# Ashamed of myself; I got pretty upset with Tucker today...



## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

This is kind of hard to confess, but I want advice, so I'm going to do it anyway. Go ahead and ream me a little, I deserve it.

I came home at lunch to let the dogs out, as I do twice per week, when the bf goes to work early. 

I let Tucker out to potty, and as normal, he came right back to me when finished. I opened the door, he came right in, as normal. 

Once upstairs, he would NOT leave the door. He parked his behind right there and would. not. move. I tried bribing him with treats, nope. Not movin'. (He's never been a big fan of treats - he strongly prefers hotdogs - but I didn't have any cut up and didn't have a lot of time.)

I put the treats in his bowl and said, ok! Breakfast! because he always RUNS to his crate for "breakfast." (I use that word for all meals.)

Nope. Not budgin'.

So now I'm getting a little panicked; I only have an hour for lunch and it is a 20 minute+ drive each way.

So I grab his collar... not rough... and he nips me. Puts some teeth in me. He didn't leave any marks, but he was definitely showing his displeasure. 

I said NO! and grabbed it again. Even more teeth, enough to feel them, but not enough that he left any marks or that it hurt. Now I'm thinking, dang this dude might actually bite me. He didn't growl, he just put teeth on my hand, but still, he was having none of it. 

Here's the bad part: I got MAD. I YELLED at him, physically pushed him back -- I totally intimidated him until he completely shrunk back in the doorframe. He wouldn't look at me. Seeing him shrink back like that I lost all my anger. Realized I was way overly emotional and being downright MEAN. I should know so much better! The guy has issues with collars after his history and I was an idiot.

My shoulders sank and all the anger left me and I felt ROTTEN. I kind of regrouped and re-approached him, talking softly and rubbing his side. He didn't hold a grudge. His tail wagged and he kissed me. 

I put some higher value stuff in the bowl, said "Breakfast, Tuckies!" and he went to his crate.

I've thought about this all day. I was so awful. Grabbing this guy's collar is just not an option. He allows me to rub his neck, to take the collar on or off, that sort of thing, but trying to move him by collar is not going to work. 

I just had to get that off my chest. I am feeling awful.


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## NewbieShepherdGirl (Jan 7, 2011)

Awww Chelle, we've all been there. We've all lost it in a moment of frustration and regretted it later. I've done this with Sasha, not this exact same thing but a similar thing of getting frustrated and doing something I should have known better given her history. It happens; they forgive, and you try harder next time. You've done amazing things for this boy; one slip up doesn't erase all that.


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Tomorrow's a fresh day, he obviously isn't holding a grudge so I wouldn't beat yourself up anymore on it. To err is human


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## Narny (Sep 8, 2010)

Shade said:


> To err is human


And to forgive is a puppy who loves his mommy. 

I wouldnt beat yourself up to much over it. It happens and we all feel awful. With kids, with animals, coworkers, and family... We all say something more sharply than we intended to and regret it later. Keep your chin up.


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## Falkosmom (Jul 27, 2011)

Teen puppies can be trying. You were stressed about getting back to work. You are only human. Tucker is the kind of dog that will put it behind him quickly.

Remember, a dog's mouth is his hands. It is not always a bite but sometimes a form of communication. This seems to be the case. 

Have you ever thought of trying a harness on him?


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## Sir Bear (Mar 9, 2012)

Don't be so hard on yourself! We all loose our patience now and then but you know it wasn't the best reaction on your part and that's what's important. I straight up screamed at Bear during one of his crazy hyper moments one time (surprise...it didn't help at all)...and I felt that same guilt, but the beautiful thing about pups is they forgive : ) 

There are people out there that scream, hit, and neglect dogs every day...your dog is lucky to have an owner that cares.


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

Don't be so hard on yourself. It wasn't a great thing to do, but you feel remorse and you haven't done any permanent damage. I think boys bounce back a lot better than females. I bet he forgot all about it by now. Take him on a nice hike and give him some goodies to make _yourself_ feel better


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

Don't be so hard on yourself - likely you didn't do anything that an adult dog (Momma) would have done if ther pup really annoyed him/her, and a fair, needed (sure sounded like your guy needed one) correction is immediatelly forgotten among dogs.,


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

BTW, by not looking at you, he was acknowledging that he messed up and that the correction was justified.

