Welcome to Pitbulls.org › Forums › Pit Bull Talk › Training › Gentle leaders,prong collars,harnesses what do you use?
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kendseycollins.
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April 20, 2011 at 3:25 am #17084
Tracey
Participanthi
i was just reading ur comment about the dog pulling – i had the same trouble with a harness as it does annoy there pitt my boy hates them his pits get red –
i have never heard of the GL and was wondering im from australia do you know of any where that i can get one and that will send to australia – trying to stop him from pulling also want something strong – as he dosent get on with all dogs (as a lot of dogs r the same)
any help would b much appreciated
thanks
tracey
April 20, 2011 at 6:36 am #17085OMGdog
Participant@ jsscdwny – Does Lady still pull?
I think I taught my girl Grace a bit backwards. I taught her to stop at all corners when I stop, and this then translated into when I stop for anything, she stops. Great, right?! Well now when we walk, she pulls and I stop, and she sits. Rinse, repeat, 70 million times. She doesn’t mind how often we stop, lol. And that look, the one that says, “What are ya waitin’ for?” yeah, every time and it’s even accompanied with a little huff sometimes.
She’s not a yank-your-arm-out-of-socket kind of puller but there is always tension on the leash, and if she smells something interesting it’s just enough of a jerk to pull you off balance. She ALWAYS has her nose to the ground, enough for me to think she is part hound dog too! The turn-and-walk the other direction isn’t working real well because of this. Her nose is to the ground so it doesn’t matter what direction she goes in.
I’m wondering if the stop/start will eventually work after she gets over being bullheaded about this?
One last thing, I use a sharp “DAT!” (think Mars Attacks aliens) when she pulls too hard and she immediately lets up a little, so she has the connection with pulling on the lead. However, I don’t think she really cares because she goes right back at it again. If people heard me I’m sure they’d think I’m insane, because my dialogue is “Good girl! Good Grace, DAT! Good G- DAT! Goood girl, DAT! Way to go Grace good girl, DAT, DAT!” for a 3-4 mile walk…and that’s in between stopping and starting.
April 20, 2011 at 6:44 am #17086OMGdog
ParticipantMaybe put them in the car and go down the road a bit? I don’t know if that’s possible where you live, but if you can get them over the threshhold close to home and give them treats (food or otherwise), then walk back to the house they could see that is wasn’t so bad being out. That and also work baby steps on getting them out of the yard. Bribery really does work well for most dogs, even if it is for attention!
April 20, 2011 at 6:44 am #17087OMGdog
ParticipantMaybe put them in the car and go down the road a bit? I don’t know if that’s possible where you live, but if you can get them over the threshhold close to home and give them treats (food or otherwise), then walk back to the house they could see that is wasn’t so bad being out. That and also work baby steps on getting them out of the yard. Bribery really does work well for most dogs, even if it is for attention!
April 20, 2011 at 7:59 pm #17090raisins mom
ParticipantI use a nylon flat collar and sometimes a Sensible harness that hooks in the front. A thought to try but unknown how well it will work is peanut butter on a wood spoon or spatula. Put it in front of yer dogs nose and try to walk forward with your dog licking the peanut butter. I only suggest the spatula so you wont hurt your back leaning over so much. As they grow you can just hold a treat in your hand. I use alot of treats when I walk Raisin. I try to do all our training also when he is hungry so he pays even more attention to me because he wants that food. Good luck to you and your pups!
April 22, 2011 at 1:33 am #17094kendseycollins
ParticipantWe use a pinch collar, or pronged collar. They look a bit harsh, but they are realistically very practical. They are designed to gently pinch the prongs together when a dog pulls. For heavier, higher energy breeds they are safer TRAINING TOOL than choke collars because they only tighten a small amount and the type of pressure is more accute so as to discourage pulling to begin with (they are not designed to cause pain, as the prongs are dull.) My husband flat refused to buy one when he first saw it because he thought it looked meen. Finally it got to the point where I couldn’t walk Kaos because he’s just too strong. We have been working very hard on walking side by side, but I couldn’t do it if he hadn’t run off some energy first. If he’s off leash he has excelent recall skills, it’s just on the leash that we were having issues. My husband went and got a prong collar for me so that I could continue my training. Now my husband is a believer!!!! My dog is almost 19 mos old and is very good, just full of energy. I say that the prong collar is a TRAINING TOOL because it should be used to get the attention of a high energy dog for training purposes. I know not everybody agrees with the pronged collars, but my shoulder sockets LOVE them. Kaos is now learning that, no matter who is walking by or what he wants to sniff, he is to stay beside me. I pair the collar with consistant training and I look forward to the day when we can walk without the collar.
