Hey guys I need your help, Ihave a 9 moth old german shepared, how do I get him to stop pulling on the leaeh. I give him a correction, but then he goes right back to doing it, it is even worse when he sees another doag and tries to run after it. I keep giving him a flip on the leaseh but he still barks and pulls on the leash.

Are you using a properly fitted pinch collar?

If you are I would say "no" and give him a single pop. You will have to judge how much correction is appropriate based on your dog. Enough to make an impression but not enough to make him quit. You do not want to give repeated pops (pop, pop, pop) or drag him.

This can be done with a flat collar as well. I assume you could use an E collar to correct on this action.

But a pinch seems to be the simplest solution.
regards,
ben

SO if he is pulling what do i say when I pop him. I normmaly say slow then pop the leash, do I pop the leash than say slow?

by you allowing him to drag himself it won't help. Even a choke chain or a pinch collar if you allow the dog to just pull it will lose its effectiveness.

pop it and say your word....


also I'd do like Ben said. You didn't answer if you had a pinch collar. If you do then you have caused it to lose its effectivensss. Pop it, don't let him drag with it...

My gsd is food driven. I hold a bit of hotdog in my left hand. starting from the sit I walk forward with my hand in front of his face. don't give him the treat until he heals for a time, for,i dunno, 5, 10 feet maybe. repeat frequently and further each time. that way he learns what you want him to do and maybe the correction will more effective. Mr Frawley's article on "grounding" is a must read. Max has only one distraction that I can't overcome, my 3 year old son, but that's not a real bad thing. I'm not a trainer, I just know this worked with my dogs. good luck

Ken, Just change directions. If he continues to pull...continue to change direction. A verbal and physical correction at the same time should get his attention. I wouldnt give him one hard correction, rather 3-4 small pops as you change your movement. when he follows, praise him. If he is pulling towards another animal tell him to "leave it" as you correct him and focus his attention by changing direction and praising him. A nice toy would be helpfull to give him on a periodic basis to keep him focused on you. Good luck.

Howard

By the sound of your post i doubt that you are using a pinch collar. If you are using one then you must be doing something amazingly wrong.
If you had a pinch on your dog it wouldnt be pulling, and even if it was the slightest correction would do the trick. Get a pinch collar - you will be amzazed at how easily you can control your dog. The effects are instant.

Ken, your dog is the perfect age to start dog classes. Properly fitting a training collar, the timing of the correction, verbal cues, the correct leash (length, width, leather/cotton/nylon), etc. ALL of that can be fixed quickly with a good instructor giving the instant feedback you need.

How cool is it to go to a class, have instruction, and then after practicing the next week solve a problem that's been getting worse for months.

I know I always end up with alot of a) frustration and b) anger when I THINK I am being perfectly clear to my dog and THEY JUST DON'T GET IT. What classes taught me is that what I am doing is NOT getting thru to them. And a good instructor can instantly give suggestions that will work with my dog in my situation in my level of training. So I can keep fumbling on the way I was and know that eventually the dog's old age will at least help with some of the problems, OR I can find a qualified instructor who has trained HUNDREDS of dogs and use the experience they have gained to quickly train mine (uh, make that train me).

By that, I have found that though it looks like the dog is the problem when I'm getting dragged down the street yelling, FACT IS that I am the problem because I haven't got the skills and tools (yet) to communicate with my dog. If dog training was easy every dog would be perfect and there wouldn't be so many dogs in shelters with problems!

One thing to keep in mind:

In my dog a quick sequence of pops raises his attention. One pop lowers dirve. A generic no will do the trick, once he learns no will be followed by a correction. Leash chewing is a behavior and has to be stopped.

A leave it is a good idea.

This assumes your dog knows the leave it command.
Howard has a good point. Walking him in circles makes him do what you want, not what he wants.

A pinch collar is a MUST. It looks scary but is not harmful. Don't let the pet smart people talk you out of it.

The basic dog obidence dvd sold here also helps. I bought it and the methods work. There is a good 30 minutes on leash behavior.

Ken, I totally agree with Howard. Changing direction will take the dog off balance...and increase his focus on you instead of the distraction.But you may have to try and step back and do some basic training without those big distractions in order to condition him to focus on you...and respect you as "Master".