I have resorted back to the Gentle Leader when walking Liberty. I just can't take the jumping and pulling anymore. She's hurting me and she's just NOT getting any better. Every time we see a person or dog, she nearly kills me pulling. She will NOT listen to any commands and she couldn't give a hoot about treats. I really really wish I would have started training her to loose leash walk earlier when she was younger. I am HOPING that maybe when she gets a little older and more mature we can try walking without the Gentle Leader again. It is absolutely night and day walking her with it on. She is just so well behaved with it on.

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Liberty - 10 months




Kim - Mommy to fur-baby Liberty and 2 human daughters 12 and 14 years old

My view is it's better to use the Gentle Leader and avoid injury to yourself and get the dog some exercise. I'm sure you've seen the threads with advice about how to deal with pulling and loose leash walking. You have to be very consistent and patient. How old is she now and are you still doing some kind of training with her?

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Zoe, Rockwall Nantucket Breeze, BN, CGC, Delta therapy dog
Zeke, our introduction to the world of Golden Retrievers

I've watched all kinds of different training videos. We spent time with our trainer and she showed me to turn and walk away and come back to the distraction, then turn away again if she continues to jump. I can't keep doing it, I am just not strong enough to continually pull a 50 something lb dog back and forth. AND she just keeps doing it and doing it. She can go for hours pulling and pulling. She's not getting it. She is not reacting to treats so she will NOT listen and follow commands. She is 8 months old. We go to training classes once a week.

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Liberty - 10 months




Kim - Mommy to fur-baby Liberty and 2 human daughters 12 and 14 years old

Please try not to be discouraged. Max is 2+ years old, and when I want a comfortable, pleasant walk, we use the Gentle Leader. We also use it in obedience class. The fact is, the GL works with Max. Furthermore, he is 150 pounds, and can really be a handful. But with the GL, he is very manageable. Look at it this way, if there were not a need for it, the GL would not be on the market.

Sometimes, we walk with a traditional choke collar. It works best when Max is tired.

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Dave

You are able to take your dog on a walk where you are both happy and no one is getting hurt. That is brilliant. There is no universal truth out there that all dogs must be walked on the flat collar.

My Casper is 14 months. Just this week he walked by a bunny without trying to drag me away. Not saying he didn't slow down, drag his feet, and have his eyes locked on that bunny. That took six months of training with stop, sit, stay, watch me, let's go. My husband keeps telling me in a year, he won't even blink at a bunny. I hope!

It does NOT make you a failure to do what is best for your dog and you, safety and health wise. If you are doing everything that you can, sometimes resorting back to something that you know will work is the best thing you can do at that time. Bentley is terrible with pulling and could literally rip my arm off if he wanted too, and as much as I hate to just use a harness, that is what we have to do for now. I need to learn how to train him before I can even attempt too.

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RIP to my Golden Boy Cruz; <3 Gone but never forgotten. "My old friend this song's for you
Cause a few simple verses was the least that I could do
To tell the world that you were here
'Cause the love and the laughter will live on long after
All of the sadness and the tears
We'll meet again my old friend"

A failure is somebody that doesn't try to train their dog. You ma'am are not a failure!!

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I guess I have to join your club, because my 2 still walk with their GL-equivalent on, and they are 6 years and 2 1/2. Unless I am playing on training, I prefer to use the GL and enjoy my walk and my dogs, than being constantly after them. Annoying to all of us. Libbie is still young, with the aid of the GL she is learning how to behave at the end of a leash and with your other training, polite leash manners will become habit.

You are not a failure. You are working hard to help your dog become the best dog she can be.

Don't be so hard on yourself, just keep trying.

I use a Gentle Leader on both my adult goldens almost 99% of the time because I prefer it. I rarely use a collar/leash on them.

I also am planning on using the GL Chester starts puppy class on Saturday and they require the GL. I've tried teaching him by myself to walk next to me but he gets so distracted and it's hard to walk him without almost falling because he pulls so much. And your not a failure your doing what's best for you and your girl and that's the best you can do


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