I have a female 1 year-old boxer who does not like the gentle leader. We have been using it for about 6 months to take her on jogs around the neighborhood. I wouldn't be able to walk her without it as she is easily distracted and stubborn sometimes, but she will still paw at the gentle leader around her face and put up a "tantrum" 1-3 times during the walk. When we take the gentle leader out, she will run away, and it has become quite difficult when getting ready to leave dog parks. We've followed the directions on the dvd (treats, approach from back, 1 finger, no pulling, positive words etc.). Is there anything else I can do to "make" her like the gentle leader? Or should I not be using the gentle leader because of the fact that boxers have shorter snouts? Are harness leashes better for boxers? Thank you, as any help is much appreciated!
Thanks for the responses, I'll try them out!
The absolute best training book I have found is basically any dog training book by Dr. Patricia McConnell. She has a a book called Beginning Family Dog Training that has some good tips for teaching a dog to heal. Also The Other End of the Leash is excellent for understanding dog behavior and what our body language and words are REALLY saying to our dogs.
To start with, find something your dog really loves as a treat (liver, chicken pieces, peanut butter, bananas, etc.) and use it only for walks. Take her to an enclosed area (like a baseball field or school track and field. A dog park will work but only if there is an area that is separate and you can work with her without other dogs around and on the leash) to practice. Practice walking her next to you and treating her when her head is next to your left knee. Make constant changes in your direction, walking to the left and in front of the dog. If you run into her, you waited to long to make a change. If she starts to pull ahead, turn to the right so she has to stay next to and behind you to keep up. Treat her when she's by your side and only when she's by your side. After several good rewards, allow her off the leash or on a long leash for a game of fetch or chase as a reward. Keep the training sessions short (10 minutes or so) and she will soon learn to stay by your side, rather than at the end of the leash. The goal is to keep the leash loose at all times. If she fights the gentle leader, start without it and when she seems like she's getting it, put it back on. You can use it with a short nosed dog, but make sure you keep is slack when she's in the correct position (not pulling). Make sure it's not too tight so it's not rubbing her nose or pulling up into her eyes.
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May 24th, 2009 at 4:59 am
The absolute best training book I have found is basically any dog training book by Dr. Patricia McConnell. She has a a book called Beginning Family Dog Training that has some good tips for teaching a dog to heal. Also The Other End of the Leash is excellent for understanding dog behavior and what our body language and words are REALLY saying to our dogs.
To start with, find something your dog really loves as a treat (liver, chicken pieces, peanut butter, bananas, etc.) and use it only for walks. Take her to an enclosed area (like a baseball field or school track and field. A dog park will work but only if there is an area that is separate and you can work with her without other dogs around and on the leash) to practice. Practice walking her next to you and treating her when her head is next to your left knee. Make constant changes in your direction, walking to the left and in front of the dog. If you run into her, you waited to long to make a change. If she starts to pull ahead, turn to the right so she has to stay next to and behind you to keep up. Treat her when she's by your side and only when she's by your side. After several good rewards, allow her off the leash or on a long leash for a game of fetch or chase as a reward. Keep the training sessions short (10 minutes or so) and she will soon learn to stay by your side, rather than at the end of the leash. The goal is to keep the leash loose at all times. If she fights the gentle leader, start without it and when she seems like she's getting it, put it back on. You can use it with a short nosed dog, but make sure you keep is slack when she's in the correct position (not pulling). Make sure it's not too tight so it's not rubbing her nose or pulling up into her eyes.
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May 24th, 2009 at 5:17 am
Gentle leaders tends to get kinda stuck on the pups face, like over their eyes. Does she have that problem? The Halti brand collar doesn't do this and is a similar design but doesn't ride up.
I would calmly put the collar on and just start walking in circles ignoring the pup until they calm down and relax while walking on the leash. You are leading the dog around with a less muscular area of the body (vs their chest/neck which is very muscular) so it's usually easier leading a strong dog this way. But if you make a fuss over her trying to get it off, she will make a fuss right back. Ignore it and just keep moving until she settles down. Hold the leash relaxed but next to your hip area so she realizes that the closer she gets to your hip, the more relaxed the collar is on her.
She should get used to this and realize the best place to walk is right by your hip area next to you. This also makes corrections and commands easier because when you say sit, you can pull straight up and the pup won't ahve much of a choice but to sit. Also if you have a active pup who gets excited when they see other pups you can correct by saying no and pulling straight up, which draws their eyes away from the other pups.
I had a girl in my training class who told me that her boxer pup got cuts on his face on the sides from the gentle leader because it rode up so much, so she switched to the halti as well. Thankfully my pups don't pull so I stopped using mine months ago, but i have a short snouted pit/boxer mix.
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May 24th, 2009 at 5:27 am
i use the gentle leader–it has to be fit properly-are you sure yours is? my dog paws at it at first then gives up and walks
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