The Monster Walker..

southerngirl

southerngirl

Honored Member
While I was at a small private owned pet store over the summer there was a man teaching people how to get there dogs to stop pulling. I was so mad when I saw that he had the leash around his dogs belly.And these people where listening to him! Well just the other day I saw someone walking there dog like this. Is this becoming a new trend. Than I found that is coming from a new "no pull" product. I can't imagine that this isn't highly uncomfortable and could possibly injure the dogs organs. Maybe I'm wrong and it's safe. I've been looking around to see how it works and whether it is safe or not.
What are your thoughts?
 
running_dog

running_dog

Honored Member
southerngirl said:
While I was at a small private owned pet store over the summer there was a man teaching people how to get there dogs to stop pulling. I was so mad when I saw that he had the leash around his dogs belly.
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I'm not quite sure exactly what you are describing, please could you get one of your dogs to pose for a photo or maybe draw a sketch?
 
running_dog

running_dog

Honored Member
Ugh! I never imagined that.

I never intentionally let anything tighten round that area of my dog... he's a male dog it would be totally wrong and yes in my opinion it definitely could damage him. But even on a female dog it would be wrong, that part of the belly needs protecting not garrotting.

Also that kind of arrangement is about having the dog out in front of you which from a behavioural point of view, if you are already struggling to stop your dog pulling is just stupid.

I have been using a method with Gus that I don't feel is positive but it does make management a lot easier. Instead of trying to haul back on the lead someone told me to try tug-a-tug-a-tug-a-tugging back on the lead, a bit like trying to stop a runaway horse. It isn't a violent tug or anything, more a nagging tug, he does respond to that even when he's locked on to trying to reach another dog. It is a bit of a sidetrack to your thread but what do you think? Is it a really awful thing to do?
 
southerngirl

southerngirl

Honored Member
I have been using a method with Gus that I don't feel is positive but it does make management a lot easier. Instead of trying to haul back on the lead someone told me to try tug-a-tug-a-tug-a-tugging back on the lead, a bit like trying to stop a runaway horse. It isn't a violent tug or anything, more a nagging tug, he does respond to that even when he's locked on to trying to reach another dog. It is a bit of a sidetrack to your thread but what do you think? Is it a really awful thing to do?
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I think it's fine as long as it is doing no harm to Gus. If anything it is a bit annoying to him.I give a light tug when Missy or Piper pull for a warning. If they keep pulling I stop walking which they they know means give the leash slake and me eye contact.
 
southerngirl

southerngirl

Honored Member
running_dog said:
You make it all sound so dignified... somehow with Gus it doesn't happen quite like that!
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LOL. Piper has it down. I stop she comes back to me, looks at me for direction. Missy, my nine year old dog.... she backs up when I stop or say her name when the leash starts getting tight. Gosh forbid she looks at me. She'll even sit when I tell her too, but she won't look at me. Which is why we're working on eye contact on walks.
 
running_dog

running_dog

Honored Member
southerngirl said:
She'll even sit when I tell her too, but she won't look at me. Which is why we're working on eye contact on walks.
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That still sounds much more decorous than my Gus experiences... I just haven't worked with him enough. I have to walk him every work day morning now so we are getting to spend a lot more time together and though it is mostly off leash I'm working on him paying attention for longer.
 
southerngirl

southerngirl

Honored Member
running_dog said:
That still sounds much more decorous than my Gus experiences... I just haven't worked with him enough. I have to walk him every work day morning now so we are getting to spend a lot more time together and though it is mostly off leash I'm working on him paying attention for longer.
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What I did with Piper is every time she pulled or the leash started tightening I stopped called her to me and had her sit. One day I decided to count how many times I had to stop on a 30 minuet walk.... 50 times.... 50 freakin times. But hey it paid off after I think two weeks she really started getting the hang of it. Now I only stop maybe 1 or twice.
And hey Kudos to you for being able to have Gus off leash. Piper would run around the neighborhood like she lost her brains if I let her off leash. The first person she'd see she would knock them off there feet from jumping on them. Than she'd stand over them licking their face with her whole body shaking in excitement.
 
running_dog

running_dog

Honored Member
southerngirl said:
What I did with Piper is every time she pulled or the leash started tightening I stopped called her to me and had her sit. One day I decided to count how many times I had to stop on a 30 minuet walk.... 50 times.... 50 freakin times. But hey it paid off after I think two weeks she really started getting the hang of it. Now I only stop maybe 1 or twice.
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I don't think I have the patience to work with Gus like that at the moment - especially when I'm trying to get the dogs walked before work. I do call Zac back to me like that if I'm leash walking him on his own and he's really forgotten his manners. I used to believe that if I persisted with Gus it would work but somehow I never got through to him that loose leash is a default behaviour and almost nothing gets through to him once he's zeroed in on a target.
southerngirl said:
And hey Kudos to you for being able to have Gus off leash. Piper would run around the neighborhood like she lost her brains if I let her off leash. The first person she'd see she would knock them off there feet from jumping on them. Than she'd stand over them licking their face with her whole body shaking in excitement.
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LOL what a lovely dog Piper sounds!

