I have a dog here on a trial basis to see if he's going to be ok here and
not be too hard on my allergy. He's a massive dog. He weighs something
like 85lbs and is very strong. The shelter said he was a boxer and
labrador mixed however I really think he looks like these dogs I've seen
people call 'American Bulldog'. I don't know if that's really a breed,
though. Anyway he's 4 years old and already has plenty of bad habits. One
of them is crappy leash walking. I can't control him very well. He has a
heavy chain slip collar and he wants to go faster than me and go any dang
place he pleases and will try to pull me over and choke himself doing it.
It's so bad that his eyes turn read and he coughs. He does not seem to
care that he's choking but I don't want to let him get away with
pulling or going off wherever he wants. All my muscles are sore from
walking him yesterday because it's such a battle to get him to walk
without pulling. Now, I had a pitbull for 10 years and I don't remember
her being quite this headstrong or this strong although she was half
this dog's size. I was able to teach her to walk nice on a leash fairly
quickly by using a slip chain collar and changing direction often and
saying "heel" when I did so. It wasn't long before I could just pull the
collar a bit and/or say heel and she'd stop pulling. But this dog seems
completely oblivious to it all. He wants to go where he wants to go and
doesn't care that he's choking or pulling my arm out of socket. I'm
wondering if he'd feel it better (and stop choking himself) and if I could
control him better if I got him one of those collars with spikes in it?
Also any actual tips you can give for teaching him to heel would be nice.
Something needs to be done soon for both our sake! Any tips on allergy
control for me would be nice too. I am having a reaction to him where I
never seemed to be allergic to my pitbull and I'm wondering why that is.
The coat seems pretty much the same. Will I get "used to" him like the old
dog? Can that happen? Tell me your experience. Thanks.

I have a dog here on a trial basis to see if he's going to be ok here and
not be too hard on my allergy. He's a massive dog. He weighs something
like 85lbs and is very strong. The shelter said he was a boxer and
labrador mixed however I really think he looks like these dogs I've seen
people call 'American Bulldog'. I don't know if that's really a breed,
though. Anyway he's 4 years old and already has plenty of bad habits. One
of them is crappy leash walking. I can't control him very well. He has a
heavy chain slip collar and he wants to go faster than me and go any dang
place he pleases and will try to pull me over and choke himself doing it.
It's so bad that his eyes turn read and he coughs. He does not seem to
care that he's choking but I don't want to let him get away with
pulling or going off wherever he wants. All my muscles are sore from
walking him yesterday because it's such a battle to get him to walk
without pulling. Now, I had a pitbull for 10 years and I don't remember
her being quite this headstrong or this strong although she was half
this dog's size. I was able to teach her to walk nice on a leash fairly
quickly by using a slip chain collar and changing direction often and
saying "heel" when I did so. It wasn't long before I could just pull the
collar a bit and/or say heel and she'd stop pulling. But this dog seems
completely oblivious to it all. He wants to go where he wants to go and
doesn't care that he's choking or pulling my arm out of socket. I'm
wondering if he'd feel it better (and stop choking himself) and if I could
control him better if I got him one of those collars with spikes in it?
Also any actual tips you can give for teaching him to heel would be nice.
Something needs to be done soon for both our sake! Any tips on allergy
control for me would be nice too. I am having a reaction to him where I
never seemed to be allergic to my pitbull and I'm wondering why that is.
The coat seems pretty much the same. Will I get "used to" him like the old
dog? Can that happen? Tell me your experience. Thanks.




According to the trainer at my puppy obedience class, you are supposed to
act like a tree everytime the dog pulls. If you plant yourself and don't
continue the walk until the dog stops pulling then he will learn to not pull
because the consequence is that he just has to stay still and not get to
walk. Also she said to keep treats handy and praise thoroughly for good
behaviors (such as walking without pulling). Keep the treats in the hand on
the side the dog is on (with the leash in the other hand) to prevent the dog
from crossing in front of you to get the treats. She also said that if even
1x of of 10x, you give in to the pulling, he will think it is allowed so you
really have to be consistant. Good luck and congrats on the new guy!