And he seemed to be fine with you after that.


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## marinehoney (Feb 5, 2012)

Anybody trying to say theyve never done this is a liar. Thor gets stubborn like that and since he is never wearing his collar I tug on his scruff to get him to move...when that doesnt work I try to pick him up...and then he finally moves...the big boulder. 
Youre still a good dog momma!


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i don't think you should feel bad. you moved him. i don't
think the GSD is so delicate.


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

I agree with everyone that you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. Most of us lose our temper once in a while. Tomorrow is a new day and you can move on. I'm sure Tucker has.



codmaster said:


> BTW, by not looking at you, he was acknowledging that he messed up and that the correction was justified.


^ This is not true. Turning his head away is a calming signal; the only thing you know for sure is that he was trying to calm you down. It doesn't necessarily mean that he felt the correction was justified or that he knows he messed up. 

It sounds like he used very appropriate dog language to tell you that he doesn't like what you are doing and warned you twice to stop. I would start doing a lot of work on desensitizing him to having his collar grabbed.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Don't be so hard on yourself..everyone has a bad day. Just ask my neighbors..I'm sure they hear my not so nice conversations with my dogs when I'm running late for work and they don't want to go to the bathroom The good things about dogs is that they don't hold grudges and will still love you even if you have a bad day


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

I bet 99.9% of people have done this... it happens. We are humans... mistakes are part of life. And puppies/adolescent dogs CAN be truly frustrating and do push a lot of our buttons! 

Your dogs are lucky to have such a loving owner, and I am sure Tucker is not going to hold this against you. He's already over it. Don't beat yourself up!


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

Yeah don't be too hard on yourself, just learn from it and go forward. It does sound like maybe a harness might be a good idea for him, while you work on him getting used to his collar being handled?


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## Holmeshx2 (Apr 25, 2010)

Chelle I'm sooooo sorry  I know that sinking feeling in your stomach you're feeling after this incident. There was a time when I just started a job (about 5 months ago or so) and after being at the office for at least 9 hours i had to come home and spend the rest of the night studying and learning 8 full pages top to bottom word for word by the next day. I came home ran Jinx out to go potty came in held my script in one hand while making Jinx's meal with the other, fed her then went into the living room to study. She of course was all over me shoving a ball into my hands wanting to play, I kept telling her no, she would spit a wet, drooly ball onto my papers I'd move it away and tell her NO! more firmly, told her to go away etc... of course she was a young (around a year old) teenager who had been alone ALL day when she was used to mom being home all the time and then I was finally home and she wanted some quality time, her daddy was deployed to Iraq at the time so it was just me. Finally she pushed me again and I snapped and screamed at her. She just stopped and stared at me but the look in her eyes dropped me faster then a bullet would have. I dropped to the floor crying and just held her soooo tight my heart literally broke I felt like the worst person in the world. I know I was just so stressed it was a new high stress job, she needed attention and the 2 were a bad combination needless to say I put the papers down and just layed on the floor cuddling her for hours. I have NEVER felt so bad about anything in my life as I did in that moment. Was she any worse for wear? heck no she brushed it off and was happy mommy was on the floor with her loving on her and playing with the ball but almost a half year later and I remember it like it was yesterday and still feel that knot in my stomach when I think about what I did and the look on her face. She didn't cower or anything but she just had this sad look in her eyes that killed me I can't imagine what I would have done if she cowered away from me. I'm sure I would've gone to the store and put myself into bankruptcy buying treats and toys lol. 

I'm sorry you are feeling this because I know that feeling and it doesn't go away easily. I'm sure Tucker is fine and you are heartbroken which it will stay for awhile. Spend some extra quality time with him to make him happy and ease your mind all will be fine.


