Successful w/leash training at 4 yrs old?

I take my Husky dog for runs with me but she's hurting me!!! We rescued her at 1 yr old and since we got her, she's horrible on a leash. All she does is pull and pull and she literally hurts my hands, arms and shoulders. It's not the running part because she does it with just a walk. How do I get her to walk and run nicely with me? She's about 70 lbs.

Re: Successful w/leash training at 4 yrs old?

I STILL struggle with this with my pit to this day. I've had a bit more success with my collie mix, though.

Our collie used to pull the same way. First we tried to stop and turn and walk in the other direction everytime he pulled us. This was ridiculous though. We'd be out there for an hour and we wouldn't have gotten out from in front of the house! So I just tried keeping him on a shorter leash, a la the Dog Whisperer. I'd keep the leash short so that he HAD to be right by my side. At first, the leash was always taut. Then after a few walks, he got the idea and he'd stay right by my side and the leash would be a little slack. From there, I'd give him a little bit more of the leash and let him go, unless he pulled, then I'd shorten it to my side again. Now, I just throw his leash on and there's NO problems. He walks just in front of me and rarely, if ever, pulls. If he ever does it's usually because he sees a squirrel or a cat or a particularly interesting plastic bag blowing in the wind.

As for our pit, we've been doing the same thing. Sometimes she's great and there's no issues, sometimes she's ripping my arm out. In all fairness, our collie is older and we've had him longer, so I'm still holding out hope for Lucy!

Good luck! I know how frustrating and PAINFUL it can be! It literally feels like my shoulder is going to be ripped from it's socket sometimes!

ETA: As for the age, I think that's irrelevant. Our collie mix didn't really "get it" until he was about 3 y/o.

Message edited 1/11/2012 11:26:01 AM.