April 30, 2011 at 2:35 pm #17140bbarry75
Participantmy boys like to use the harnes and have our dog pull them down the street while riding their skateboards. When I walk our pit I use the easyleader. I works great and does not hurt him. My only problem is he loves kids if we see them on the walk he will fight the easyleader, his neck is realy strong, but the easyleader always wins.
May 17, 2011 at 8:21 pm #17219savvyygirl75
ParticipantI’m trying to get my Pit puppy to stop pulling when on walks. When I got him the small nylon collar that he had been on for far too long for obvious reasons, it was entirely to tight for his neck size and was practically choking him even when he wasn’t pulling. I immediately cut it off (the only way I could get it off) and bought him a harness. I didn’t want to go straight back to a regular flat collar and I was afraid the choke collar would hurt him since he is a puller and full of puppy energy and Pit strength. I will watch for signs of irritation from the harness and possibly switch to a prong collar if I am unable to fix the pulling with the harness and consistent training. I have also used the water bottle spray to stop him from destructive behaviours such as chewing on furniture and such. This is working wonderfully. A quick squirt snaps him back to reality! He is only 3 months now and already very stong. I won’t let my 10 year old walk him until he is fully cured of pulling.
May 18, 2011 at 1:54 am #17224rebeccajoshuaoshea
ParticipantWhen we first got our pit a year ago, he had on a simple flat, nylon collar. Seemed to work, but I think the material in the collar created a skin reaction–that or a combination of the material in the collar and the food he had been eating regularly at the shelter…so we moved to a different collar. From there we began leading with a regular leash, that had a traffic handle also–seemed to be okay, until he saw other dogs or squirrels/rabbits. He was just too excited!
We were recommended to try the Gentle Leader, which we did…but at first had a heck of a time figuring out how it best fit our pup. There are some with snaps and others without–we had the one without–made fitting take more time. After a few times with it, O’Shea realized he couldn’t tug like he used to…and yes would throw fits, but walked decently well–always used treats as reinforcers.
After some time, we got a hold of a harness, that has seemed to work real well for him. Yes, he still gets excited when meeting other dogs, but we always try to make him sit/wait, and if he does well, we give lots of praise (but should probably carry more treats from time to time with us, to keep things consistent). I’d like to get him back to using the Gentle Leader, as it has worked…but as it has been stated before, each dog is different
May 20, 2011 at 3:30 pm #17233jenrosales
ParticipantMaybe you guys can help me, and tips will be greatly appreciated. I have two pitties male and female, ive had my male a year before we got neela. He dosent pull when i walk him just when were getting out the door and knows the word “wait” so he does really good on walks. Sooo the problem is my female
She runs in circles around me and walking them together is soooo hard i cant walk her because she pulls and jumps everywhere…pretty much yanking me all over the place im tiny, she weighs half of me lol…but walking her alone isnt so bad if my boyfriends with me but i want to walk them together, but she jumps on my male and trys to play with him which gets him all fired up. How can control her, to walk them both?
May 22, 2011 at 11:58 pm #17243Vanilla’s_Daddy
ParticipantBoth our girls (Vanilla now has a sister! I’ll post pics soon!) use the Freedom Harness from USA Dog Shop http://usadogshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=28
May 23, 2011 at 4:15 am #17244southern_pit79
ParticipantHow old is Vanilla? how long have you had her? I ask because i want to rescue another pit but want to do everything right. i want to make sure thepits are happy and i trust the experience of everyone here.
May 24, 2011 at 1:47 am #17246Vanilla’s_Daddy
ParticipantVanilla will be 5 in July.
My Wife works at the local shelter and I started walking Vanilla in September 2010. I finally adopted her in December 2010.I think it’s best to walk as many different dogs as possible. If there’s one that you hit it off with, then you can persue it. Just don’t set your heart on the first pit you see or even the best looking one. The personality is what you need to be interested in and of course, introduce your current dog to it’s potential new playmate at the shelter, it’s neutral territory.
We actually just took in a second Pit named TaTa (pics soon). She gets along so well with Vanilla, it would have been a crime to leave her there. They were in the shelter at the smae time so we got to see how they interacted.
Good luck!
May 24, 2011 at 3:20 am #17247southern_pit79
Participanti’m nervous to take layla back to the shelter. she was there 5 month, i dont want her to think she is going back there for good. i give her as much love as i can to the ten power to let her know i am never letting her go! i thought it would be good to do that though… just nervous to do it…..
May 24, 2011 at 9:15 pm #17255Vanilla’s_Daddy
ParticipantBoth our girls visit the shelter they came from. They really seem to be ok with it and have favorite attendants that that they remember. The tails start wagging like crazy whenever they see them.
I think it’s good too that they see you are not leaving them there but take them home when you leave.
Each dog is different but in our case, I think it helped build a bit of trust. -
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