# Pulling on the lead and recall



## Fawnyb (May 4, 2011)

I've got an 8 month old cavalier king Charles spaniel who absolutely loves her walks but is a nightmare on and off the lead. On the lead she pulls and pulls until she is sick sometimes! I let her on the extendable lead to the furthest she can go and she still pulls. She seems to be walking on her back legs most of the time because she pulls so much! I really need some advice on something that will work to stop her pulling! I have tried so many things but nothing seems to work! 

As well as this if I ever let her off the lead she will just run off! She completely ignores me and doesn't come back! If we are in an open space she will run and run and run and if we are on a footpath then she will constantly run up and down it! Please help I am desperate to train her so she walks well on the lead and comes back off the lead.

Thanks


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## bt jake (Aug 19, 2011)

Cant help as Jake is only 10 weeks old (11 tomorrow) but am interested to read any advice as I really worry that this may happen or that he will sit down & not move!:crying: Good luck
x


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## Guest (Aug 21, 2011)

I'm not an expert but here's what I know:

With regards to pulling on the lead...

Firstly get her a harness. If she's pulling that badly on a collar she is going to do serious damage to her neck and trachea, especially on a flexi-lead.

If I was you I'd get rid of the flexi. All it's doing in your situation is telling your dog that if they pull forward, they will be able to go further (until they get to the end of the lead). Get yourself a normal lead and a load of patience 

Start walking with your dog and everytime she pulls (i.e. the lead goes tight) stop dead. When the dog lets the lead go slack and returns to your side, start walking again. It may mean that you move only 10 metres in half an hour (and look like a bit of an idiot), but if you do it _every_ time the dog pulls, she'll soon learn that it gets her nowhere. The key is consistency though. My dog only went through a small pulling phase but if she ever gets too excited and pulls I do this again and it only takes stopping once or twice and she remembers not to pull 

With regards to recall...

Start by getting a 10 or 15m long line - you can pick them up quite cheap. I have a rope one from Petplanet because it's nice and light for my small dog. You need to do practice on the long line so she can't run off 

Basically you need high-value treats - things like cheese, hot dog sausage, chicken, liver cake etc. Call the dog and every time she returns, give her a treat and loads of praise, and then let her carry on. You're making her returning to you a positive experience. Try to only call her when you know she'll come otherwise you're teaching her to ignore you. You can play games like hiding behind a tree so she'll keep an eye on you.

Then when you're confident you can start dropping the end of the long line and just letting it drag on the ground, and eventually let her off all together.

Hope this helps a little


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## RKD (Jul 11, 2011)

Fawnyb said:


> _I have tried so many things but nothing seems to work! _
> 
> Hi I'm new to this site and have struggled in many areas with my puppy.
> I also had the same problem with my puppy Lab/Collie (now 6.5 months).
> ...


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## grandad (Apr 14, 2011)

Fawnyb said:


> I've got an 8 month old cavalier king Charles spaniel who absolutely loves her walks but is a nightmare on and off the lead. On the lead she pulls and pulls until she is sick sometimes! I let her on the extendable lead to the furthest she can go and she still pulls. She seems to be walking on her back legs most of the time because she pulls so much! I really need some advice on something that will work to stop her pulling! I have tried so many things but nothing seems to work!
> 
> As well as this if I ever let her off the lead she will just run off! She completely ignores me and doesn't come back! If we are in an open space she will run and run and run and if we are on a footpath then she will constantly run up and down it! Please help I am desperate to train her so she walks well on the lead and comes back off the lead.
> 
> Thanks


Just try one thing and stick with it. chopping and changing will only confuse the dog and the dog will take the initiative. Get a copy of Jean Donaldson's book "train your dog like a pro" it comes with a DVD to show you the exercises. Consistency is the key. I find most owners give up after a few days or few weeks of trying when it takes a lot longer to get the dog to associate the behaviour required. My guy is 4 and we still practice the basics every week. Recall, sit stay, down, walk to heel on lead, walk to heel off lead, sit at kerbside etc etc. This is required so that the repeated command and behaviour are ingrained in the dawg. Very rarely have a walk when there is NO training involved. Even if it is just a sit stay for one minute.


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## Jasper's Bloke (Oct 30, 2009)

Fawnyb said:


> I've got an 8 month old cavalier king Charles spaniel who absolutely loves her walks but is a nightmare on and off the lead. On the lead she pulls and pulls until she is sick sometimes! I let her on the extendable lead to the furthest she can go and she still pulls. She seems to be walking on her back legs most of the time because she pulls so much! I really need some advice on something that will work to stop her pulling! I have tried so many things but nothing seems to work!


The first step in training is to understand why your dog is doing something, if you know the reason why, you can change it. With pulling, dogs pull because it gets them where they want to go, the more they pull, the more you follow. Basically they do it because it works and dogs repeat behaviours that get them results, whereas they don't repeat behaviours that don't work. Therefore the answer is simple, stop the pulling from working. At the moment, your dog pulls and the lead extends and gives her more freedom, woohoo! If you first ditch the flexi, your dog will learn very quickly that pulling won't get her very far from you. The classically simple way of stopping pulling is just to stop whenever your dog pulls, whenever there is tension on the lead you are absolutely stationary and as soon as the dog makes the concious decision to release the tension, you get moving again. It may sound unbelievably simple but it does work, however, it is not a quick fix and indeed some people struggle to do it so consistently that it can take weeks or months to get any results.

By far the most effective way to stop pulling is to teach your dog to walk on a loose lead, you teach them to choose to remain close to you, if they are close enough then the lead is loose. This is just a matter of rewarding the dog for being in the right place, if they are close enough to feed a treat from your hand then they are close enough to have a loose lead. I begin this exercise off lead (in a secure area) and just treat the dog whenever it comes within range and you will be surprised how quickly they start to pick it up.



