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our boxer/mastiff???? mix is 1.5 years old and about 70lbs. He is a very good dog, but when walking him he gets extremely excited especially when there is another dog near by. We tried the harness that goes around his chest, and at the advice of our trainer we've been trying the gentle leader (it buckles around the back of the head, and around the muzzle, kind of like a horse bridle.), but he still jumps in the air and does cart wheels when he sees another dog. Now he goes into this frenzied panic trying to get this thing off his face. Training, and the use of the gentle leader have helped quit a lot, but it is still isn't getting the results that I was wanting.
This response will likely be savaged, but a properly fit prong collar with a martingale type connector will do wonders for this type of behavior. My training club head trainer referred to them as power steering for your dog. The prongs replicate a mother correcting a puppy, by stimulating the neck. A prong collar should never be used to punish or hurt a dog by jerking it (an attention getting "pop" is not the same thing, and may be used/required occasionally), nor should it be used instead of a collar for around the house or backyard play - especially unsupervised (it is highly unlikely, but there is a valid potential the dog could choke or injure itself if left unsupervised with the prong collar on). However, for walks, or situations where you need to ensure your dog behaves (and those situations are for the dogs safety more often then not) a prong collar may be a very good option to use.
I had trouble with my dog pulling on the leash. Something I never would have thought of on my own has overridden his desire to go "check things out" that he finds interesting.
A tennis ball. He only gets it when he has been good. When I take him for a walk he gets it every few minutes when he has obeyed commands. He stays completely focused on me. I take him by yards with dogs to desensitize him to barking dogs.
I use the chain collar for leash training. He is 66 lbs at 9 months, and tore the skin off my hand lunging forward at the beach. For the most part, it is no longer needed.
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Is thinking about a collar like that but his hair is so thin it would eat him up.
This dog would sell his soul for a pig ear maybe can keep one in my pocket when we walk.
When my 65 lb dog was still a rambunctious mess, I used the gentle leader. We also attended training classes. I would exercise her, mentally and physically before a walk.
She hated the gentle leader and I think it's cruel. I know it's painless, I can see my dog quietly follow my direction, but ffs, it's a dog, not a horse. The idea behind gentle leader is similar to training a horse. Not only that, she will try to take off the gentle leader when she could. That stupid thing was never used again.
I use a front clip harness and lots and lots of commands like sit, stay, leave it and watch me. Not going when the dog pulls or go to the opposite direction helps. Blocking your dog's view from seeing another dog helps.
Most importantly, it takes time. Lots of patience and time until your dog matures and calms down. My dog was 3 years old at the time. Her pulling and reactive to stimuli was so bad that we almost got kicked out of training class. Twice. And the traine who has labs of his own couldn't help her. She is now 7 years. After training on how to walk on leash for a year, and as she grew older, the walking has become so easy, the harness became optional. My dog is predominantly lab.
I don't know about prong collars. I do know that a choke chain is not the answer here.
Here is what I think. This excited reaction is going to take a long time to calm down. "Meet and greet" responses are deep in instinct. They take many repetitions, and a good deal of time, to improve the response. While you are working on it, you should avoid such situations when you feel that you can not control them.
Pay attention to the reaction distance. You will find a distance at which your dog breaks discipline to go meet and greet. Stay just outside this distance and work with your dog to help the dog calm down. Put the dog in a down/stay when a situation is approaching. A down/stay is a natural self-calming position. This doesn't mean you put the dog in a down/stay and the dog will cooperate. More likely not. But it is a start, and you will want to recognize tiny tiny improvements.
Treats are your friend when doing work like this. It helps if some are handy.
If the dog breaks out of focusing on you, and goes to focus on the "meet and greet", let it happen. You don't have to let it happen full-blown - but let the dogs sniff noses while on leash.
Next time you see a situation coming up - do the same thing. Get the dog's focus on you by using treats. Put them in a calm posture (sit, down, or stay). Reward.
Work that for a year or so, and you will eventually see a calmer dog.
My daughter (at that age) had no problems keeping Dutch under control- and that was a field event where all the dogs are FIRED up.
I'm so glad you posted the picture, I was trying to come up with a way to describe that we have a built in no pull right at our fingertips!!
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