Did my dog trainer give me the correct information on leash walking?
I have a small 6lb dog of which I am trying to fix her reacting to other dogs on walks. What she is doing is, will lunge & bark with hackles standing up. My trainer along with many other tips suggested I not walk her on a flexi (retractable) leash AT ALL. Which is what I have ALWAYS done. I like to do so to give her some freedom to run, sniff & explore on her walks. So I did as my trainer told me which is only walk her with her 4′ leash & we are both having such a hard time with it. She is pulling constantly as she is use to running & getting to check things out & I feel so bad that she has to stay only a few steps away from me. What is the point of walks if she can’t get some exercise both physically & mentally?
I GUESS the trainers thought or theory is if we can get her to NOT pull on the 4′ leash then she shouldn’t pull at all. THOUGHTS?
Your trainer is right. You should teach your dog to walk right beside you…not in front nor in back. If your dog still pulls so much that you can’t nejoy the walk, I suggest trying a training collar. For example, when we were training out GOlden Retriever, she was the worst one in her class, and the trainer told us to get (I don’t remember what its called) but it’s a metal collar with prongs that stick out into the dog’s neck. They don’t hurt the dog unless it pulls really hard, and when it does hurt it’s only for a second and it’s not enough to seriously hurt your dog (the dog won’t bleed or anything like that). This worked GREAT! Our dog quickly learned to walk calmly beside us…like within 2 weeks of practicing. Even though your dog is small, it can definately handle a collar like this. This collar isn’t humane, it only causes the dog a slight pinching feeling when it pulls, and this along with a firm “no” and tug back will teach it to walk calmly. Good luck, hoipe this helped!
Flexi classic compact 3 – retractable 5 meter leash for large dogs