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## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

I've been there. The last time I totally lost it with Niko, we had been out running and he broke heel and crossed behind me to sniff something (not allowed) and he tripped me. I almost fell and I was instantly SO PISSED and I screamed at him NO!! Well, he totally cowered down and had no idea what was going on and why I was suddenly screaming at him.  I felt awful.

We all screw up. I like Jamie's suggestion of working on him with grabbing his collar. We did this with our two when they were puppies. We'd say "Gotcha" and grab the collar and give a treat. They both do really well now with not ducking away when we reach for their collars.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

I'll be the desenter.

I have absolutely NO problem with what you did. He is a dog, he doesn't get to decide if he wants to go where you tell him to go (IE: crate). It wouldn't matter to me that he "warned" you twice, it's not his decision to make in the first place and you reacted appropriately by telling him in no uncertain terms that placing his teeth on you in that manner is completely and totally unacceptable. There is nothing wrong with utilizing a dogs collar to take him to his cage or whereever you choose to take him. His spirt isn't going to be broken, and as long as you didn't fawn over him after the correction he'll think twice before he tries that stunt again. 

Next time, he shouldn't get two chances to "warn" you. He gets one, then you remind him that he's the dog, you're the human, and you make the rules.


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## Clyde (Feb 13, 2011)

To make it clear for the dog he needs to see that you will be much firmer with him. This can often prevent things from escalating to the point that they did. 

Once you grab a dogs collar and they put their teeth on you you cannot let go and try something else you have to follow through. So you need to start teaching him that moving him around by his collar is ok. He has already seen you let go of him twice by him using his teeth. I also don't think he will have connected his punishment to the collar grab incident. He may have but I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't.

My dogs are all taught go to your kennel using rewards but eventually I have the reward come after and then reward only intermittently. Once I am at the point where I do not show them the reward before asking them to go to their kennel if they do not listen I immediately follow through by taking their collar and putting them in the kennel. Not even a punishment just show the dog that it will happen no matter what. Once you have asked for something I would not try and bribe him if he doesn't listen.

Practice using his collar to move him from place to place a few times each day so he gets used to this. If he puts his mouth on you do not let go or get mad (this will often cause the behaviour to escalate since the dog senses your emotions) just ignore him then continue to do what you were going to do any ways. If you do not feel comfortable grabbing his collar leave a tab leash on him when he is in the house and use the tab for a few weeks before going to the collar.


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## Clyde (Feb 13, 2011)

Not sure about the past issues you are talking about with his collar. But you have to remember the past is the past and you need to move on. If he will let you reach around his neck and take a collar off he is more than ready to start moving on to the next step with collar stuff. If you can lead him around with a leash you can start to shorten the leash to the point where you are practically leading him around with his collar. Based on his reaction to you grabbing his collar I would start with him getting used to grabbing his collar then after a few days go to moving him around.

There are some things where I think treats are not necessary. For me with this collar stuff the reward of his collar being released if he is behaving would be enough.


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

The dog staying by the door might have been trying to tell you something. Since he used his mouth, whatever he was trying to tell you was important to him. His behavior was unacceptable and you let him know. We are all human and have miscommunications with our animals from time to time. We can't read each other's intentions all the time. You are beating yourself enough over it so nobody else needs to pile on.
Let it go and enjoy the day and enjoy the dog.


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## DFrost (Oct 29, 2006)

"Here's the bad part: I got MAD. I YELLED at him, physically pushed him back -- I totally intimidated him until he completely shrunk back in the doorframe."

You were a lot easier on him than I would have been. I have one firm rule; you will not bite the hand that feeds you. Other than an injured dog, there is no excuse for YOUR dog biting you. While I don't lose my temper, he would felt the wrath of a displeased human. 


DFrost


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## sashadog (Sep 2, 2011)

DFrost said:


> "Here's the bad part: I got MAD. I YELLED at him, physically pushed him back -- I totally intimidated him until he completely shrunk back in the doorframe."
> 
> You were a lot easier on him than I would have been. I have one firm rule; you will not bite the hand that feeds you. Other than an injured dog, there is no excuse for YOUR dog biting you. While I don't lose my temper, he would felt the wrath of a displeased human.
> 
> ...


