Getting your dog to stop pulling

This is by far the #1 thing we get called for. It is also the primary way that dogs communicate … movement. When you are walking, either you are controlling your dog or your dog is controlling you. The first thing to consider is your physical connection between you and your dog while walking. There are two parts to this, the part the dog wears and the part you hold in your hand.

Prior to working with us, most people are using either a regular flat collar or a harness. Both make dogs pull. As soon as the dog gets in front of you, a flat collar will spin until the connection between the collar and lead is at the 12 o’clock position running down along the dog’s spine. As soon as the dog pulls, you pull. As soon as you pull, they pull. This dangerous pressure on their throat causes them to instinctually pull against what is choking them. They are not able to take in any commands, verbal or physical, while they are being choked. They don’t have any idea that they are choking themselves. They just panic.

Most people just cannot stand the sound of their dog choking and don’t know how to stop it so they get a harness. Twenty years ago, it would have been very hard to find a harness for your dog. The reason is that they are a marketing ploy. Collar makers who can get upwards of $30 for a flat collar realized how much more they could get for a harness. People go crazy over all the pretty collars and designs. The reason they call it a harness, and the reason sled dogs wear them, is because they allow the dog to “harness” their entire body to pull whatever is behind them. By design, a dog wearing a harness is always going to be walking in front of you. This makes it impossible to focus on you or walk on a loose leash. This is why I designed the Immediate Correction Lead and here is why it works.

The Immediate Correction Lead works for two basic reasons. The first is that when adjusted properly it stays snug up behind the ears. The only place the dog naturally takes correction is the back and sides of its neck. Putting pressure there is like putting a weighted blanket on a child with autism…it’s calming. The black ball called the adjuster should be just below the dogs right jawbone. Corrections are always made with a relaxed arm straight back with a “pop,” NEVER a pull. Like you are snapping a towel. Your arm must be kept straight, so don’t bend your arm. If you bend your arm, you will be pulling up and this will put pressure on the throat. As soon as the dog puts any pressure on the lead, you pop & relax….repeat. It is impossible to correct a dog on a tight leash. When a dog is on a tight leash it means they are focused on the environment, not the handler.

The next issue is the leash. We are not even going to discuss retractable leashes. As far as I am concerned, they are not only worthless, but downright dangerous. Most clients have a 6 foot lead, either flat or round made out of nylon. They give their dogs way too much lead and struggle on how to manage the excess with their hand. This means that the dog is never at the same distance from them. This is why late last year we began to produce and offer the traffic lead. Made out of the same material as the ICL, it attaches directly to it. You put just the two middle fingers on your left hand through the loop. This allows you to walk naturally and maintain comfortable control without having a death grip on the lead. It is the perfect length to get your dog to walk in the heel position. Below are videos of a few recent clients whose primary complaint was not being able to walk their large dogs without being pulled down the street. The videos show their first walk after being showed how to use the Immediate Correction Lead and Traffic Lead. Pay special attention to their relaxed arms, their corrections, and how the dog focuses on them instead of their surroundings. This is how we have gotten over 2500 dogs to walk on loose leads in minutes.

Click here to order your Immediate Correction Lead & Correction Lead.