Author Topic: fumble and pulling update  (Read 4831 times)

Offline Fumble

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fumble and pulling update
« on: May 16, 2006, 03:02:51 pm »
i just thought i'd let everyone know... fumble and i used the gentle leader today for the second time.. he definately DID NOT like it! pawed at his nose to get it off and everything!  but after like 10 minutes he was a completely different dog!! so i want to thank everyone for your advice on it.. i was always weary because i thought it was a harness.  oh and so did some nincompoop tourist, who was like "does he wear that cause he bites".. well i don't know.. he's got his mouth wide open and his tongue is hanging out the side... i would think that a bite would take a lot less of an open mouth! some people!  sheesh!  lol!
but thanks so mucH!!  i wasn't dragged down the beach!
"My newfoundlands live my life as passionately as i live theirs"
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Offline jabear

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Re: fumble and pulling update
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2006, 03:16:31 pm »
I'm glad that your walk was much more enjoyable today.  ;D
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Jaime
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Offline chaos270

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Re: fumble and pulling update
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2006, 03:38:28 pm »
I'm glad it's working.  I've learned the choke chain technique now too so I have the option of either/or but The gentle leader is alot easier.  We've been asked does he wear that cause he bites?  Yeah first of all it's she and at the moment she's sprawled on the floor sleeping ::).  Some people are just ignorant.  Hopefully people will be more educated as the popularity spreads.
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Fire ~ Appendix Quarter Horse/Belgian gelding
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doggylover

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Re: fumble and pulling update
« Reply #3 on: May 16, 2006, 05:28:50 pm »
Next time someone asks if the gentle leader is to stop her from biting tell them with a totally straight face that, no, it's because she tends to violently vomit on strangers and this helps a litle, but she still tends to have trajectile vomitting fits and it unfortunately goes EVERYWHERE. 

Offline Fumble

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Re: fumble and pulling update
« Reply #4 on: May 16, 2006, 05:58:42 pm »
Next time someone asks if the gentle leader is to stop her from biting tell them with a totally straight face that, no, it's because she tends to violently vomit on strangers and this helps a litle, but she still tends to have trajectile vomitting fits and it unfortunately goes EVERYWHERE. 

hahahahahah!!!! 
"My newfoundlands live my life as passionately as i live theirs"
"I slip the hater of what i've become.  they slip the halter of what they've been, and we live together, passionately, changed"
-Both from "in the company of newfies"

WE REPRESENT THE LOLLIPOP GUILD!!!

Lyn

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Re: fumble and pulling update
« Reply #5 on: May 17, 2006, 07:17:43 am »
I'm going to be getting a gentle leader for Bubba too. I have to do something and I'm hoping it would be a quick fix for the moment. :-\ Bubba isn't so much a puller.. but if he sees something or someone that interests him, he will just take off towards it. He damn near takes my shoulder out of my socket. I'm paranoid that one day he's going to see something across the road and drag me into traffic. :(

I hope the GL works for as good for Bubba as it is for Fumble. *Crosses fingers* :D

Offline galaxybears

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Re: fumble and pulling update
« Reply #6 on: May 17, 2006, 07:45:16 am »
I must admit I won't walk my two young ones without a head collar, they are fantastic things once the dog has got used to wearing them. Hubby never uses then, he says he doesn't need to.... Yeah, until one of them stops dead and he carries on walking ;)

Unfortunately you always get the idiots who think the dog is wearing the head collar to stop it biting... Even when their mouth is wide open and tongue hanging out ::)
Shelley
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Offline longshadowfarms

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Re: fumble and pulling update
« Reply #7 on: May 17, 2006, 11:22:42 am »
I just got 3 GLs in the mail this past week.  Carter fought it for about a minute, then just accepted it and walks like a gem!  It took a little learning but he didn't fight it except for a few times pawing at it.  I think with him the pulling was just a habit, he'd never been taught otherwise.  When you start to learn and are already HUGE, it is harder for the "mom" to gain the upper hand.  I haven't tried it on Katie yet.  She only pulls when she sees something exciting so I'm not sure I need to do it.  I think I'll wait a bit until Carter is completely under control for a while (he still gets to increasing his speed walking and needs to be drawn back) and see if she doesn't continue to improve.  She's improved so much already in the weeks we've had her. 