Fawnyb said:


> As well as this if I ever let her off the lead she will just run off! She completely ignores me and doesn't come back! If we are in an open space she will run and run and run and if we are on a footpath then she will constantly run up and down it! Please help I am desperate to train her so she walks well on the lead and comes back off the lead.


Again ask yourself why. What reason does she have to listen to you? If she comes to you what is in it for her? What do you have that is more interesting than that scent over there, or the dog in the distance? Recall is all about convincing your dog that you are the most wonderful thing in the entire universe and that being given the opportunity to suddenly end whatever she is doing and run to your side leads to the most amazing things happening to her. Too many people punish poor recalls, and in fact what they are doing is teaching the dog NOT to come. Owner shouts come and the dog ignores them (Why? because dogs don't speak english and haven't been taught what this word means) owner shouts some more and starts to get angry, dog thinks 'hmmm, they don't look very happy, I'm gonna give them a wide berth', so owner continues to shout, runs toward them (very threatening to a dog) continues to get angry and when (if!) they do eventually catch up with the dog and punish it, they confirm the dogs worst fears that this person is dangerous and is to be avoided.

Now turn that on its head. You call your dog and she ignores you, again why? Well it may be because she has found something more interesting to do, it may be because she doesn't know what you want, it may even be that she has learned that when she does come back to you, the lead goes on and play time is over. So, make yourself more interesting, run away making silly noises and chances are, she will run after you, dogs like to chase but don't like to be chased. When she comes close she gets the most wonderful treat or her favourite toy and an incredibly happy and animated Mummy! Then let her off the lead and do it all again so that she doesn't associate coming to you with the end of the fun.


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## Rottiefan (Jun 20, 2010)

_Pulling on lead_

I would first of buy a front-clip harness for her, and take her for walks on that when she just needs to go out- it will be like a plaster on her pulling problem!

Preferably get a harness with both a front and back clip, so you can put her on the back clip for when she goes on the long line to practise recall training.

Then, starting off in the house, begin practising loose lead walking. Attach her lead to her collar , so you have two different attachments for two different types of walking. She may pull a little on the harness still, but those walks are just for times when you need to get her out and you don't have time for training. The collar attachment will be what the loose lead walking will be taught on initially.

1) Start with some yummy, pea sized (or even smaller for your dog) treats and just stand still in the kitchen or wherever. Whenever your dog is on a loose lead, reward.

2) Take one big step, and if she follows and stays on a loose lead, reward again. If she pulls, stand still and reward immediately when she slackens the lead.

3) Take two steps, then three, etc., then walk in a circle, keeping a 'high rate of reinforcement', i.e. reward quickly and lavishly for any loose lead walking she does.

Keep these sessions short, e.g. two 15 min sessions a day.

The first day will be in the kitchen, the second day will start in the kitchen, then move to another room, slightly more distracting, e.g. in the porch area, or whatever. The third day will attempt to go out to the back garden, then the fourth day to the drive way and out onto the street. Keep building up the areas you practise this in.

It is often unfair to think dogs should just 'get it' when they are on their daily walks, as they are usually excited and stressed out a little, and just won't learn efficiently. We need to set dogs up for success!

You can also practice these techniques using the back clip of her harness.

_Recall_

Start, again, in the house. Show her a yummy treat, move back a step, and reward. Once she gets into the hang of this and is focused on you, stand still say 'Come' (or whatever cue you want to use) and immediately move back and reward her it. Build the number of steps up, e.g. to 5.

Then, say 'Come' when she isn't focused on you, in the house still, and reward her when she does. If she doesn't, go back to giving a refresher with her focused on you, then try the cue again without her focus.

Build this up to the garden, still off-lead. Get two people if possible and practise calling her over two each for food. Then, try having her recall away from a person with food (but something not as nice as what she has been getting) and reward her with the high-value food you've been using (e.g. cheese cubes) when she comes away from the person with food.

You can try this on a long line too in the garden, so she gets used to the cue with the long line.

Start implementing this on walks. You can start with just yourself and your normal lead at first, building up to the long line, then recalling her away from small distractions, then more difficult ones.

This is a process, and not something that is taught in days, or sometimes even weeks, and as Grandad said above, consistency is key and we all have to continue training throughout our dog's lives.


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## Guest (Aug 22, 2011)

Rottiefan, can I ask a question that's not directly related to the original poster's issue but that addresses an issue I have?

I saw you wrote about having different attachments for different types of walking.

I walk my dog on a harness because she pulls when she gets excited when she sees other dogs/squirrels/other exciting things, plus she is sometimes on a long line or occasionally a flexi, plus I feel safer when she's on a harness. When I'm walking her normally, e.g. along the road to the park, she doesn't pull. What she does do, however, is stop lots to sniff. If we're on a leisurely walk or at the park, I don't mind her stopping as much as she likes to sniff, but other times such as when we need to get somewhere, I need her to walk without stopping all the time.

It's occurred to me recently that she doesn't know when she's allowed to stop and sniff every 2 steps, and when she has to just keep walking.

Do you think using different attachments like you suggested to the OP would work in my situation? Should I just walk her on her collar when I need her to keep moving and on her harness when she can have more freedom?

Thanks


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## me and my pets (Jul 23, 2011)

For an answer to your pulling problem... Watch a dog trainer on youtube. I watched this video when I first took my puppy out for a walk.
How to train your dog not to pull- Loose Leash Walking - YouTube

This video will help you to get your dog back.
Teach Come: Dog Training Clicker - YouTube


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