Does anybody know??

[vicster605@cmaaccess.com]

Having a little problem and not sure what to do about it??? Kearra is almost 6 mo old and doing very well on a leach. We walk daily sometimes twice a day. She starts out the door trying to pull me down the street. (There is a boxer and golden retriever that live at the end of our street}I make her sit and tell her to heel, she sits and trys to pull back down the street. All the way that's the deal until we get to the other dogs. THEN we heel all the way back loose leach and all with her looking up at me from time to time for her GOOD GIRLS!! She knows what to do but is SSOOO excited, that goes for any humans along the way she thinks everybody loves her haha I have tryed going other directions ALWAYS the same pull me going PERFECT ANGEL on the way home.......WHATS UP WITH THIS???I'm afraid if she gets much bigger I won't be able to handle her and I'm NOT ABOUT TO LET THAT HAPPEN haha
Any Ideas??

[dchernandez]

I had the same problem with Riley and Riley is a big boy, at least for me. Someone here recommended the Gentle Leader Harness. They also have a collar but I like the harness better since like I said Riley is big.

Its stops them from pulling you around. Riley used to drag me down the stairs and it always worried me that I would lose my balance and trip but now he knows better. Even when we use his regular collar or other harness he doesn't pull anymore. I got the harness at PetSmart for about $30.

You should give it a try. Its works

[Jeff&Peks]

Personally I would drop the word heel and use the word wait, when your chow try's to take off pull back on the leash and say wait then make him sit until you say ok, don't let hem get up until you say OK even if you have to stand there for an hour. a couple of days of that and he will get the message. Pekoe pulls alot also but most of it I let her get away with, sometimes when she gets to excited and starts pulling I say wait and she stops instantly. I'm not one for dog talk so I don't really like the word heel. You could use the gentle leader but I don't think its necessary.

When I see people being dragged down the street and they are yelling Heel it looks and sounds redicules, its ovioulsy not working. So they look stupid but the dog looks cool though. Chows seem to be familier with the english language, I don't think they understand Dog talk, like when I tought Pekoe to shake hands, Shake to her means shake your body to get the dirt off so I had to use Give me 5 to shake hands.

[dchernandez]

Using "wait" like Jeff said helps out a lot too. I sprain my ankle a couple of weeks ago and kept using the word wait, especially when going down the stairs. I'm still limping so I take one step at a time. Usually Riley goes down a few steps and then I say wait, and he'll sit his little tushy on the steps and wait until I get down to his level, he gets lots of praise then a few more steps and we do it all over again. . After a while, they'll get it

[sweetpea]

Wait really does work. Jeff had mentioned before using "wait", so I decided to give it a try, They both seemed to understand. I'll say "wait" and their brakes go on and they don't move until I say "ok".
Princess is a bad one for pulling, so long walks I switch harness's (Princess's hooks the leash on the back and Gracie's in the front) and have Princess use the front. She's not very big but she sure has the strength. The other times I will run with her, after a little running she stops pulling. I no its not proper training, but I've tried and tried with her since she was a puppy, she just has to pull. Gracie is a joy to walk.

[Victory]

I use, wait but sometimes I shorten the leash to about two feet so that they have no choice but to heel, because I walk two at once it is often necessary. I use gentle leader harnesses for both of them, and I also use regular leashes, not the retractable ones, that way I can wrap the leash easily around my hand, or wrist and shorten as short as I want.

The other trick it to make sure you have their attention; with puppies or truly excitable chows, (Firesong) I make them sit and look at me, when I have their attention then we proceed. You can also use something like "easy" or "settle" to get them to walk nicely. I don't make mine heel continously, only crossing streets or if they aren't listening and pulling too much, (on icy side walks no pulling is allowed) they normally are in front of me, with my hands relaxed at my sides, but if they pull, I'll say easy and tug on theleash lightly to remind them I'm there. Works most of the time. Firesong will forget the world to go after a squirrel, or to play with another dog. We're working on both, but it's the way she's always been. Dreamdancer is only 6 months old as well, so I'm hoping to get it trained into him. He's pretty good when he's not copying Firesong.

[vicster605@cmaaccess.com]

Thanks Jeff, I'll try that, she does have it on the way back so maybe just a new word will work.....and you are SOOO RIGHT we do look kinda dumb gettin' pulled down the street yelling heel haha GOT A GOOD VISUAL ON THAT ONE haha
Thanks everybody it does sound like it works, I'll let ya know how we do?? If not then I'll give the harness a try.

[bama]

I agree with Jeff about the word "wait", but the reason is not because the word, "wait" is magical. It's because we as humans use the word "wait" with conviction as a part of our routine language. How many times do we use the word, "heel" in our routine language? "Heel" may as well be a foreign word. There is no conviction when we say it, therefore our chowkids do not respond as well to it.

[kingalls]

Yeah, we're not savy on the dog talk - we use Wait, Walk, and No Cats!
Mr. N is much better at listening and doing what I ask. Shiloh is determined to do what she wants to do or go. If she doesn't get her way, she just sits her butt down until we give in

[Victory]

A very interesting observation Bama. Which may explain why a sharply voiced "Hey!" works on just about all dogs. It's also something we use on a regular basis, especially those who have raised children.

[bama]

Victory,

When I was a young girl living on a ranch, it was a part of our family tradition to train the herding dogs for most of our state. I suppose I was a rebel in those days and I wasn't one to follow the status quo, as my father expected of me. I felt self conscience as many a young girl would feel shouting out what felt like goofy commands to a dog. Much to the dismay of my father, I did it my way by simply using regular everyday words and a whistle, instead of the typical herding sounds and commands.
At first, it was a problem between my father and me.
But, since I didn't deviate from his time proven techniques, just his vocabulary, and after I had much success he accepted my way. No, he didn't change his commands, but at least he didn't argue with me about mine anymore.