Pull Me Not

Kaytu is a puller. I refuse to let dogs pull me on leash so I knew this was going to be a big focal point in our training. The biggest reason I don't allow it is because pulling damages their neck. It's also not fun to be dragged around, it demonstrates lack of control for both dog and handler, it's tough to break the dog's focus when they are in "pull mode," and it can be the catalyst for other problems like aggression. Dogs that are straining to move toward another dog or person are already more worked up and intently focused on reaching their target. This makes them likely to redirect that excited, intense energy into aggression when they finally get there. Leash manners are very important to me.

When Kaytu would get to the end of her leash she would pull even harder. Harder and harder, she would lean forward and pull with all her might. When she couldn't pull any harder she would stand straight up on her back legs and balance. It seemed to me that whenever she'd been walked in the past someone would just hold the handle of a 6 foot leash and let her pull as hard as she wanted.

Pulling is a very, very difficult behavior to change because pulling is self rewarding. Dogs pull because it gets them exactly what they want. They have no reason not to pull unless you give them one.

I had a brief internal debate on how strongly I really wanted to train the pulling out of her. I love mushing with her. Denali goes for bike rides with me but she does not really pull me. Kaytu on the other hand pulls and runs at top speed. It's exhilarating. Experiencing that with her is incredible and beautiful. It's one of the reasons I have huskies and not other breeds. I like their desire to run and pull, but I also like to harness it (literally) into a specific activity. It is really challenging for many dogs to learn that they are supposed to pull hard and run fast sometimes but other times they are supposed to walk with a loose leash and not pull at all or run ahead. I decided that leash manners definitely were more important. I was going to do everything I could to keep her working drive, her desire to pull, while also training her to walk nicely on leash. I was willing to sacrifice the mushing for good leash manners if necessary.

We do this 2-3x per week, at least 5 miles at a time.

The first real walk we went on was a hike. I had done very little walking with her at home and was a little worried about how well she would do. Denali was offleash, Kaytu had never been there so was very distracted, and I introduced the head collar. All at once. Very bad planning but I couldn't leave Kaytu home alone that day. She had to come. Ideally I would have introduced her to the head collar first and gotten her comfortable with it and gone on short walks up and down the neighborhood to teach her the basics of loose leash walking but it wasn't an option. We had only had Kaytu a month and most of that time had been spent on learning impulse control (not bolting out the door), building our bond, and just teaching her the rules of the house and basic manners. Walks were basically from the front door to the car and the car to the gate of the dog park. I was teaching her during those very brief times but we hadn't really worked on it a lot. I was consistent, but we didn't do it often enough for her to really get it yet.


We got to the trailhead and I put the head collar on. She was bucking, rearing, pawing, shaking her head, she hated it. I was ready with treats to keep her distracted and my other trick was to keep her moving. She couldn't be pawing at it if she was walking. It didn't take her too long to get used to it. I chose to use the head collar for a couple reasons. First because it was a new tool that she wasn't familiar with. She was used to pulling with a collar on, but the head collar was a new thing with no pulling association. Head collars also allow for much greater control with much less use of force. When the dog tries to pull when wearing a head collar, the dog will turn its own head to the side. That makes it much more difficult to pull forward. Most dogs will learn to compensate and will strain their necks the other way to continue pulling forward, so it's important to train loose leash walking and not only rely on the head collar. It's also important to never jerk the leash when the dog is wearing a head collar. Pressure turns the dog's head to the side so quick snaps can easily cause damage to the dog's neck.

First hike, wearing the pretty pink head collar.

Walking on a loose leash is ultimately the dog's responsibility. It is not my job as a handler to constantly be calling her back or giving any kind of command or sound to her to keep her close. It's her job to keep the leash loose, not mine! The way I teach it is to make it clear to the dog that she decides when we stop or go.  Any time she puts tension on the leash, I stop. The phrase used is "be a tree." I don't make any sound. I don't tug on the leash. I don't poke her. I don't say her name. I don't try to make eye contact. I am a tree.

The way I hold the leash is important too. If you hold the handle end of a 6 foot leash the dog will be an entire 6 feet in front of you before it starts to pull. That's already about 4-5 feet too far. I hold the leash so that there is enough slack for her to walk next to me on a loose leash with a little bit of wiggle room. It's not necessary for her to be glued to my leg on hikes or walks, and it's also a difficult position for the dog to maintain. A little wiggle room is fine. If she starts to walk ahead she can only get to where her waist is next to my knee before the leash is tight. I don't want her to be able to get far enough ahead of me that she can cut in front of me. I hold the handle in one hand (opposite the dog) and accordion fold the leash in that hand as well. The other hand I hold the leash in the appropriate place, and I also give her treats with that hand. It's usually best to give treats with the hand closest to the dog.

First hike.

Back to pulling. So she pulls, I freeze and become a tree. Then the instant that she looks at me -or- backs up and puts slack in the leash, I click and give her a treat. [Note: the clicker has already been associated with treats to her. I'll talk more about clicker training in a later post.] The click is a critically important marker. It tells the dog the exact moment she did the right thing. Typically what she would then do is as soon as she got the treat and I took a step she would instantly lunge forward again and pull. So again I would stop and be a tree until again she either looked at me or put slack in the leash which I would reward.