I completely agree with this and whether it's right or wrong, when my dogs have put there teeth on me I do exactly the same thing. I don't drag it out, always "make nice" afterwards, and I don't physical hurt them but they learn reeeaalll quick that you don't get your way by putting your teeth on humans (of course an accident during play is treated differently).

Don't feel bad. Things like this have proven in the past to be a huge learning leap in my dogs and their relationship with me. I learn about them and their boundaries and they learn about mine.


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## jakes mom (Feb 29, 2012)

Chelle

I agree - you are being too hard on yourself. I can more or less guarantee that everyone of us makes mistakes. 

Personnally I don't grab my dogs by their collars, I find it ineffective, and it scares them, for some reason. I tell them 'up' and use a hand signal. Before they understood what 'up' meant I would put my foot under their backsides and lift them with my foot as I said 'up'. They soon got it. 

I gave up pulling collars when we had our Dalmation. She was one lovely dog - but boy was she stubborn. If we tried to move her by her collar she would dig her heels in and wouldn't move - but if we gave her a nudge up the backside she was fine. 

It was the look on her face more than anything that stopped us - for some reason it really frightened her - and this was a dog who was super confident and independent. She could handle anything. I honestly think it may have been the one and only thing that would have made her warn us off, if we'd continued doing it.
_________________________
Sue


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

Clyde said:


> .....*Once you grab a dogs collar and they put their teeth on you you cannot let go and try something else you have to follow through*. So you need to start teaching him that moving him around by his collar is ok. *He has already seen you let go of him twice by him using his teeth.* I also don't think he will have connected his punishment to the collar grab incident. He may have but I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't.
> 
> My dogs are all taught go to your kennel using rewards but eventually I have the reward come after and then reward only intermittently. Once I am at the point where I do not show them the reward before asking them to go to their kennel if they do not listen I immediately follow through by taking their collar and putting them in the kennel. Not even a punishment just show the dog that it will happen no matter what. *Once you have asked for something I would not try and bribe him if he doesn't listen*.
> 
> *Practice using his collar to move him from place to place a few times each day* so he gets used to this. *If he puts his mouth on you do not let go or get mad* (this will often cause the behaviour to escalate since the dog senses your emotions) just ignore him then continue to do what you were going to do any ways. *If you do not feel comfortable grabbing his collar leave a tab leash on him when he is in the house and use the tab for a few weeks before going to the collar*.





Clyde said:


> *Not sure about the past issues you are talking about with his collar*. But you have to remember the past is the past and you need to move on. If he will let you *reach around his neck and take a collar off he is more than ready to start moving* on to the next step with collar stuff. If you can lead him around with a leash you can start to shorten the leash to the point where you are practically leading him around with his collar. Based on his reaction to you grabbing his collar I would start with him getting used to grabbing his collar then after a few days go to moving him around.


Great points, thank you. I'm putting together my game plan to deal with this.

Tucker is my rescue, basically, he came to me in mid-February of this year. He was about ten months old and had spent his life in a backyard. He had been tied out, chained out and left on a prong for a long time. When he got big, no one wanted to deal with him, so he was always pulling at the end of the line, but outside of reach. So he gets seriously amped up when he is tethered and something is beyond him. I strongly suspect he was also yanked around a great deal by the collar. 

When he first got here, he was pretty neck-sensitive. I went slow, was gentle with him, rubbing his neck and praising him and can now take his collar on/off, rub his neck, all of that. (At first, he got *very* uncomfortable upon *any* neck touching.) 

For the first month? I always had him dragging a leash. I then bought a leash that has a "handle" close to the collar for more control. No problem. As time has gone on and he's learned the house routine, I've quit having him drag the line, because I can tell him potty, crate, breakfast, etc and he will comply... well, until this incident. 

