# Border Collie pulling on the lead and lunging at cars.



## BeautifulNightmare (Aug 13, 2011)

Hey guys.

I need some help with my border collie. Before I start, though, I'll give you some information on him:
-He's 8 months old.
-He's from a breeder and I had him from 8 weeks.
-He is trained inside the house. He sits, lies down, shakes for food, has a basic recall so he returns to the house when he's in the garden and gets down off furniture when asked.
-In the house he gets mental stimulation like "hide and seek" games with toys, and he likes a game of fetch in the garden too. He's also got a little Terrier as a companion. 

He is a little treasure in the house and I love him to bits, but then the lead goes on and he's out on walks...He turns into the dog from hell. He pulls relentlessly and lunges whenever a car goes past. With the pulling I almost got it. He actually started walking so the lead was so slack that it lay across his back, but then he changed again. I've tried stopping when he pulls and walking back the other way, and that did start to work, but now he seems to be going backwards. Whether it's just because he's 8 months old and in his dreaded teenage months, or maybe I'm doing something wrong, whatever it is I'm getting a little tired of it. It isn't fun for me, and he pulls so hard he starts rasping so I'm worried about him as well. There's a lovely park and field about 10 minutes away from where I live, but because of his pulling and constant lunging at cars we can't even make it that far. The strange thing is, on the way home he is often as good as gold. When he smells something he does pull to get to it to investigate, but for most of the way back home the lead is slack. During these times I reward him and tell him "Good boy", but when we go out again we're back to square one. 

Other than that he's brilliant on the lead. When we meet another dog walker and stop to chat he'll obey the "sit" command and will stay there til we've finished chatting, and if he finds something interesting to eat and I say "Leave it" he will. It's just when we're walking that I feel like I'm going around in circles.

As for the car lunging, it started when he was on his fifth walk. He just started snapping at them. I don't know how to help him with that, either. :crying:

Can someone give me advice before I go insane? I just want to give him a nice, calm walk around the neighbourhood. At the moment it's far from calm. It looks like a scene from Marley and Me....


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## Twiggy (Jun 24, 2010)

Its a mixture of things. As you say he's coming up to the terrible teens when they push their luck. Its also excitement at the anticipation of a walk, especially running about in the park (which is why he's so much better on the way home).
The lunging at cars is a common trait in collies because of their herding instinct and needs to be nipped in the bud now as, obviously, its highly dangerous.
I would ask him to sit (move in front of him to partially block his view if necessary) and insist he stays in the sit until the car has past. Immediately reward him for the sit with a titbit. I know its going to take a long time to get to the park for some time but you do need to sort this.
With regard to the pulling there are various harnesses you could try (see sticky at the top of this page).
I'm not being unkind but the pulling should have been addressed before now - if he's pulling at eight months then you've allowed him to do it.
Start putting in some work in the house or garden: you could begin by putting his dinner bowl down, clip his lead on the other side of the kitchen and walk him towards it. If he pulls just stop. Don't say anything or interact with him at all - action causes reaction ie he pulls, he doesn't get to his dinner. Once you've mastered him walking on a loose lead to his dinner, then do the same towards the garden gate, etc. etc.


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## [email protected] (Nov 22, 2010)

I have a border collie who, during the teenage months, started to pull badly when on lead. I tried to sort it out but got fed up and was recommended a halti. Well, IT IS FANTASTIC! She never pulls when she is on it, she is a delight to walk on lead. I take it off when we get to the fields but put it back on for road work. She sits and accepts it going on now. She is 16 months old now and the whole family now uses the halti when they are walking her - two of them were sceptical when I first suggested it. Hope this helps. If you do get one, buy the smallest one not the medium that has the pic of the border collie on as they come up really large.


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## BeautifulNightmare (Aug 13, 2011)

> I'm not being unkind but the pulling should have been addressed before now - if he's pulling at eight months then you've allowed him to do it.


 He never used to pull, that's the problem, him and the Jack Russell could go for a nice walk together and he'll be fine except for around cars, now he pulls wherever he is. I haven't just let him pull me around for months without doing anything. That's why I'm trying to train him now since it's only just become a major problem. Don't worry. Thank you for the other tips though.

Mel: Thank you, I'll give the halti a try. :smile5:


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## fozzyrules (Jul 4, 2011)

I have an 11 month collie, and have experienced the same thing, but with bikes too! I tell him to sit and if he goes to lunge I give him a sharp loud "No" , he is getting the idea now so i just point and tell him no, without the rest of the world knowing! Also the Halti is a great idea, i have one, but he gets a little distressed when he comes across another dog (but thats another problem for us to work on) It sounds like your pup is well behaved! keep up your good work, i hope you find a solution that suits you both. 
Michelle and Foster x:wink:


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## sashski (Aug 14, 2011)

My BC used to do this when he was younger, used to scare the living daylights out of thinking he'd break free and get hurt.

Between me and my dad we used to walk up the road and when he started to lunge, we just stood still with him sitting there, if he went to lunge he got told NO! eventually with patience he got over it, consistency is the key.

Good luck!


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