Center of gravity leash?

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StenoGirl225
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Center of gravity leash?

Post by StenoGirl225 »

Hi everyone,

I saw an episode of It's Me or the Dog recently (a repeat I think) and on it they had a different kind of harness or leash that had to do with the center of gravity of the dog. It was a harness-like thing and the leash actually hooked on the side or front, I can't quite remember. Has anyone ever heard of this or tried it? I can't find it online yet. We have an 8 month old mix and he is a NIGHTMARE to walk and this looked like a good solution. I've tried the "turn around when he pulls and walk in the different direction" and "stop walking til he stops pulling" and that hasn't worked.

Thanks for your help,
Kelly
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Noobs
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Re: Center of gravity leash?

Post by Noobs »

I'm answering on my blackberry so forgive me if I can't get links right now. I think the harness you mention is an easywalk which clips up front. Easier control. I think your turn and walk the other way method isn't working because you're turning too late...you should turn as soon as your dog's head goes further front than your knee. If you wait until she's pulling then that's why it's not working.

By the way, your username...are you a court reporter? I only ask because of the 225 part. I went to court reporting school and 225 wpm was the goal for passing. I never finished though. I quit, moved to New York and started working in theatre instead. :lol:
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Noobs
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Re: Center of gravity leash?

Post by Noobs »

By the way, be a tree never worked for me either. I would stop walking and my dog woud sit. As soon as I started walking again and the leash would loosen, he would start walking again too...and he was already in front of me! So I had to rethink that one.
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Mattie
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Re: Center of gravity leash?

Post by Mattie »

StenoGirl225 wrote: I've tried the "turn around when he pulls and walk in the different direction" and "stop walking til he stops pulling" and that hasn't worked.

Thanks for your help,
Kelly

Hi Kelly, Welcome :D

No harness will stop a dog from pulling, they may help you control the dog, to stop a dog from pulling you have to teach him not to pull.

Turning round when he is pulling won't teach him not to pull either, you need to turn round as soon as his head goes in front of you so he doesn't learn to pull. Once he knows how to pull every time he does he is rewarding himself in his eyes because he is getting what he wanted, to were you are going quicker and/or faster.

Sometimes dogs need to pull to balance themselves at the slow pace we walk at, a dog's natural pace is much faster than ours. For a dog walking at our pace is difficult, we also have to teach them to walk at our pace balanced. No harness will teach a dog to balance at a slower pace, being a tree doesn't teach them balance either.

Apart from the loose lead training which you will find how to do it at viewtopic.php?f=20&t=858 you can also do balancing exercises with your dog. With a harness on and a double ended lead or 2 leads, one clipped to the D ring at the shoulders, the other to the front of the harness, you can usually find somewhere a lead to unless the strap goes round the chest, if this type of harness you will need to clip the lead to the collar. You can now steer your dog like you steer a horse.

For equipment, you can have poles on the ground, in a line but every other pole off centre, you can steer your dog round the poles and sometimes over them. You can put the poles in a diamond shape with a gap at the points, again steer our dog round and over the poles. Poles in a line with one side of pole slightly raised, a brick will do, poles raised alternative sides, again walk in and our and over. These exercises will help your dog learn to balance himself at your walking pace.

When walking your dog, NEVER let him get far enough in front of you so that he pulls, that won't teach him not to pull, as soon as his head goes in front of you, turn and walk the other way. By doing this he is playing catch-up, you have become very unpredictable and he has to start to watch what you are doing. He will also be learning how to balance at the slower speed.
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StenoGirl225
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Re: Center of gravity leash?

Post by StenoGirl225 »

Thanks Noobs and Mattie! Oy, our puppy is ALWAYS in front of us! I know Caeser says don't let that happen, but I haven't seen Victoria say that. At this point, it seems an impossible task to train him not to be in front of us. But we can sure try. Thanks so much for the info, and the link. I'll start the long, laborious process tomorrow. Again. Sigh. I love him, but he makes me NUTS!

And Noobs, yes, I'm kind of a court reporter wannabe at this point. As soon as I moved to a different state I finished school - at 225 wpm! But the area I'm currently in has been affected by the economic downturn and with no contacts here (like where I used to live) I'm finding it extra difficult to break into the biz. Maybe I should give it up and go join the theater!! :D

Thanks again,
Kelly
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Mattie
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Re: Center of gravity leash?

Post by Mattie »

Nothing wrong with a dog walking in front of you as long as the lead is loose and your dog isn't pulling, all my dogs walk in front. :lol: When teaching them to walk on a loose lease if you turn as soon as their head is in front of you your dog is playing catch-up and learns to watch you because you are now unpredictable. It also teaches them to be balanced at a slow pace so they can walk with you. Were your dog walks doesn't matter as long as the leash is loose. When on a busy road you need your dog on a short lead, it should still be loose even if the lead is so short your dog is walking next to you, what is called walking to heel :roll:
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StenoGirl225
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Re: Center of gravity leash?