I'm not sure how comfortable I REALLY am grabbing the collar and not letting go (if he's biting, getting ramped up), but I definitely see your point in that I let him "win" that "fight." I don't "know" this dog as I do my others. I don't want to set him up to fail. (bite me)



DFrost said:


> You were a lot easier on him than I would have been. *I have one firm rule; you will not bite the hand that feeds you*. Other than an injured dog, there is no excuse for YOUR dog biting you. While I don't lose my temper, he would felt the wrath of a displeased human.
> DFrost


I'm a fan of that rule. That's why I got so angry. No dog in my house bites or growls at me. I will never live in the slightest bit of fear of any dog in my home. Where my guilt comes from, other than being so very heavy handed, is in knowing his history and I still reacted that way.



jakes mom said:


> .....Personnally I don't grab my dogs by their collars, I find it ineffective, and it scares them, for some reason. I tell them 'up' and use a hand signal. Before they understood what 'up' meant I would *put my foot under their backsides and lift them with my foot* as I said 'up'. They soon got it.
> 
> I gave up pulling collars when we had our Dalmation. She was one lovely dog - but boy was she stubborn. If we tried to move her by her collar she would dig her heels in and wouldn't move - but if we gave her a nudge up the backside she was fine.
> 
> It was the look on her face more than anything that stopped us - for some reason it really frightened her - and this was a dog who was super confident and independent. She could handle anything. I honestly think it may have been the one and only thing that would have made her warn us off, if we'd continued doing it. Sue


I'll put the foot under the butt idea in my arsenal in dealing with this.


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## Daisy&Lucky's Mom (Apr 24, 2011)

Chell dont beat yourself up
1. You recognized what was going on and changed what you were doing 2) You are on here trying to figure out what to do to solve the problem #3) Every parent loses it sometimes when we feel pushed and no win. I have made mistakes w/ Lucky and Daisy out of anger and frustration and god knows w/ our son Ive said stuff. It will be OK cause your everyday behavior w/ him is firm ,fair and consistent and your looking to solve the problem.OK thats for kids but I think furkids too. 
Hang in there Tucker will be fine cause you will find the way that helps him be fine.
Maggi


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## sparra (Jun 27, 2011)

DFrost said:


> "Here's the bad part: I got MAD. I YELLED at him, physically pushed him back -- I totally intimidated him until he completely shrunk back in the doorframe."
> 
> You were a lot easier on him than I would have been. I have one firm rule; you will not bite the hand that feeds you. Other than an injured dog, there is no excuse for YOUR dog biting you. While I don't lose my temper, he would felt the wrath of a displeased human.
> 
> ...


Must admit i felt the same way when reading through this thread. Yes losing your temper....not great.....but we all do that at some time or another.....but lets not forget that the dog would not do as he was told and then bit you....twice.....i would not have felt quite so bad as you are feeling about the whole thing....just not acceptable behavior IMO. (the dogs that is )


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## Clyde (Feb 13, 2011)

It sounds like he is very used to tension on his neck = anxiety, frustration, etc. do to being tied up and allowed to get worked up on the tie out.

It would be interesting to teach him to yield to leash pressure. Described really well in the Michael Ellis heeling DVD. Basically teaches the dog that if you feel pressure from the collar, moving in the direction of the pressure turns the pressure off. I could describe it but if you have access to the DVD`s that would be even better. If you don't have the DVD just let me know if you would like a detailed description.

For me, twice you tried to grab his collar and he warned but showed inhibition so that is a good thing. I would have him drag a tab again and you can take it off once he has gone to his crate. The nice thing about dragging the tab is if he feels you are mad at him you can just step on it or grab it but don't have to reach right towards his head. 

I personally like to be able to move my dogs around with their collars or scruff if no collar. I think it is important for dogs to accept this type of handling. It is not a punishment but I will use it if say I ask to go "kennel" and they turn and walk away instead. Or if I forget a leash and need to lead them to my car from the yard and I do not want to let them be off leash. With all my guys this is all I ever did as "punishment" for not going into the kennel when asked and after a few times of me following through they no longer try to get out of going into their kennel.


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

Clyde said:


> It sounds like he is very used to tension on his neck = anxiety, frustration, etc. do to being tied up and allowed to get worked up on the tie out. Oh yes, most definitely. When taken off property, to the vet or my friend's house (the only outings I've taken him on,) I put on his big ugly prong and it barely keeps him from pulling me off my feet. You can't even deliver a correction, as he's straining and pulling so hard, there is no slack. The prong is what the prior owner sent him to me wearing -- it's a cheap Petco job. His neck is steel-tough after this. I have an Easy Walk harness sitting here to try.
> 
> One day before I brought him home:
> 
> ...


