Dog goes INSANE at walkie time, help!

hayley11

I am sat here in tears because I built up the courage to take my dog for a walk by myself (I have anxiety problems and the last few days have been really bad) but I couldn't get his harness on to take him because he goes absolutely insane when it's walk time. I tried for like 5 minutes to get it on and I do usually end up getting it on but today I just got so stressed out and upset that I gave up And now he's crying because he wants to go for a walk and i'm feeling really guilty. He will get a walk today btw, when my OH gets home from work.

So how do I calm him down when i'm trying to put his lead on? He literally will not listen to anything I say, he bites at the harness, he jumps all over me, he barks and cries because he's desperate to get out. It's a nightmare.

I say "walkies" when we're going out and i've tried not saying it, thinking it might help but it doesn't. Once he sees that lead, it's like he's possessed!

He's also really excitable outside, he pulls the entire time, he cries and barks if we try to stop him pulling, he wants to chase after everything he sees, thank god he's only a little dog! (cavlier king charles) The only time the pulling eases up is when we've been out for over an hour and he's knackered but even then he pulls a lot.

I've been trying to teach him heel off the lead for the last couple of days but it's slow progress, he usually picks things up really quickly but not this.

Any help would be appreciated

p.s. sorry for starting ANOTHER thread about my little doggy!

Barneysmom

I wish I knew, my Barney is 9 years old and still does it.

hayley11

Barneysmom wrote: »

I wish I knew, my Barney is 9 years old and still does it.

:eek: Nooooo!!

Please somebody help us!!

picklepick

When you're stopping him from pulling what are you doing? Are you just yanking back on the lead?

Heres a link to a brill method for training to heel.

At first id attempt training in the most boring place you can find. A gulley or path thats surrounded by walls is a good place to start. No other dogs or squirrels to get excited about.

I'm not sure about the harness thing, i'll have a think about that one and get back to you

hayley11

picklepick wrote: »

When you're stopping him from pulling what are you doing? Are you just yanking back on the lead?

Heres a link to a brill method for training to heel.

At first id attempt training in the most boring place you can find. A gulley or path thats surrounded by walls is a good place to start. No other dogs or squirrels to get excited about.

I'm not sure about the harness thing, i'll have a think about that one and get back to you

That's a similar method to what I found online, I had planned on trying that today actually. Good idea about finding a boring place, i'll have to try and think of one. A quiet, boring place means less people will see us walking back and forth! :rotfl:

We don't yank him back no because we're scared of hurting him really, We just pull a bit tighter on the lead and tell him heel. My hand kills after a walk with him

We only got him the harness a couple of weeks ago because he would always been panting and making weird noises in his throat when the lead was on the collar and I was worried it would be hurting him. Also somebody told me dogs are easier to handle on a harness but so far I think he's worse because he can pull us harder now, not so much a problem for my OH but it's agony for me.

matimage

My 4 year old lab still does it. Blinking annoying, especially when I am trying to put my 2 year old in my back pack carrier. Sometimes I shut him in the kitchen until I am ready to step out of the door. And he weighs 40kg!

Sagaris

We ignore our dog when she starts going mental to have her Halti head collar put on - turn around and walk away from her and do something else - within a minute she's calmed down enough to put the Halti on and is out of the door!

The Halti has improved her pulling on the lead considerably, I'm thinking about trying a Gentle Leader harness which are also supposed to be good for dogs that pull on the lead.

Charlie1986

I just sit there with my dogs harness in my hands while he runs around me in circles, he eventually get the message that he needs to sit infront of me for it to be put on, or hes going nowhere.

hayley11

Thanks, I don't know why we never thought of just ignoring him til he calmed down! Seems so obvious now!

Will do this later when we take him out.

slobs

My German Shepherd tries this every time. She starts whining and jumping around (not good when she is bigger than me!).
I just stand there holding the lead looking at the ceiling and completely ignoring her, with my arms folded, until she sits down (takes a few mins each time but they soon learn). Once she is "reasonably calm" (still excited but trying hard to sit and be good) then I put the halti on.
I use a halti and a long training lead to walk her. It took a while but she now doesn't pull on the lead (although it still takes an initial telling off and jerk on the halti from me at the start of the walk).
Once she's in the field and let loose she's fine, and will walk to heel when called without a lead for the rest of the time.

the_cat

hayley11 wrote: »

Thanks, I don't know why we never thought of just ignoring him til he calmed down! Seems so obvious now!

Will do this later when we take him out.

This will certainly help but another trick to de-condition him from such excitement it to keep (ie several times a day at first, less once he gets used to it) putting the harness on and NOT taking him out. Once he realises it won't def mean a walk/excitement he will get bored! Try doing this to start with when he is tired and has just had a walk as he will most likely be less boisterous then!