[lgnutah]

Does anyone else have family members who can't seem to understand how to walk a dog (and despite being advised on method, make no changes)?
One of my family members basically just pulls constantly on the leash which causes Brooks to pull in the opposite direction.
The other family member uses the flexi and pays no attention to what Brooks is doing so he continues to the end of the leash and then gets his neck yanked. Or the family member isn't paying attention when Brooks stops to poop, and the family member just keeps walking and then the leash pulls
Brooks along mid-poop.
Neither has any expectation for Brooks to walk at heel, nor do they ask him to do so (and he is perfectly capable of doing so if asked)
This drives me bonkers.

 

[mylissyk]

Ugh, that must be so frustrating. I guess that leaves you as the only one who can walk him? the dragging him away in mid poop would make me see red.

 

[Megora]

Nobody else but me is allowed to walk my dogs. For that above reason. Also it's one of those special him-and-me things.

 

[Ranger]

Eh, I feel your pain. My mom is pretty good about walking Ranger properly but sometimes if he's being naughty, like getting in front of her and not listening, she just gives up and lets him do what he wants. So her rule is he can walk in front of her, but not pull. Drives me a little batty but then I think, better that he gets outside for a walk then not.

Same with my dad. My dad has NO inclination to learn to walk Ranger, but he occasionally wants to take him for a walk. I KNOW ranger pulls the whole way since dad's way of stopping him from pulling is to pull back on the leash...then they get into a tug of war. But any tips to dad and he gets mad, so I just make sure ranger wears his martingale and not his prong collar and off they go. Dad offered to take ranger out for a walk since ranger's going batty and they just got back from a half hour walk. A half hour walk that ranger wouldn't have gotten if dad hadn't walked him...so...I pick my battles. Being laid up with this stupid injury, I'm just happy that my parents are willing to walk ranger so I don't get too picky about how they walk him, or else they won't. If it means I have to fine tune ranger later, so be it.

I think so long as a dog has basic training down, then it's not quite as big a deal than if they are in training and might get confused about what's being asked. It's annoying to US watching, but so long as it's not harming the dog then I usually don't say anything.

 

[Oakley&SegersMom]

Yep my DH still, after 8 years, lets Oakley and Seger do whatever they want on walks. Drives me nuts! We are working with a behaviorist on Seger's dog aggression, so I insist on managing Seger. We walk together, me with Seger and DH with Oakley. He gives Oakley 6 feet of free reign! I am forever nagging and telling him not to let Oakley do the big half circles in front of him, not to let him dive at posts to mark, not to get into a tug-of-war with him etc. DH's idea of walking is pulling harder than Oakley does But since I cannot walk Oakley and Seger together while working on Seger's reacting to other dogs, I have to bite my tongue a lot of time and just appreciate that on this particular day I am not doing 2- 1 hour walks on my own. Not that I mind walking but some days are more difficult than others to find 2+ hours to walk. Carol

 

[bbuzz]

My gosh, I can't imagine how frustrating this must be. I guess that it depends on who the family members are and your relationship with them as to how you address the issue (e.g obviously you can deal with a boyfriend differently, to the way you would deal with rangers dad!).

I have spent years training our girl Sasha to behave in a certain manner. With our girl she is very very well behaved, but if you give her an inch she takes a mile. My boyfriend is good with her, but he is a big softy and often slack. I have spinal injuries and am often in pain, there are so many times I have had to stand in pain and make sure behaves in a certain way rather than being slack (for instances needing to get home to sit and rest, but I still stand with sore back waiting for her to sit to cross the road!). When you have put so much effort into training it is hard to see someone not playing by the rules!

What worked with me is always involving my boyfriend in the planning and executing of training. For instances when training for a behavior we both select how to train, commands, cues etc. It gives him ownership over the training and while he can still become slack more often than not he does so much better. Work out how to engage family members and give them ownership, as I'm nagging work!!!

 

[Red the super dog]

its the same in our house, our girl julie walks wonderfully with me, unless my husband has been the one to take her out for a few days in a row. then she pulls like crazy for the first block or 2, until she remembers that i dont put up with that. then she calms down. i really dont want our puppy to pick up such bad habits! so i make sure if he takes them out in the morning, i take them out in the afternoon, just to be sure!

 

[lgnutah]

Whew, glad to hear others have similar struggles (and yes, the description DH's idea of walking is pulling harder than Oakley does " is dead on!)

 

[Elisabeth Kazup]

Pulling them away in mid-poop probably means said poop is not picked up either!

I'm guilty of trying and failing...but at least I try.:curtain: AND I know it's a problem.

 

[Golden999]

I see why this could be frustrating, but, in most cases, unless one has bought a dog jointly with someone (i.e. a spouse or roommate), the person is doing the dog owner a favor by walking the dog in the first place. It's hard to dictate how people do a favor, especially if they are dead set on doing it their way, since they don't really have to do it in the first place.

So, the choice becomes, if you've talked to people about it and they refuse to change their methods, either "Let them walk the dog their way." or "Don't let them walk the dog". I'm just being realistic there, and either choice on the part of a dog owner is reasonable. Golden retrievers are usually smart enough to differentiate between what person x and y will let them do in various situations, at least once they get beyond the young puppy stage. On the other hand, it is the dog owner's dog, and the dog owner has every right to say "If you don't want to do it my way, I'll do it myself instead.".