Tonight was a good night. Did obedience work with them both, as Bailey has grown more jealous of Tucker. Put Bailey in a stay and had Tucker come for a treat and Bailey kept his stay, even though he didn't want to...  Bailey was then rewarded generously. Several times, I lightly grabbed Tucker's collar, as he was being rewarded and loved up on and drew him forward a foot.. then two. No reaction from him at all. This is obviously going to take more time and a lot of patience.


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## Clyde (Feb 13, 2011)

I have to run but will come back and explain the leash pressure. I think I may be able to even find some video.


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## brembo (Jun 30, 2009)

A quick note on the "bite" issue. If your dog had really bitten you, you'd had to have reconstructive surgery on your hand. A bite from a GSD/GSD mix will break bones, shred tendons and the like, a nip is just that, a means of communication.

My GSD is mouthy as can be, I have to let him gnaw and nibble on my hands when I get home. It's kind of annoying, but he must or he'll be anxious. He often falls asleep with my hand in his mouth. I've watched him shatter sticks as big around as my wrist with little effort, yet he's never even caused me to wince when mouthing my hand(now when he does the "love nibble" I yelp often). As someone else mentioned a dog's mouth is akin to our hands and the use of their mouth is not always a dog acting above their station. In my mind it's a very direct and important means of communicating for a dog. My German has it down to an art form and it calms him if he's very excited. At bedtime he will often gently pick my hand up and move it so he can lay his head on my hand, it's adorable.


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## Clyde (Feb 13, 2011)

Most people teach leash pressure because they then incorporate it into their obedience training. Like helping the dog find heel or backing up with you in heel position. I also think leash pressure in itself is a good exercise because it teaches the dog to yield to you. I think for your dog it will help him to over come some of his issues with tension on the neck being negative and will teach him how to work through the tension on the neck in a calmer way. 

You want to start in a quiet neutral environment nothing exciting around. You can have him on his pinch I think based on the pressure he has had from collars on his neck a slip or flat would not work. I like to leave treats out of it or at least hidden in your pocket. The treat can be given after the exercise in a calm way but this is not about working for food. Attach a leash to your dogs collar and hold the leash about 12" away from the collar and slowly and steadily put tension on the collar. The pressure from the leash should always be horizontal with your dogs collar. You do not want to put so much tension behind this that you end up dragging your dog. Basically there will be constant tension slowly increasing the tension and all of a sudden your dog will move in the direction of the tension and the leash will go slack. This is when you can praise him and pull out a treat if you want. When you are putting tension on the leash you must not move your body only your arm moves. You can start beside a wall so basically your leash pressure should be in the direction that your dog will move towards you between you and the wall. Eventually you can do side to side movement once your dog is good at back and forth movement.

If your dog moves with you but only because you are pulling him you started with to much tension. I like it when a dog actually puts a little opposition movement into the collar when I first put the tension on the collar because this makes the moment when they go with the collar pressure really obvious for the handler.

All dogs are different in how they respond to leash pressure. Some will have a total freak out. Think puppies who start to alligator roll the first time a leash is put on them. Some will just shut down and become a speed bump. Some could get aggressive. This is not the norm most actually figure it out very quickly without much stress but just so you are prepared. In these situations you still have to be firm and follow through with what you are doing. As soon as the dogs calms down you release the tension. If a dog does respond in this way I would recommend it be under the supervision of a trainer so they can help you out with how to handle it. Because most people either just let go the leash (so they teach the dog to act that way again) or they get angry which can escalate the dogs behaviour and again will probably end up with the dog learning the wrong thing. The way that dogs respond to the pressure is partly genetic and partly what they have learned in the past. Because your guy has had a lot of experience with pressure on his collar you probably have a good idea of how this will go. The difference is this time you are just going to hold constant tension until he moves with it.