Post by StenoGirl225 »

Mattie: Can I just send Mr Puppy to you and then you can send him back in a couple weeks? :wink: It's so hard to do all of that! And he was so sick as a very small puppy so we didn't get some very important training in that we should've. Grrrr. Thanks again for the help.
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Mattie
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Re: Center of gravity leash?

Post by Mattie »

You will miss out on a lot of fun if you send your dog to me, I will get the fun instead, you won't have the bonding either :lol:

Of course it is hard to do, but not as hard as pulling will have on your dog's neck, keep trying, if your dog gets a bit further in front of you before you turn, as long as he doesn't get to the end of the lead, you will both improve together :lol:

Have fun, if you get it wrong giggle, your dog will join you and think it fun as well, you will still get there because your dog isn't pulling.

You can't train a sick dog so don't beat yourself up about it, start now, also clicker train him as well, you can have a lot of fun with that. I have been known to roll on the ground with my dog on quite a lot of occasions when I was supposed to be training them.
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Jscott1
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Re: Center of gravity leash?

Post by Jscott1 »

We are still working on loose leash walking, but I thought we would NEVER get there! I have a doxie and I used clicker training with loose leash walking, let me tell you my back won't be the same - step, c/t, step c/t, etc. in the beginning and we were still not getting very far. One day it just clicked (no pun intended) for both of us and we finally got our pace. 1. I was not c/t fast enough to show him where he needed to be 2. I was not walking fast enough, because as mentioned dogs move at a different pace. I didn't really adjust my pace to his, but I was just going at a snails pace due to just trying to get all of the parts working together (the clicking, the treating, holding a leash, watching him)

You thought I won the lottery when we made it all the way to the end of the alley! We had to work up to that over the course of maybe 3 weeks but once we did, we made distance pretty fast. We had yet another break through when he self corrected and came back to heel all by himself!! I was stunned to say the least, and now if he gets ahead of me, I say "too fast" and moves back to heel. Trust me when I say if someone told me he would be doing that eventually, I would have laughed at them!

The harness we use has a clip on the front, and one on the back and the leash is double clipped to use one on each, both on the back, both on the front, or one clip and it can go longer. I love the harness although we don't have a need to direct him much anymore, as he does pretty well. We do still c/t but the frequency is way down and we can go several feet before I reward him. I am slowly phasing out the c/t but not too fast.

Good luck, and I know just how frustrating it can be (big dog or small)
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Mattie
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Re: Center of gravity leash?

Post by Mattie »

Jscott1 wrote:We are still working on loose leash walking, but I thought we would NEVER get there! I have a doxie and I used clicker training with loose leash walking, let me tell you my back won't be the same - step, c/t, step c/t, etc. in the beginning and we were still not getting very far. One day it just clicked (no pun intended) for both of us and we finally got our pace. 1. I was not c/t fast enough to show him where he needed to be 2. I was not walking fast enough, because as mentioned dogs move at a different pace. I didn't really adjust my pace to his, but I was just going at a snails pace due to just trying to get all of the parts working together (the clicking, the treating, holding a leash, watching him)
Well done for sticking with it.

This sounds like the 300 chicken training and what you have shown is why I don't use it, yes it works, it also worked for chickens which was how it was developed :lol: It is one of the few occassions were the timing of the clicker is important. When you are working one step at a time which you do at first, a lot of dogs can't cope with the slowness.

This is a good example of positive training, it is so adaptable to suit people and dogs. :lol:
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Jscott1
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Re: Center of gravity leash?

Post by Jscott1 »

I don't know what the 300 chicken training is, but we got there and I can actually walk my dog without him lunging and pulling. Being a first time dog owner, there is so much to learn and so many different ways to do it, it does make it hard to decide that best way for your particular dog and lifestyle. I poured through information, and still do as my pup is just now 6 months old. I am glad I found this forum, and appreciate all the info fellow dog owners willingly give!
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Mattie
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Re: Center of gravity leash?

Post by Mattie »

I wasn't critising you for doing it this way, there are many ways to train our dogs and they have to suit us as well as the dog.

As far as I know that way was developed by a college who was trying to train chickens to walk to heal, they got up to 300 steps with them, if you can teach chickens to walk to heal you can teach anything. :lol:
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Jscott1
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Re: Center of gravity leash?

Post by Jscott1 »

Mattie wrote:I wasn't critising you for doing it this way, there are many ways to train our dogs and they have to suit us as well as the dog.

As far as I know that way was developed by a college who was trying to train chickens to walk to heal, they got up to 300 steps with them, if you can teach chickens to walk to heal you can teach anything. :lol:
oh, I know you weren't - no worries, it is just hard to figure out what will work and what won't, especially with all the info out there! teaching chickens to heal - wow! I thought teaching MY dog to loose leash walk was bad enough! :)
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