show the dog that I was setting the direction and not him.

WORKED LIKE A CHARM. Pulling over with. Dog walks with cheek adjacent to my thigh now (I don't insist that he walk behind me just not in front of me).

Once or twice in each walk I have to correct him with a verbal command BACK!. He knows the next 2 seconds will include a sharp correction with the prong collar if he doesn't regain his focus on the heel and he actually correctly positions himself and then, amazingly, he lightly touches his nose to my thigh I guess in an effort to assure me that he's back in position.

Then he get praised.

And, Zeus is well over 100 lbs.

LF


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## Las Presitas (May 10, 2013)

We were having the same problem. Went to a trainer and she taught us that we were the problem. Holding leash too tight. Within 3 min she hD here walking properly with a loose leash and prong. She never let her pull because she changes directions quickly and snapped quickly in prong. I was amazed how quickly she picked it up. Sometimes it is us not the dog, at least in our case. I practice with her and I can take her everywhere and not worry about her pulling. So much more fun! Haha


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## Alice13 (Feb 21, 2014)

Send her to obedience classes. I did

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