threenorns
Well-Known Member
hello! i, too, started with a lunger but i don't have the excuse of getting the dog at an advanced age - he was about 2mo old when i got him and the end result - dandy dragging the stroller down the shoulder of the highway on its side with my daughter screaming her head off inside it - is entirely on my head.
i also have a bff with severe mobility issues - fibromyalgia and lupus for sure, good chance it's MS instead - and she has a 90lb chocolate lab who also lunges and charges.
i have no quarrel with the prong collar IF used correctly and for the right reason (no leaving it on all around the house, i mean - it's strictly a training aid). i've put one of those on my arm and i've had someone give it a good yank - it really didn't hurt at all when it was pulled the right way (just felt really tight) but yeah - big oucheez when it was dragged back at a sharp angle (such as trying to drag back on a lunging dog).
what i used on dandy is a straight-forward slip leash using a 3" carabiner clip - all the other collars were horrible with his fur: slip and limited slip would just tighten and tighten and not loosen up because his fur would clog them all up and flat-buckle types would have his fur all clumped and matted beneath. with the carabiner clip holding the leash back on itself, the weight is enough for it to pull free of clinging wisps of hair and open out again. most of the time when we're talking, it's dragging on the ground (or close to). he can get out of it any time; he well knows how, he just can't be bothered.
technique-wise, i came up with the "my time, not yours" - now i know it's a standard method but i didn't then. when dandy charges toward something, i turn around and walk off in a random direction. when he catches up to me, i praise and treat but if he charges ahead, off we go in another random direction. when he's properly walking next to me, i turn around and we'll go see what that was - but as soon as he puts tension on the leash, back the other way we go. it didn't take him all that long to learn that cooperating with me got him where he wanted to go a lot faster even if it did mean we spent a half-hour looking like those little tin duckies at a carnival shooting game.
with my bff, however, this isn't an option: she can seriously get killed. so instead, i had her put googie on the leash and then attach a 25ft lead to the porch. at the top of the stairs, sure enough, he rocketed down them. this time, however, she let the leash go (last time she went right down the stairs and landed on the gravel, getting chewed up pretty good; that's where she was when she called me - lying on the gravel and bawling her eyes out bec she'd about decided to get rid of the dog) and let him go. he hit the end of the line with predictable results and she went up to him, picked up the leash and took him back in the house. after checking he was okay and the porch was still attached to the house, she started all over again from scratch - and he did it again.
the third time, though, she noticed he hesitated before the urge to run overtook him and he stopped at the end of the lead and waited politely for her.
basically, in one day, she is now able to walk him politely from the house all the way to the car. next she's going to get a second 25ft lead and transfer him from one to the next - that will get him all the way to the road and if he bolts, he won't run into traffic or drag her in front of a truck.
i also have a bff with severe mobility issues - fibromyalgia and lupus for sure, good chance it's MS instead - and she has a 90lb chocolate lab who also lunges and charges.
i have no quarrel with the prong collar IF used correctly and for the right reason (no leaving it on all around the house, i mean - it's strictly a training aid). i've put one of those on my arm and i've had someone give it a good yank - it really didn't hurt at all when it was pulled the right way (just felt really tight) but yeah - big oucheez when it was dragged back at a sharp angle (such as trying to drag back on a lunging dog).
what i used on dandy is a straight-forward slip leash using a 3" carabiner clip - all the other collars were horrible with his fur: slip and limited slip would just tighten and tighten and not loosen up because his fur would clog them all up and flat-buckle types would have his fur all clumped and matted beneath. with the carabiner clip holding the leash back on itself, the weight is enough for it to pull free of clinging wisps of hair and open out again. most of the time when we're talking, it's dragging on the ground (or close to). he can get out of it any time; he well knows how, he just can't be bothered.
technique-wise, i came up with the "my time, not yours" - now i know it's a standard method but i didn't then. when dandy charges toward something, i turn around and walk off in a random direction. when he catches up to me, i praise and treat but if he charges ahead, off we go in another random direction. when he's properly walking next to me, i turn around and we'll go see what that was - but as soon as he puts tension on the leash, back the other way we go. it didn't take him all that long to learn that cooperating with me got him where he wanted to go a lot faster even if it did mean we spent a half-hour looking like those little tin duckies at a carnival shooting game.
with my bff, however, this isn't an option: she can seriously get killed. so instead, i had her put googie on the leash and then attach a 25ft lead to the porch. at the top of the stairs, sure enough, he rocketed down them. this time, however, she let the leash go (last time she went right down the stairs and landed on the gravel, getting chewed up pretty good; that's where she was when she called me - lying on the gravel and bawling her eyes out bec she'd about decided to get rid of the dog) and let him go. he hit the end of the line with predictable results and she went up to him, picked up the leash and took him back in the house. after checking he was okay and the porch was still attached to the house, she started all over again from scratch - and he did it again.
the third time, though, she noticed he hesitated before the urge to run overtook him and he stopped at the end of the lead and waited politely for her.
basically, in one day, she is now able to walk him politely from the house all the way to the car. next she's going to get a second 25ft lead and transfer him from one to the next - that will get him all the way to the road and if he bolts, he won't run into traffic or drag her in front of a truck.
