Serious pulling on the lead.....

OK, found out that Bailey HATES cats! Good thing we don't have any, but.......taking him for a walk, any time he saw or sensed a cat, he would pull so hard on his lead. He almost pulled me along. I would stop and firmly tell him now but he continued to pull really hard on the lead.
This has made me feel that we need a harness lead to help with this. Our walk was not enjoyable just now!! (Don't even get me started on all the cats in my neighbourhood that are left outside and get into my garden!! )
Any advice on how to calm this in Bailey please??

Thanks,

Dionne and Bailey

Hi Dionne
If you've only just found out your Bailey hates Cats, then perhaps you've only just got him?
I think it might be good idea to get back to the previous owner...assuming thats the case...and find out if theres anything else he has a 'hate' for.
If he's a young dog theres hope, but I think you are stuck with most of this in respect of Cats.

You won't be able to cure him of the fact he does not like cats . What you can do is training to get him to pay more attention to what you want him to do . If he is a new dog to you that will get better anyway . I would suggest taking him to training classes if you have to wait for them to begin then you could get a good book on training . If his overall training is better then you will be able to behave in a better way . This will take time but it is possible

I would recommend a canny collar rather than a harness if it's a pulling after a cat thing. My foster staffy hates cats too and would lunge like mad to get at them. She almost pulled me over a couple of weeks ago.

I use the canny collar with her now and she can't really lunge at all. She seems to be getting less interested in cats as well because she's realising that lunging at them gets her nowhere.

HTH x

I am going to look into all of these things, thanks. I will also talk to the vet when we take him this week. Yes, we have only just got Bailey and have had him for a week. Obviously, we can and will live with his dislike of cats, but sometimes it really does take the pleasure out of walking him. It is more like HE is walking us, until we get to the park (where there are not any cats) and he is back to being his lovable and docile self! It is strange, as his previous owner has cats, which probably explains why they wanted to rehome him. We do not, and do not plan on having any, so Bailiey in the house is fine and it is not an issue. It's only when we take walks and the cats are all out that it becomes a problem.

Dionne

I have 2 cats and used to have 3 . My dogs are lovely with my cats but when they see a strange cat outside they go ballistic . They are on the lead when this happens and I have to get them back under control by saying ENOUGH quite sharply .

I would try a dogmatic headcollar or a premier easy walk harness - both excellent products

I've used a leather dogmatic before and think its a great aid, however it only helps a problem - it doesn't eradicate it as you still need to do lead work. Good luck.

OK, we bought a harness today. Tired me out just trying to figure out how to put it on Bailey, but he was actually quite patient while we put the thing on him all the wrong ways! I did laugh when I saw it on him the first time today, as it reminded me of reigns for a horse! The test will be this evening when we take Bailey for his evening walk!

Dionne

Good luck with the new harness. There are all sorts and dogs do often work out the way to pull for each one, but it can make things a lot easier.

We got on best with the halti harness where the lead attaches to the front of the chest.

Tonks also knows "off" so when she sees a cat i say off, she turns towards me, and gets a reward, so now leaving the cat is more interesting and rewarding that pulling towards it.