Many times I ask myself: How can I help very old people that have dogs that pull on the leash?

Many times, old people don't have the pacience and knowledge to train a dog to walk without pulling. What options are there to help these people besides the flat collar?

Be careful!

...about stereotyping, that is.

I have a feeling the reason old people, or anyone for that matter, fail to walk their dog properly isn't because they're old. It's because they are lazy or simply uninformed about dog behavior and training resources. Your statement can apply to anyone. I'm 60 so if I can figure it out, no excuse why others shouldn't be able to also.

When I see someone clearly not having a clue about how to control or walk their dogs, it's none of my business unless they actually ask me for help. I'm not going to pretend to be a training expert to anyone. If they ask, I'll recommend some good trainer we've had good experience with, this Leerburg website, or books I've found helpful. Otherwise, I'll let them figure out when they need help. Most won't ever get to that point.

 Quote: Greg Meyer

Be careful!

...about stereotyping, that is.

No kidding!

I'm old!

 Quote: Greg Meyer

I'm 60

And you can still walk?

Just couldn't help myself...

 Quote: Greg Meyer

Be careful!

...about stereotyping, that is.

I have a feeling the reason old people, or anyone for that matter, fail to walk their dog properly isn't because they're old. It's because they are lazy or simply uninformed about dog behavior and training resources. Your statement can apply to anyone. I'm 60 so if I can figure it out, no excuse why others shouldn't be able to also.

When I see someone clearly not having a clue about how to control or walk their dogs, it's none of my business unless they actually ask me for help. I'm not going to pretend to be a training expert to anyone. If they ask, I'll recommend some good trainer we've had good experience with, this Leerburg website, or books I've found helpful. Otherwise, I'll let them figure out when they need help. Most won't ever get to that point.

Thank you for your opinion Greg.

The vast majority of times people ask me about this I know that if I tell them that they need to hire a trainer or learn about operant conditioning they are not going to listen. I also know that many of them should not have a dog for a variety of reasons. But, nonetheless, they do have one. I'm not sure how it is in the US, but here in Portugal 99% of dog owners don't know enough about what a dog needs, how to train and live with them.

So, my question was more in the following context: if they can not walk their dogs, the dog is the one that is going to be penalized, probably with less walks or no walks. So, if I could have a very simple tool that would ameliorate the problem, maybe the dog would get more walks, even though I know that many of theese solutions will not teach anything to the dog.

What tools (types of leashes) are there that can help control a pulling dog to a person that does not want to learn about training or a person that can not walk fast, etc?

Example: my grandfather used to walk a dog when he was 77. I tried to teach him the ABC's of operant conditioning. Didn't work. The dog kept pulling and he reduced the walks...

I see all kinds of people with pulling dogs. Age is not related to whether a person is capable of learning how to handle a dog, especially when it comes to leash manners.

Interest and willingness are needed, and also the capacity to be honest with ourselves about how we are contributing to the dog's behaviour. If someone is not willing to change their behaviour, and they expect a tool to do the work to 'change' the dog, there is a problem of perception, not tool use.

Any tool is only as affective as the person who is using it, not the dog that is receiving the treatment. If you want to talk about the specific case of your grandfather, that is a different matter. But trying to come up with one universal tool that is going to accomplish the same task on all dogs with all handlers is not going to work.

BTW - I think I also qualify as 'old' and I am learning to handle my dog, one day at a time.

deleted ... Jenny covered it


Edited by Connie Sutherland (02/24/2012 02:16 PM)
Edit reason: self-delete

Of course they pull us old farts when they're on leash.
First thing I do in the morning is pop a couple of bran muffins and a shot of prune juice,then take the cave wolves for a walk.
All that stimulation from the walk and I NEED them to get me home reeeeeeally fast!
Guess I'll have to get some young whipper snapper to train my dog.....to pull faster.

 Quote: Bob Scott

Of course they pull us old farts when they're on leash.
First thing I do in the morning is pop a couple of bran muffins and a shot of prune juice,then take the cave wolves for a walk.
All that stimulation from the walk and I NEED them to get me home reeeeeeally fast!
Guess I'll have to get some young whipper snapper to train my dog.....to pull faster.

ROFL

Ok, there are anit-pull harnesses but as has been said any equipment is only as good as the person at human end of the leash's willingness to learn to use it properly.

The best ways to end pulling are to either stop and wait for the dog to stop and come back towards you (trying to figure out what the crazy human is doing) or to turn and go in another direction suddenly without warning (or a combination of the two).

LMAO Bob, that's awsome.

I think this old couple needs some training in training the dog leash manners (or any kind of manners).

*WARNING - VIOLENT - DOG PROBABLY GOT HURT*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3weu8g1uWk&feature=channel

How someone could just stand by and video this is beyond belief, I have to say at the end I was rooting for the dog.