Having Gus off leash isn't as impressive as it sounds, though he is usually quite good about not running up to people he is difficult for me to keep away from other dogs. At the moment I take them in the car to a woodland where there are not many people (not at that time on a morning anyway) and I let them out. I work intensively with Zac to keep him from hunting and Gus just roams around and I call him in a few times and do a little trick training with him. I've been training the canine freestyle sequence from the training challenges with him and I think that is really helping us because it's got some variety and he's starting to see that one trick flows from another.

Our walk all went a bit wrong on Saturday though because I took the dogs to the woods later and so there were a lot more people, Gus thought they were all trespassers in his wood :oops:.
 
southerngirl

southerngirl

Honored Member
Our walk all went a bit wrong on Saturday though because I took the dogs to the woods later and so there were a lot more people, Gus thought they were all trespassers in his wood :oops:.
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Uh oh... That's what Missy thinks when it comes to the neighborhood. Every once in a blue moon we will see a person walking in the neighborhood other than the people who live across from me. She barks at them... because she it so used to not seeing people walking around that she doesn't know.
 
running_dog

running_dog

Honored Member
southerngirl said:
Uh oh... That's what Missy thinks when it comes to the neighborhood. Every once in a blue moon we will see a person walking in the neighborhood other than the people who live across from me. She barks at them... because she it so used to not seeing people walking around that she doesn't know.
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At least with Gus I know that I'll have plenty of warning if there is a creepy man hiding in the bushes! If there was a creepy woman hiding in the bushes he probably wouldn't care!
 
stdpoodad

stdpoodad

Experienced Member
running_dog said:
Instead of trying to haul back on the lead someone told me to try tug-a-tug-a-tug-a-tugging back on the lead, a bit like trying to stop a runaway horse. It isn't a violent tug or anything, more a nagging tug, he does respond to that even when he's locked on to trying to reach another dog. It is a bit of a sidetrack to your thread but what do you think? Is it a really awful thing to do?
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A dog trainer whom I really respect told me exactly that. Only for me (maybe because I fish), my analogy is landing a fish. You never just yank on the line, you gently reel it in (or gently let it out)

I do something similar when they don't give me their attention. I get very annoying and shake the leash like a snake. It usually only takes a only a few harness rattles before they give me the "Dad, what are you doing??!!" look. LOL
 
running_dog

running_dog

Honored Member
stdpoodad said:
A dog trainer whom I really respect told me exactly that. Only for me (maybe because I fish), my analogy is landing a fish. You never just yank on the line, you gently reel it in (or gently let it out)

I do something similar when they don't give me their attention. I get very annoying and shake the leash like a snake. It usually only takes a only a few harness rattles before they give me the "Dad, what are you doing??!!" look. LOL
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The landing a fish analogy is a good one :)

I think it is a safer/better thing when you are using a harness like you are. I've always used collars on my dogs in the past and I'm not easy even with the tug-a-tug on the collar now. I'm hoping to get harnesses for the dogs next month and then I might be able to use it again because it is handy for getting their attention.
 
S

saveallpoodles

Member
those leashes around the dog belly definitely do not look comfortable at all. I would not put them around my dog. What is going on with these people? haha

Perhaps they realise that most people buy leashes only when the old one is broken (some of you might prove me wrong)... so they come up with a new design to boost sales.

anyway, coming back to the leash styles, I prefer a harness over such overwhelming leashes
 
running_dog

running_dog

Honored Member
saveallpoodles said:
Perhaps they realise that most people buy leashes only when the old one is broken (some of you might prove me wrong)...
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I think my dog Zac is in league with the dog lead manufacturers, he chomps through leads unless I watch him like a hawk.

Last time I bought a lovely long new lead for Zac my mum tied him to something with it to stop him hunting rabbits while she was working outside the next day. A few seconds later he came to see her - with the lead trailing in shreds. He spent the next year with a progressively shortening lead as we knotted it together again... and again... and again! :LOL:
 
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