Hope this helps I will try to find some video.


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## Clyde (Feb 13, 2011)

Just after the 1.20 mark it really shows the dog yield to the leash pressure.







There a few things I wouldn't do in this video. The environment is to stimulating at least for this dog for the initial teaching. The leash should be horizontal not going up and I would not have such a long leash. Also notice he holds constant tension for a good minute before at around the 1min 20sec mark he starts to increase the tension and you see the dog yield to it. I would have slowly been increasing the tension from the beginning no reason to wait for over a minute while she pulls into the leash.


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

Clyde said:


> Most people teach leash pressure because they then incorporate it into their obedience training. Like helping the dog find heel or backing up with you in heel position. I also think leash pressure in itself is a good exercise because it teaches the dog to yield to you. I think for your dog it will help him to over come some of his issues with tension on the neck being negative and will teach him how to work through the tension on the neck in a calmer way.
> 
> You want to start in a quiet neutral environment nothing exciting around. You can have him on his pinch I think based on the pressure he has had from collars on his neck a slip or flat would not work. I like to leave treats out of it or at least hidden in your pocket. The treat can be given after the exercise in a calm way but this is not about working for food. Attach a leash to your dogs collar and hold the leash about 12" away from the collar and slowly and steadily put tension on the collar. The pressure from the leash should always be horizontal with your dogs collar. You do not want to put so much tension behind this that you end up dragging your dog. Basically there will be constant tension slowly increasing the tension and all of a sudden your dog will move in the direction of the tension and the leash will go slack. This is when you can praise him and pull out a treat if you want. When you are putting tension on the leash you must not move your body only your arm moves. You can start beside a wall so basically your leash pressure should be in the direction that your dog will move towards you between you and the wall. Eventually you can do side to side movement once your dog is good at back and forth movement.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much for that and the video to go with. Really helpful in how I want to about this. The vid does "bring it home." Clearly, patience is really key.

I'm fairly certain that once I attach the leash, he will lunge forward pretty hard. From what I am taking from this, that's when I need to stay the course, nice and calm, stand my ground and reward only when he lets the leash go slack? And repeat? (Hard part will be keeping me on my own feet when he does that initial lunge.)

He's fine with me touching his collar, taking it on or off, rubbing his neck, etc. Since the "incident," I've been "grabbing" him (gently) by the collar, just moving a foot or two and releasing. No problems, no reaction from him. 

But again, thank you for your post and vid -- it makes sense and was really interesting to see the vid and how the dog did eventually give up the tension.


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## Clyde (Feb 13, 2011)

With the lunging I think if you start with a 12" tab that should help keep him from doing to much lunging and give you more control. I would do it in the most boring place in your house to start and put your other dogs away. You don't want the dog to be oblivious to the pressure. Try to make it as constant as possible. You can reward or just praise it depends on the dog.

Good luck.

I think for him this will mainly help in the home. Have you considered what you want to do for his leash training out in the real world. Sometimes dogs who have had really bad associations with collars and are so used to pulling into the collar that it is impossible to give an appropriate correction a remote collar is a good choice and would be a very humane choice in my opinion because you are not constantly battling against his previous "training".


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## KentuckyGSDLover (Nov 17, 2011)

I want to lose my temper with Rey sometimes. She likes to chew on me playfully and now that she's learned to have a "soft mouth" while doing so, I let her sometimes because it seems like a security thing to her. HOWEVER, a nip or snap as a a challenge or because of not obeying is anothing thing altogether and that gets a pick up by the scruff and slight shake, to nip it in the bud, so to speak. I've only had to do that twice, but it stopped it and fast, establishing who is in charge.

As far as the pulling on-leash, a friend of mine had the same issue with her lab/chow mix, who is of a pretty sunny disposition but was difficult to walk. She bought the dog a backpack and for some reason the dog slowed down on-leash with the backpack on. Lots of options to try, really. Rey is a leash-puller and I'm working with her now with making her stop, "focus" and pay attention to me. Slow work that I do daily, but she does respond to "come" and comes back to me instead of pulling me around, then we start all over again.


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