Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I would like to know, if you walk your dogs, what kind of lead you use. I walk my dogs every day, and my eight month old GSD has serious loose-leash walking issues, she pulls like crazy, and I feel like I'm being very inhumane to her when she ends up hacking from her choking herself on her collar. We bought a harness today, put it on for no more than fifteen minutes to try it out. She ate it. We are also considering just getting another harness and just putting bitter apple on it. She also eats pretty much anything else she can get to, though, such as the once 7ft trees we had in our backyard, which are no more than 4inches tall now. We do our best to supply her with fresh chewing supplies so that she doesn't chew what she's not supposed to. I'm only asking because she's eight months old and can pull me around quite a bit and I don't want her to pull loose one day and get hit by a car or something. I'd even resort to one of those collars that pinch their necks a little to solve this problem.

I can't complain about anything else, I knew what I was getting into with a german shephard, I've always lived around them.
Here's a updated picture of the 'monster'.

I'd enlist in an obedience class. It will not only teach you how to handle your dog, it will also be a great socialization experience for your pup!
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Lesya & Sophie

A Dog Owner's Prayer

Author unknown
Thanks to Pattie Lawler
http://www.behaviour-problems.freeserve.co.uk/2/Poems/dogownerpray.htm

by the way, my girl walks on a flat buckle collar with no pulling on the lead. I use a 6 foot leather lead. A harness will not solve the pulling problem.
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Lesya & Sophie

A Dog Owner's Prayer

Author unknown
Thanks to Pattie Lawler
http://www.behaviour-problems.freeserve.co.uk/2/Poems/dogownerpray.htm

She was enrolled in a training class a few months ago, one of the ones from PetsMart, and I'll try and put it nicely, but I don't think that the person running it ever even owned a dog. There's someone in my neighborhood that is running some professional AKC training thing, so I might try and put her in that. But, we don't want to end up wasting money on this since she knows sit, stay, wait, shake, come, and down, which we have taught her ourselves. She just jumps on people and pulls on the lead.

We are going to get her a leather buckle collar, the one she has on in the picture snaps off when she pulls hard enough. We got her a harness in the first place so that she wouldn't be choking herself through pulling.

I have never liked the idea of Petsmart "training" classes. Such a small area containing so many dogs that are usually pretty unpredictable, as they are usually not very well trained yet. Plus the "instructor" is usually someone who doesn't know squat about dog training. This doesn't speak for all of the classes, but most. I would try to find a private training club in your area. Mine is a non-profit club where all fees go towards maintaining the grounds. Find a place that trains with positive reinforcement and you just get a good "vibe" from. Set up a time to visit without your dog to observe a class. Look for classes where there aren't too many dogs and assistants are in the class to help the instructor. If you do not feel confident and comfortable with the intructors, don't sign up.
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Lesya & Sophie

A Dog Owner's Prayer

Author unknown
Thanks to Pattie Lawler
http://www.behaviour-problems.freeserve.co.uk/2/Poems/dogownerpray.htm

Whatever you do don't try to use a choke or pinch collar without the help and advice of a good trainer.. They can be so dangerous, particularly on young dogs. Talk to a trainer (some trainers will even come to your home) at the very least to get their recommendations on what type would be best. Or you might try a head harness. I'm personally not a big fan, I prefer the body harnesses, but at least she wouldn't be able to eat one that's on her head and I hear they can be very effective.. I think Halti is the best known one.

all training classes are not equal, so you might want to visit/observe another class. also, you say she knows sit, etc. but training is not JUST a dog knowing the specific commands. That is good, but the more you make a pleasant routine of what she knows, the more she will learn to work with you as a team. Many trainers would say, with a dog like yours, going to classes from early puppy to a yr or 18 mos is a good idea. As for the walking, there is some info on posts in obed/training in this forum & behav/emotions I think. Its a process& not easy. A trainer can coach you, minute by minute (much as a gymnastic trainer coaches the olympic teams) by reading you body language & the dog's response, then fine tuning both of you. Training if done properly is a bonding experience, a relationship of trust/respect & a dog wanting to please you - not just doing a sit or down every once in a while. The leash training is just a piece of the whole process. Best wishes

I had a similar problem with my recently adopted two and a half year-old GSD. A "Gentle Leader' will work wonders. Cesar Milan has a program on the National Geographic channel called the "The Dog Whisperer" Check it out if you can. By the way, that's a beautiful monster you have there.

Craig

Thank You.

We got her a new harness the other day, and I walked her today, a total sum of about three hours of walking, an extra hour of her just laying down while I talked to a friend. She didn't pull at all, she'd start to and then slow down and wait for me to catch up. And she didn't try to eat it either. Could this just be that it puts more control over her and she'll stay good behavior-wise, or simply it's new and she'll just realize that it's no harm and go back to the way it was? Either answer could vary my opinion on classes.

The harness is meant for pulling, so in some dogs it will encourage that behaviour. However, if your dog is fighting the pull of the leash, the harness can release some of that tension and result in a better dog. Regardless, your dog should be trained to walk nicely on a regular collar. My GSD walks nicer on a harness than on a collar, most of the time. You will find that you also have very little control over dog when she is on a harness -- you really are dependent upon whether she wants to listen to you or not, and that's not really acceptable.

My problem with petsmart classes is that most of the trainers don't know that much and they aren't that good at behaiour issues. Where I train (I'm an assistant trainer), we get people that have been through petsmart training all the time.....you might try the apdt website and see if there is a trainer near you (www.apdt.com).

I think it depends on the trainers. To be a trainer at petsmart you need to have no previous experience and the you go through very little training. For the most part you read the books that they give you and take a couple of tests. I worked there and when one of the trainers left they started training another girl to take those classes. She was so incredibly frustrated during the training because it wasn't really hands on experience unless she came in on her off time and watched the classes that the older trainer was teaching. I'd have to agree, petsmart's classes, although inexpensive, are not going to do a lot for you. The only thing that I did really like about them is that if you take the puppy class there'sa lot of play time and socialization..

our GSD's previous owners used a pinch, choke, and e-collar on him and he still had a terrible problem. Right now I'm using a Gentle Leader on him until he progresses further in his training. Ultimately, a plain rolled leather collar is all I will use. And a good leather leash.....

We had her harness for what, a week? She no longer fits in it. We got her a new leather collar and don't plan to get her another harness. I'm trying to convince my parents to enroll her in a training class, one that has been recomended to us by our vets, one of which has a few german shepherds, including Goblin, who is huge, I'd think myself he was a shiloh shepherd if I didn't know he was a pure bred german shepherd. She's had an ear infection, which is currently being treated, and my other dog had gained nearly 20lbs in the last few months, so now she lands on the 'obese' part of the scale, so we took them both to the vet. My father is home, he just got back from Iraq, and plans to take her running daily, which she severely needs.
The training class I'm trying to convince my parents of putting her in are www.coolk9s.com classes, Jim is the trainer we have heard the most good comments about.