Try to watch the "Dog Whisperer" on TV. 10:30 am EST, National Geographic
channel on Digital cable or dish. He deals with at least one case of this
every day. You can learn how to control it by watching. Others is the
newsgroup will denigrate his work. The old story: what they're not up on
they're down on. I doubt any have really watched a few episodes. Take a
look and then you decide.

"danewdawg" wrote in message
news
I have a dog here on a trial basis to see if he's going to be ok here and
not be too hard on my allergy. He's a massive dog. He weighs something
like 85lbs and is very strong. The shelter said he was a boxer and
labrador mixed however I really think he looks like these dogs I've seen
people call 'American Bulldog'. I don't know if that's really a breed,
though. Anyway he's 4 years old and already has plenty of bad habits. One
of them is crappy leash walking. I can't control him very well. He has a
heavy chain slip collar and he wants to go faster than me and go any dang
place he pleases and will try to pull me over and choke himself doing it.
It's so bad that his eyes turn read and he coughs. He does not seem to
care that he's choking but I don't want to let him get away with
pulling or going off wherever he wants. All my muscles are sore from
walking him yesterday because it's such a battle to get him to walk
without pulling. Now, I had a pitbull for 10 years and I don't remember
her being quite this headstrong or this strong although she was half
this dog's size. I was able to teach her to walk nice on a leash fairly
quickly by using a slip chain collar and changing direction often and
saying "heel" when I did so. It wasn't long before I could just pull the
collar a bit and/or say heel and she'd stop pulling. But this dog seems
completely oblivious to it all. He wants to go where he wants to go and
doesn't care that he's choking or pulling my arm out of socket. I'm
wondering if he'd feel it better (and stop choking himself) and if I could
control him better if I got him one of those collars with spikes in it?
Also any actual tips you can give for teaching him to heel would be nice.
Something needs to be done soon for both our sake! Any tips on allergy
control for me would be nice too. I am having a reaction to him where I
never seemed to be allergic to my pitbull and I'm wondering why that is.
The coat seems pretty much the same. Will I get "used to" him like the old
dog? Can that happen? Tell me your experience. Thanks.

You could try useing a Gentle Leader or similar lead. It looks like a halter
that a cow might where but whent he dog pulls it turns his head. Changes the
dog completly. I would have never belived it untill I joined a different
service dog association and saw how wonderful it works on some of the high
strung dogs. I wouldn't go with a spiked collar. It just seems like there
are gentler ways to break this problem. With my labrador service pup in
training we do something called the bridal walk. Since its unacceptable for
him to pull me around a store while he is working he must be under control.
I do all of this on a flat collar but a chain training collar is necassary
on some dogs. The way this works is when the dog pulls, say no, stop
walking, ask him to sit at your side. Keep doing this routine. Somedays it
means you take one step, stop, sit. Wait a half a min or so, ask for a heel,
take a step, say no, ask for a sit, etc. Be patient. This has yet to fail
with any of my service dogs. I would highly recommend the gentle leader or
halti type lead tho.
goodluck. sarah

"MauiJNP" wrote in message
...
[..]
According to the trainer at my puppy obedience class, you are supposed to
act like a tree everytime the dog pulls.