Then there is Eider.  You expect a Pyr to be hard headed.  You expect a Lab to be soft and willing to please.  Eider is generally pretty responsive to me and almost always listens the first time I tell him but this GL thing is WILD.  He fights, rolls, rubs, pulls, you name it!  It is absolutely incredible.  I've never seen a dog so adamant about not submitting to it.  He was more trouble alone on the GL than Katie and Carter were together when Carter was learning what it meant.  I tried to walk him once on it but ended up stopping the lesson once he submitted and acted polite for all of a half a minute, then tried it again for a short session the next day.  Put it on and go until he cools off and walks nicely for a minute and then take it off so we can end on a happy note.  Every time it goes on though, the fight begins!
Daphne

Offline BarkleysMum

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Re: fumble and pulling update
« Reply #8 on: May 17, 2006, 06:28:24 pm »
Barkley learned on a haltie/gentle leader too....and it was always fun for the first few minutes!!!  He became so good at it that we can walk him totally off lead all the time now - in fact, I have to hunt for his lead if we're going to the vet or somewhere that he needs to be on his lead.

I'm also amazed at how many people think it's a muzzle! 

I actually saw my first real muzzle the other day.  There is NO comparison!
Sandy
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and always remembering Barkley - crossed the Bridge on May 19, 2006.

Offline longshadowfarms

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Re: fumble and pulling update
« Reply #9 on: May 17, 2006, 08:11:36 pm »
P.S.  Just out again tonight and someone asked about it.  I tell people that it is like a halter for a horse.  Not sure people understand horses any better than dogs but most people at least then understand that it is for control, not for biting.  There have even been a few who had that light-bulb look on their faces.  Aha, I get it now. 
Daphne

Offline mixedupdog

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Re: fumble and pulling update
« Reply #10 on: May 18, 2006, 07:00:15 am »
I just got 3 GLs in the mail this past week.  Carter fought it for about a minute, then just accepted it and walks like a gem!  It took a little learning but he didn't fight it except for a few times pawing at it.  I think with him the pulling was just a habit, he'd never been taught otherwise.  When you start to learn and are already HUGE, it is harder for the "mom" to gain the upper hand.  I haven't tried it on Katie yet.  She only pulls when she sees something exciting so I'm not sure I need to do it.  I think I'll wait a bit until Carter is completely under control for a while (he still gets to increasing his speed walking and needs to be drawn back) and see if she doesn't continue to improve.  She's improved so much already in the weeks we've had her. 

Then there is Eider.  You expect a Pyr to be hard headed.  You expect a Lab to be soft and willing to please.  Eider is generally pretty responsive to me and almost always listens the first time I tell him but this GL thing is WILD.  He fights, rolls, rubs, pulls, you name it!  It is absolutely incredible.  I've never seen a dog so adamant about not submitting to it.  He was more trouble alone on the GL than Katie and Carter were together when Carter was learning what it meant.  I tried to walk him once on it but ended up stopping the lesson once he submitted and acted polite for all of a half a minute, then tried it again for a short session the next day.  Put it on and go until he cools off and walks nicely for a minute and then take it off so we can end on a happy note.  Every time it goes on though, the fight begins!

http://www.flyingdogpress.com/headhalters.html

http://www.flyingdogpress.com/prong.html

A GL or Halti is not as appropriate for a dog that lunges, like the ones that only do it when they want to go after something, the sudden snap of their head up and back, or to one side, can be very damaging to their neck.
My Earnest is like your Elder, he absolutely hated the GL he's 1/2 Lab, 1/2 Dane, and he layed on the ground, hollered, and clawed his face up. Phyfe will tolerate it, but it's obvious from his demeanor that he hates it, he's just a more tolerant dog. I use a prong on Earnest, it worked like majic from the first day, like the article says, it gave him a signal he could feel so we could work on voice commands. Phyfe wears a prong, too- not because he pulls, but he is very protective, and although he's fine with other dogs if another dog gets in his face I need some insurance to be sure he doesn't protect us too well.

Offline longshadowfarms

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Re: fumble and pulling update
« Reply #11 on: May 19, 2006, 06:22:19 am »
Thanks for those articles, MUD.  The first Pyr I fostered used a GL and she loved it.  She'd put her nose right in, wagging her tail furiously, knowing that the walk was coming.  Carter seems to not mind it one bit.  He's mostly deaf so you can't talk to him about what you expect.  The GL seems to be a great tool for him as well.  I do appreciate some of the cautions mentioned in the article which helped me see how I can help him better to learn and then eventually hopefully move on from there.  I can see with Katie that other options might work better.  I've seen those collars that kind of have a handle on them to get a better grip.  That looks like it might work for her.  I think I'll try the prong with the Eider man.  The GL certainly isn't working with him and he normally really does want to please.  It does come right up under his eyes where with Carter it is quite a ways down his nose.  I think it has to do somewhat with head structure.  Eider is a Lab, Carter a very long headed Pyr.
Daphne

Offline sarnewfie

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Re: fumble and pulling update
« Reply #12 on: May 30, 2006, 07:36:58 am »
i would be careful, i have heard of neck injuries from the GL
i have yet to ever have need for that, as i work on attention and use many methods of healing work to get that attention on me, no matter the distractions.
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