[6Miranda]

I have a 66lb dog who pulls almost all the time. She is 1 3/4 years old, and have had her since 12 weeks old. Have tried several collars, and Gentle Leader Halti and harness. I want my dog to walk next to me, not pulling me ahead. I dont' mean like the competition heelers, but not in front, beside me. I have tried stopping, have tried guarding property's, (I mean walking back and forth). She does walk better when we have done a return, but then she will start pulling again almost immediately. Seriously, it is extremely frustrating, and yes, I get upset by it, but try to remain calm, and speak calmly. My shoulders ache and my hands are sore.
I have her stop now and again, and look at me, you know focus, or whatever command you use, I say "Look at me". and she is learning that, then I praise her and we walk on. I may just stop and wait for her to look at me, just for an eye check, and I might say our command. I wait for her, and if she is taking too long I might blow her, but I don't move until she looks at me. Should I wait for her? Isn't this giving her the control? She gets to look around and listen for things, and she looks at me kinda when she is ready to go. Am I doing this right?

First, try wearing a glove on your leash hand for awhile, to protect your skin-- I have to do that too, even when the weather starts warming up, because I have had too much exposure to solvents, so my skin tears easily.

Then... you've got the right idea, you just need to fine tune your technique a bit more. The idea is to make yourself unpredicatable, so your dog has to pay attention to you to avoid getting stepped on. The second her head gets ahead of you, simply about-face and start walking smartly the other direction. Don't give her any warning, don't say anything, don't pause first, try not to shift the leash, etc.-- you've got to catch her off guard and surprise her. If she starts pulling again, or gets ahead of you, change directions again. While practicing this technique, don't set a goal to get a certain place in a certain amount of time-- instead, just determine the amount of practice time you intend to get in. If you actually manage to get somewhere during that time, then that's a bonus, and you'll know you're making progress.

Also: I've accidentally discovered a technique that is helping me quite a bit, especially as I'm walking two dogs at the same time, each with a separate agenda. I use harnesses that attach to the leash on the withers. Then, I take the leash from where it connects, drape it over one shoulder, bring it around front across the chest, over the other shoulder, and tuck it under the harness, and pull through. I doesn't necessarily make it impossible to pull, but does reduce their desire to pull. I realized this when I noticed that whenever they get themselves turned around in the leash the wrong way, they slow down. So I had an "a-ha" moment and instead of fixing the leash the "right" way when they did this, I actually put it this way to begin with. It is helping me a lot-- like I said, it doesn't actually end the ability to pull, but does greatly reduce it, which helps with the training and keeping my arm attached to my body, lol.

[6Miranda]

Thanks. I do just change direction without any warning, and she walks nicely then, and I tell her so. But then when we turn back again, she pulls again. I might just go back and forth for a while, or not, but on each turn around (going back towards home) she walks with me, on heading out, whe pulls. But going back home she is walking alot better than leaving home. And yes, I stop and have her sit to calm her down, then try to walk with her.
How many times should i tell her to heel? I say it when we step off, but I tend to say it as I'm correcting her, or I say it when she is heeling good.

what i did was something like this:
I have started using the span of the free leash as his signal to walk next to me (not crossing me). When I wish him beside me, I tick off the leash a little and seize him in the standard heel spot for a small number of steps. He soon develops the idea. I strengthen the leash indication with the verbal "Heel" command escorted by a visual picture in my head of him walking coolly and gladly beside me.

[oes forever]

i struggle with my old english, his the same weight, maybe a bit heavier now.
ive tried all halties, head and body ones, i used a choker till his hair grew lots and it pulled it out,i never let him pull i would just pull him back and release it, i used a half check chain. i now use a canny collar, its great, though he does still have his moments. and i dont use this all the time, usually in bad weather so he dousnt drag me off my feet if he sees something
but with all the other work that goes into it aswell all the verbal comands and the distractions, i think its a case of persever. they tell me at dog school to give him a big pull (no halties etc allowed) and that i wont break his neck, now this does depend on the dog too so please dont take this liberaly. she says one big pull is better than lots of little pulls. and at school he will listen and heel. then i walk out of the door and his nuts again. he was a rescue and had never been walked or seen outside of his yard when i had him. i have tried stopping when he pulls and make him heel again, not tried the changing the direction, so will try that too.
its reallly annoying that i cant walk in peace, i am constantly correcting him or giving up and being dragged, it doesnt help that i walk 2 dogs!!
he will do anything i as of him other than heel!
i just think i have to accept one day i have a crazy dog!!! just not today, i am stubbern like that!

[6Miranda]

Oh, I so know what you are saying! When i have been to trainers, and had one at my house, she has acted the perfect student and I was mad that they still took my money. #@**^!!!!!!

Originally Posted by 6Miranda

Oh, I so know what you are saying! When i have been to trainers, and had one at my house, she has acted the perfect student and I was mad that they still took my money. #@**^!!!!!!

It's the air of authority that the trainer has born of confidence that they know how to handle a situation.

If you even occasionally give in to being pulled, you are reinforcing the pulling because he/she has figured out that eventually, you will give in.

I haven't tried this but I have seen Cesar Milan on the intro to his show using a walking stick to control his pack of dogs. He also gave a walking stick to someone on one of his episodes. With the stick, when the dog begins to get ahead of you, place the stick in front of them to prevent them from moving forward.

I've taught about using one of my hiking poles for this purpose but haven't yet.

[6Miranda]

I did this with a stick once, felt silly. And that exact day I bumped into a trainer in the park who 'told me off' for doing that. I also used an umbrella one day, probably it had been rainy. But nothing seems to work.
The trainer that day, had said about the yanking back, I don't like that. Can't be good for their neck anyway.