Walking with your 'gentle' giant! Help for a new poster

[Lula The Goofy Newfie]

Hello big paws users! This is my first post and I am so excited I stumbled upon this wonderful site!

Walking & Skin Question:

Lula is our beloved Goofy Newfie.  She is 11 months old and owns our walks with her.  We have done a couple rounds of private lessons but she is still pulling.  My sister in law recommended to me that we use the 'gentle leader' as a means to gain control again.  Do you have any advice for stopping the pulling on the walks? Any opinions on the Gentle Leader?


Another question:

I have noticed that Lula has red skin on her hind legs. We had recently been to the vet bc she has been limping a bit of late but they could not find anything wrong. The vet did not point the red skin, nor had I seen it recently.  I discovered a couple of hidden mattes on the underside of the leg (tail area), could this be the cause of the irritation? The limp? Any recommendation s on skin/coat conditioners between washes?

Thank you in advance for any posts! I am excited to be a part of this great site!

[ruffian]

I used a Halti (same idea I believe) for my chow chow, and she is perfect on it, the only thing that worked for her, due to her heavy coat.  My Shiba Inu HATED the things, they would rather not go for walks then wear them things, so I had to move to prong collars, which worked for them, now that my girl, Ruffian, is almost 13 she uses only a harness, but I still need the prong on my male.  I tried a Halti in Gage, my mastiff rottie mix, and he was miserable, he just laid down, so I went to the prong again.  I would rather use the Halti but if the dog desnt even want to go for a walk I dont see the point.  I have started to train Gage properly as well with a choke chain, but I only use it for actual training, NEVER for a regular walk.

There are also a couple of different harnesses that are supposed to stop pulling as well.  One has the leash attach to the front of the harness, the other has srings that run under the armpits to the back of the collar where the leash attaches, when the dog pulls they tighten.

One word of caution with the head collars, if you have a dog that lunges I would not recommend using them as the lunging can injure or kill your dog.  You also have to be careful that your dog doesnt slip the muzzle loop and get loose.

[Ali]

Welcome. "Goofy Newfie" - that's too cute!

Tani pulls like a fiend. I got her a Gentle Leader - it has a strap that wraps around her nose and the leash attaches under her muzzle, so if she pulls, her chin is pulled down and to the side. It worked like a champ at first, and still does as long as there are no dogs or cats where we are walking. Unfortunately, if she sees another four legged friend, she'll damn near pull her head off trying to get there, Gentle Leader or not! I have my puppy in puppy class right now, but when she's done, I'm taking Tani to a "better manners" class which includes leash pulling issues. I'll repost once I learn what they teach about it. Good luck!

[Lula The Goofy Newfie]

Thank you all for your great responses! It is much appreciated. We are going to test out the gentle leader this evening, wish us luck! I look forward to posting here often and joining other discussions! Have a great day!

[NarniaMals]

I had a terrible time with my husky.  We tried the gentle leader and I almost lost him one night.  I started obedience school with him and the trainer re-adjusted the leader adn then told me it was ok to also connect it to his regular collar - that way incase he somehow manages to slip the leader we are still connected at the collar.  We also walked on leash walking.  I used really small treats and every time he walked appropriately he got a treat. He is not perfect but we can now take a walk!!!!!  Our boy malamute (132 pounds) at 1 year is still very strong.  We use the gentle leader attached to his collar and a shorter leash with a dual handle.  He also gets treats every time he is next to me.  I find he tends to pull from excitement and then settles down the longer the walk is.  My female mal (113 pounds) and also a year uses the gentle leader in the same configuration but with a longer leash and she is no problem at all.  I dont even need to use treats with her.  All of them HATED the leader in the beginning, but once they realized it meant we were doing or going someplace special all was wonderful.  We also took the trainer's advice and had them wear it for short periods of time in the beginning.  Treats and motion helped them forget about it and we just kept increasing the time.

Hope this helps!  Welcome aboard.

[Thelma]

another vote here for the pinch collars.....we have 4
saint bernards and thats the only way I can walk 2 together
without hurting my back from them pulling.
Hubby can walk all 4 at once by himself...they walk great for him....our secret is taking them to a big field and let them run for a while and then they walk so much nicer.

[ZooCrew]

I don't have to use anything on Gunther he walks pretty good, only an occasional correction needed.

Keiko, on the other hand, needs to use a pinch collar every time.  I had her trained almost perfectly and was trying to get her into therapy work (where you have to walk on a loose lead).............. ..until I got Gunther.  Then not only did she totally regress, she was worse!  So in came the pinch collar.

Works great, she gets totally excited every time it comes out.  She only really needs it for the first 1/2 mile or so then settles into our rythm.

[Butts Mom]

Welcome to BPO!! I'm going to vote for the pinch collar too.I have 2 Saints and after going down on my rear side one day because a cat ran across our path,I knew I needed more then the reg collars.When I went to get the pinch collars I took my BF and tried it on him.I walked him around the store and would pull if he stopped and he said it wasn't that uncomfortable,so that's what we went with.The boys are bothered by them at all,as soon as they see them they are dancing around ready to go.

Sorry can't help with the red spots,but I agree with the others,have a Vet check them out.

[Lula The Goofy Newfie]

thank you for all of your input! we have taken the advice and no longer have a puller! she is a gem, thanks again!