This is initially an extremely slow process for most dogs, especially if they have a history of being allowed to pull. Pulling has been very rewarding in the past so it takes them time to figure out that it is no longer a rewarding behavior. Some will catch on very quickly but with a dog like Kaytu who had been profusely rewarded for pulling in the past and who was (and is) still learning to pay attention to people it was very, very slow. Be patient!! I like dogs to figure things out on their own so that it's their choice. The dog is the one deciding, and the dog needs to know it. During the training process it is crucial to not EVER let the dog pull. If you give in and let the dog pull even once then the dog will likely learn that pulling does sometimes work- they just have to try harder. It will put a big bump in the training process and set you back. Even walking from the front door to the car, even from the car back into the house, even to the mailbox and back into the house, you must not EVER let the dog pull. It will likely be very time consuming at first but that's ok. You can outlast your dog. Be consistent 100% of the time.

Once you are able to take more than one step without the dog pulling, reward the dog while you are in motion. I would give Kaytu a treat every 3-4 steps if she was staying near me with the leash loose. To give the treat I would silently grab one treat from my bag and put my hand next to my side. I'm fortunate in having a dog tall enough that I don't need to lean over to give her a treat.

Mmm treats.

I recommend tiring the dog out some before training sessions, no matter what you are training. Go for a run. Play fetch. Go to the dog park for half an hour. Taking the edge off their energy goes a loooong way in helping the training process. Dogs bursting with energy are more easily distracted, less motivated, and it's much more difficult to keep their focus and attention. Keep training sessions short too, about 10-15 minutes (a 3 hour hike right off the start is not recommended at all). You want to do whatever you can to set the dog up to succeed.


I stayed consistent throughout the hike. It was extremely tiring and there were times when I was quite frustrated and impatient. My best advice for those times is to close your eyes and take a deep breath. Relax. Don't let your dog get the best of you. Take a break. Several times during the hike I would give her the release word and allow her to explore. I would stand still, not allowing her to pull me in any direction, but I would give her the full 6 foot radius of the leash to explore. When I was ready to walk again I would call her and squat down to encourage her to come to me. I would give her a treat for coming to me, then we would begin walking again.

We are the type of people who like to really hike. Fast, heart pounding hiking. I explained that I was going to have to go slower with Kaytu and we should think of the hike more as a nature walk and less like cardio exercise. I know it was frustrating for my husband and in-laws to have to wait for Kaytu and I but I was not about to be dragged along and I was not about to sacrifice the training. It was frustrating for me too but I didn't want her to have even a single experience with me where she was allowed to pull. Kaytu tested me and she tested me hard. There were times when she would do great wouldn't pull for 50 yards or more, and then suddenly she'd start to pull again. I'd have to be a tree for several minutes. It's not easy to stop in the middle of a hike. I wanted nothing more than to keep going. I told everyone to just keep going, we'd catch up eventually.

Waiting for her to give some slack. Waiting.. waiting.. and more waiting.
Be a tree!

Overall that hike was a great success. Kaytu got used to the head collar and was starting to grasp the concept that she controlled when we stopped or walked. She pulls, we stop. She doesn't pull, we go. She is in control.

Over the next couple months I was still mainly focusing on training her to Sit-Stay at the door, coming when called, and refining her manners. The walking was slowly getting better but without more practice it was going to take a very, very long time. I finally dedicated a few time slots recently to specifically work on walking with her and only her.


The night I put the shock collar on her the first time was the first time she showed me that she really understood what I was asking of her. She would notice when I stopped and she knew what it meant. She would scoot backward, flip around and come to me, or look up at me. I was testing her then, allowing her to go ahead to the end of the leash after I'd stopped. Before getting to the end of the leash she'd flip around on her own, no prompt from me, and she'd come right back to me for a treat.
I didn't want her to think the game was to pull, come back, treat, pull, come back, treat, so after that night I switched to only giving her treats for remaining next to me. She had demonstrated to me that she knew what she was being rewarded for and that pulling meant she could no longer move forward. Now if she starts to pull, I become a tree. As soon as she slackens the leash we'll move forward again and after a couple steps I will reward her for remaining near my side.


Today she did awesome. She no longer needs a head collar in the neighborhood, she didn't wear one today. She is noticing me, my movements, and what it all means. She turns with me. She stops as soon as I stop. There was a little bird that ran across the sidewalk in front of us as we were walking. We saw it at the same time. Her head lowered and her ears perked up while simultaneously I stopped sharply. Because I stopped, she stopped. She relaxed her posture and she looked up at me. She didn't chase the bird. She looked up at me!! That's one of those moments where you know that your dog is really getting it and your patience and training is paying off. I was so, so proud of her. I jackpotted her and gave her many treats while we stood there and let the bird run away.

We walked to a little park in the neighborhood and I gave the release word and sat in the grass with her. She rolled around, rubbed her face in the grass, and I pet her and played with her for a few minutes before standing up, calling her to my side, and walking back home.

Let me amend my first statement. Kaytu is not a puller. She is able to handle stronger and bigger distractions at closer distances. She is becoming able to control herself and keep herself from lunging forward toward things she wants and places she wants to get to. She still has her moments when her excitement is too much but she is getting better and better at containing herself. She is not a puller anymore. Extra exciting distractions aside, the majority of the time when we are walking she is right next to me and when she does pull she instantly corrects herself. That's exactly what I want. I am so proud of my little Kay!!


P.S. She still pulls hard and fast when we bike!