I have an 18 month old, 70 pound very strong and very stubborn female pitbull/bulldog mix. We have not been the most consistent dog trainers, but despite having a trainer come in and work with her she still has a very frustrating habits, one of which is pulling on her leash. We have an easy walk harness that works great, but its a pain to have to attach it and take it off every time we need to take her out to do her business, walk her etc. At the recommendation of several people we tried a device called a gentle leader. That did not work. We decided to try the choke chain. I know it& #347; a controversial device, but the woman at the pet store likened it to ´power steering'for dogs and said that if used correctly its a self correcting device that works great. curious if any bbi dog owners have had success with this device
The difference being the dog is the one, not you, who controls the pinch vs choke.
some people believe it's still not exactly humane, but I was fine with it and our dog went from being a homeless rescue to perfectly leash trained in a couple months. After a few months we were able to connect the pinch collar so it was on the setting where it doesn't pinch, but is still on, and now we don't use it.
they look sort of mean, but I had good results.
I find the harness or the over the nose leaders seem to work better than the choke or prong ones (not a pro, just personal experience), but some things work better for specific dogs, so keep trying and see what yours responds too.
The collar slips down it's his signal that's it's ok to pull. I then just bring it back up and he's a perfect walker again. He's only 16 months old.
It's takes time for them to understand what you want. But it's worth it. Good luck!
The difference being the dog is the one, not you, who controls the pinch vs choke.
some people believe it's still not exactly humane, but I was fine with it and our dog went from being a homeless rescue to perfectly leash trained in a couple months. After a few months we were able to connect the pinch collar so it was on the setting where it doesn't pinch, but is still on, and now we don't use it.
they look sort of mean, but I had good results.
Thanks PJ. I guess I used the wrong terminology because that's the one I bought
Quote:
who trains military and police dogs and he suggested instead of the choke collar to use a prong or pinch collar.
The difference being the dog is the one, not you, who controls the pinch vs choke.
some people believe it's still not exactly humane, but I was fine with it and our dog went from being a homeless rescue to perfectly leash trained in a couple months. After a few months we were able to connect the pinch collar so it was on the setting where it doesn't pinch, but is still on, and now we don't use it.
they look sort of mean, but I had good results.
Thanks PJ. I guess I used the wrong terminology because that's the one I bought
I had good success with ours, check youtube, there are some youtube videos on proper use of a pinch collar.
For us it was put the collar on immediately before taking the dog out, bring treats with you on the walk as the dog starts yielding give her a treat, and take the collar off when you get back in the house. Make sure you stick to a routine and the dog can learn it's training.
By the second month the dog would hear the collar jingling she would come running and then there are two ways to attach it, one so there is a pinch when the dog pulls and one when it doesn't - i mentioned after a while we switched out of the pinch setting and the dog remained trained.
Now I don't use the collar at all, and the dog walks perfectly on the leash.
Responsibility is the most important thing about dog ownership. Everything else is secondary. You also really need to train him. It will be harder now but not impossible. Choker chain is exactly the best training device for a big dog.
When you walk him, make him stop, make him sit. Give him a treat when he does it right. You might want to wear an arm guard. Better to be safe than sorry.
I have a 165 lb Boerboel and there is no collar or harness that will restrain him. When he was younger he regularly snapped his leads and broke his chain collars. I tried everything.
This may sound counter intuitive but by training our dog to behave off leash it has made it possible to walk him on leash. Even my wife can walk him now. The only issue we will still have is our dog is afraid of bicycles and will run to avoid them. That creates an interesting scenario.
The difference being the dog is the one, not you, who controls the pinch vs choke.
some people believe it's still not exactly humane, but I was fine with it and our dog went from being a homeless rescue to perfectly leash trained in a couple months. After a few months we were able to connect the pinch collar so it was on the setting where it doesn't pinch, but is still on, and now we don't use it.
they look sort of mean, but I had good results.
This is the same experience we had with a Rottweiler pup 10 years ago. It worked and the dog did not get injured.
but consistency is the most important thing.
Some dogs are leash trained at birth others never learn unless a professional basically owns them
You’ve got to know how to use it though. The normal state of it while walking should be loose, not choking. I give a few gentle tugs at the start of a walk, to tell her not to pull. Occasionally she will still pull, but for the most part it works well.
It is far more effective than a plain, nylon collar.
Even more effective though is the gentle leader brand collar, which fits over her muzzle. I have this, but I just find it tedious to put on each walk.
You’ve got to know how to use it though. The normal state of it while walking should be loose, not choking. I give a few gentle tugs at the start of a walk, to tell her not to pull. Occasionally she will still pull, but for the most part it
It is far more effective than a plain, nylon collar.
Even more effective though is the gentle leader brand collar, which fits over her muzzle. I have this, but I just find it tedious to put on each walk.
We tried the gentle leader but our dog is so anxious she would freak out, wimper and try to pry it off with her paw so we moved on. Thanks everyone for the information