Adventures in Pulling

When we brought Riley home from the Humane Society over a year ago, she didn’t know how to sit, lay or stay. Actually, teaching her those commands (along with a whole bag of tricks) proved to be quite easy. But, most worrisome at the time was her inability to walk properly on a leash.

In fact, when we first got her, Riley would often walk me around neighborhood, dragging me into the street  and into other people’s yards. I’m a small person so maybe this was an easy task. But one time, she even dragged Justin (who is 6 feet tall) around the park and eventually onto his bottom…

Clearly, no one had ever taught Riley to walk properly.

Riley in Autumn wearing her Gentle Leader

The Gentle Leader

So the first thing we did was to buy a Gentle Leader, which is a training lead that allows for greater control of an unruly pooch. But even with the training lead, I had to remain highly alert as the Gentle Leader didn’t always keep Riley from chasing squirrels, bicyclists and runners. Recognizing the dangers of Riley trying to chase after cars in the street, we immediately sought professional dog training.

One trainer suggested that patience and encouragement would help her to walk properly. And every time she pulled on the leash, we were instructed to stop walking; this lack of forward movement is actually a punishment to the dog. And then when Riley loosened up and relaxed, we’d continue walking. With this method, Riley was to associated calm, relaxed energy with a reward–moving forward. It would also teach her that pulling on the leash would bring on a negative consequence–standing still.

This technique was very frustrating for Riley because she has to stop all the time.  But its also frustrating to me (because we have to stop all the time!). With Riley pulling so often, we’d have to stop and wait every few steps…and just wait. Our trainer also taught us how to use treats to keep Riley focused while walking. Riley absolutely adores treats; she is truly food motivated. So, with a treat in hand, whenever I said “heal”, she’d walk perfectly beside me, waiting of course for the yummy reward. But without the treat in my hand, Ms. Riley would be off  to the races.

Another trainer suggested the method of being the calm, assertive leader, a la Cesar Milan. The trainer suggested using a slip lead and slightly (but quickly) jerking the lead whenever Riley was out line. This method is much harsher, and I wasn’t always comfortable with it. Nonetheless, that method did quickly teach Riley to not run towards cars. And with our situation at the time, that was perhaps the highest training priority on our minds.

Problem Solved?

So, how exactly did we teach Riley to walk on the leash? Well, actually we combined both methods and then added a large dose of patience. Slowly but surely,  Riley learned how to walk on her leash like a good Catahoula. Eventually we got rid of the gentle leader, stopped using the slip lead, and transitioned into just your standard collar…and for a while, she was doing pretty well.

Until recently.

Because now, it’s return of the crazy dog. She’s pulling me through the neighborhood and lunging every time a UPS truck passes by. Why UPS trucks? I have no clue. Maybe they look like a big brown dog to her.

Time for Something New

So, I’m using this blog as a journal to chronicle our attempts to get Riley walking like the once-walkable dog I know she can be again. To begin, I’m purchasing a Martingale Collar from Classic Hound. It’s a beautifully fashioned accessory yet functional in that it should help with Riley’s pulling. And I’ve also decided to retry the patience, encouragement, discipline strategy once again. I’ll continue adding to this post over the next few weeks and will let you know how it goes.

Riley’s Comment

Walks?! I looooove walks. That’s cuz I get to go wherever I want, whenever I want. I used to be very good and mellow on the leash, but now I like to use my walk time to sniff for cats and chase those big brown delivery trucks…I LOVE those trucks! Other than that, I try to protect my mom cuz she needs a guard and I am very good at my job. But I don’t know why she doesn’t like me to bark. Somebody’s got to do it! Maybe she’ll see things my way soon enough and join me in the fun. We could even chase the truck down the street! Wooohooo!