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Originally Posted by jakesfostermom  Jackdee - I am currently working on the same thing with my newest male. Our trainer has 'empowered' me with a technique that is making a BIG difference. In short, when he starts to pull, I immediately turn into him, and place myself in front of him, facing him, and walk forward into him (which means he has to back up and I don't speak to him during this time). Our trainer calls this 'taking his space' - and puts him back into a pack role, where he can recall that he is to respect my lead. He does refocus and gets back to walking on a looser lead. (we always use a prong/pinch collar when walking)
We tried all the "stop like a tree" - "turn and go the other direction" - "mark/reward any loose lead walking" and nothing seemed to make a difference for any length of time. We walk for two very different reasons - one for training - so that is done on a short lead (I use 2' and 4' leads for this), walking nicely alongside me, with his head at or about the side of my body while moving. The other reason is more for 'him' - so he can move along at a decent pace and get some exercise - I call these "free walking" - he knows when he is given the full 6' of lead, we are free walking. I don't require as much 'discipline' from him during these walks, so this is when he would most often pull (still does at times, but we are progressing)........as a result, we are doing less 'free walking' until we are fully reliable at loose lead walking during our training walk with the shorter lead. Nonetheless, the turning into my dog, facing him and walking into him, has made a BIG difference in our walks. |
Question here: How can you turn into the dog and take his space if he is 6ft in front of you and pulling? I'm trying to imagine how it's done other than pulling the lead up short and virtually having the dog stop in it's tracks and then stepping into his space, I can't figure out how it's done.
Can you explain the technique in more detail please. I'm sure it will be very helpful for those of us who have pulling dogs.