Oh, this all sounds a little too familiar! LOL Unfortunately, we are having major leash problems at the moment with our two yr old and one yr old dogs. I TRIED to train the two yr old to deal with the leash and failed miserably (esp after she pulled out of a regular collar twice, then we tried a harness, which she promptly pulled out of as well!). We finally had to put fabric choke collars on them. I really didn't want to but had no choice - it was that or lose these crazy girls forever! And due to a TON of circumstances we havent been able to get them to professional training yet (not for lack of trying!), but fortunately just today I found what looks like will be the right trainer and should be getting them in next Saturday. BUT I HAD to share this story...
Because of all their craziness, we only take the girls on walks with retractable leads on choke collars inside fenced parks that nobody goes to (OI!). The 2 yr old (Lucy) is only about 35 lbs, but the one yr old (Rosie) is over 70 lbs and she's the one I walk. I'm NOT going to say how much I weigh, but I will say I'm 5ft8 and at least double her weight!
In other words, SHOULD be able to handle a dog her size (youd think!). So anyways, my friend and I are just about to finish walking the dogs one day when the two girls spot some birds about 20 ft away on the ground, and they go into hunting mode! VERY stupidly, my friend and I looked at each other and said hey, lets unlock the lock button on the leads so they can run after the birds! We said, 1, 2, 3 - GO! and off they went! Lucy just pulled my friend along a bit, but I wasn't very bright and didn't brace myself for the BIG PULL! When Rosie got to the end of the lead and kept on going, I was jolted forward so hard that my head flew back, my feet flew completely up into the air, and I landed on my back with a giant THUD! LOL!!! Rosie's lead was jerked out of my hand and she went running away after the birds. Fortunately, she noticed everyone gathering around and me on the ground and came right back to make sure I was okay. I was fine except for the biggest bruise I've ever had that showed up on the back of my leg and didn't go away for a week!