Given the size of this dog, you try it

I have a young and scatty weimaraner who can walk beautifully, then forget,
and she is sooo strong from the shoulders that i've even seen her pull my
hubby down. I continue the 'like a tree' method with her knowing that some
day it will stick, but in the interim for my own safety's sake, she wears a
padded halti head collar ( the non padded variety cut her nose and made her
horribly headshy for the best part of 4 mths/ when i could get her round to
not being so again).

http://www.companyofanimals.co.uk/halti.php

Diana & Cin

--
Cindy's web site
http://cindy-incidentally.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 00:35:58 -0000, "Diana"
wrote:

I have a young and scatty weimaraner who can walk beautifully, then forget,
and she is sooo strong from the shoulders that i've even seen her pull my
hubby down. I continue the 'like a tree' method with her knowing that some
day it will stick, but in the interim for my own safety's sake, she wears a
padded halti head collar ( the non padded variety cut her nose and made her
horribly headshy for the best part of 4 mths/ when i could get her round to
not being so again).

I've also been thrilled with the Sense-ation Harness. It stops the
pulling immediately (so far from what I've seen), and doesn't seem to
bother the dog the way the GL or halti does.

--
Leah Roberts, Family Dog Trainer
It's A Dog's World
http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html
Get Healthy, Build Your Immune System, Lose Weight
http://re-vita.net/dfrntdrums

I Am wrote:
Here's The Amazing Puppy Wizard's
FREE WWW Wits' End Dog Training
Method Manaul {) ; ~ ) : http://makeashorterlink.com/?G34D2527A

Just ASK The Amazing Puppy Wizard if you
need any additional FREE heelp. There's NO
arbritrary INFORMATION in your FREE copy
of The Amazing Puppy Wizard's FREE WWW
Wits' End Dog Training Method Manual so
study it well and do and follow ALL the
EXXXERCISES AS INSTRUCTED... it's a
PRECISE SCIENCE or it COULDN'T GET
100% CONSISTENT NEARLY INSTANT
SUCCESS for all handlers and all dogs in
all fields or utilities and behaviors all over
the Whole Wild World {) ; ~ )

Lie. Again.

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 11:03:56 -0500, danewdawg
wrote:

Oh, I should ask if anyone knows, is it ok to wash a dog with soap (dog
shampoo) once a week? Will it make his skin flake more?

Use a dog shampoo without soap. It will say "tearless" or "can be
used with flea drops" on the label.

Actually, I think there are special shampoos made for dogs with
allergic owners. Not sure, though...

--
Leah Roberts, Family Dog Trainer
It's A Dog's World
http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html
Get Healthy, Build Your Immune System, Lose Weight
http://re-vita.net/dfrntdrums

I Am wrote:
HOWEDY pat,

Must be tough bein NUTS and a liar to boot:

I don't know - you are the expert there. WHO'S in the nursing home?
I'm not. WHO can't even take care of themselves? I can...you can't.

You have YET to show me where I lied - and you won't, because you
can't.

All I ask is for you to show where I lied...

DO IT! BWAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You can't. It's THAT simple. Yet *I*
can prove over and over where you lied. Sucks to be you.

Listen, AssHowe. Try this: not lying. Just try it for a few weeks.
If it doesn't work for you, go back to lying like you currently do
every day.

Just try it...

Pat

"Leah Roberts" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 00:35:58 -0000, "Diana"
wrote:

[..]
I've also been thrilled with the Sense-ation Harness. It stops the
pulling immediately (so far from what I've seen), and doesn't seem to
bother the dog the way the GL or halti does.


I've heard a lot good about it when used as a management harness, but as our
trainer pointed out when I started using a body harness, you're not actually
teaching the dog anything and you have very little control over the front
end - the bit that might be more incline to leap up and greet unsuspecting
strangers (which is something that young and lively dogs really need
training not to do). A flat buckle collar can help you control the dog from
the shoulders, but the head collars really give you the ultimate edge.

I use the padded version, which can't rub - I tried the normal one some time
ago and it cut her nose, which obviously put her off and made her headshy
for months - a year later it took me 4 days to get her to literally jump
into the padded version.

Some dogs are more inclined to pull naturally - I believe the bassets and
other low nose dogs are all but impossible to train to walk to heal, so
maybe then such a body harness might be worth while,

Diana & Cindy

--
Cindy's web site
http://cindy-incidentally.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk