bradpattison.com

Good to know...guess I should try doing more actual walks on umbilical and see what happens. My pup is only about 30 lbs right now, and I can still handle her, but she's growing quickly and is stronger by the day. I do have the martingale adjusted properly (it tightens and loosens as it should and the rings do not touch eachother) but she rebels against the tightening. I think she's trying to "get away" from the collar when it cinches so she just pulls even harder. You can tell she knows she's misbehaving cause she'll peek at me when she starts pulling to see if I'll correct her. She's especially bad if a bike rider zips by and she'll lunge towards them. Worried that one day she'll catch me off guard and get run over. She doesn't really have fits, just pulling to the point of choking herself and making herself hoarse she is straining so hard. The quick direction changes, etc work for a few minutes and then she goes right back to doing what she was doing. I know it's not a Brad method, but sometimes we will run the leash down between her front legs and then up her armpit (friend of ours has a trainer who does that) and I suppose it's uncomfortable so she actually slows down and walks a normal pace. It also puts pressure on the back of her neck instead of on her throat so she doesn't choke and wheeze. It's just temporary though and I don't want to walk her like that. Jeez, why is this SO difficult? LOL
KeymoFrisby wrote:

QUOTE:
Oh Prairiedog - you have SO much more control when the leash is around your waist!

My dog now is 67lbs and all it takes is one good yank in another direction by my dog when I'm HOLDING the leash, to practically snap my arm!
When Keymo is on umbilical, all I do is plant my feet and move my hips, jump slightly to my side, or backwards etc. and there is NO pain on my part.

Please, everyone note - IT makes a WORLD of difference when the collar is PROPERLY sized and adjusted to the dog!
If I slack off, and don't take the time to adjust Keymo's collar properly, I may as well be a kite !

If your dog is more rebellious while on a martingale collar, I'd suggest 2 things:
1- make sure it is adjusted properly (Pami described how)
2- if it IS in the right adjustment, maybe your dog is simply rebelling about the fact that he/she ISN'T the one in control any longer?

No matter WHAT kind of collar, leash etc. your dog is on, when they want to throw a supreme hissy fit - they will !
You just have to calmy wait until it's over and correct the bad behaviour, or start correcting before it escalates to "hissy" level !

Even WAY before we stsrted using Brad's methods, the first REAL collar we got our pup was a Martingale collar. As he grew out of it, we couldn't find them anywhere and BOY did we notice a difference. As soon as we became Brad believers, we were thrilled to find his Martingale collars !
Keymo has 2 !
He chewed through (our fault) his 1st Brad collar, and we were desperate to get another to keep "just in case".
It's great to have 2 of them ! One he wears while the other one is being washed & dried, etc.

"The quick direction changes, etc work for a few minutes and then she goes right back to doing what she was doing."
What do you do when she does this?
You HAVE to be persistent and constant. You can't let her win. It sounds like you are giving up before she is. She starts pulling, change direction. Do it as many times as it takes for her to realize you won't give up.
As for the leash between the legs, give it up.
I've had what should be a 10 minute walk last half an hour.
Once she learns she can't have her way, she'll give it up.
Good Luck.

Dukesdad, yeah you're right. We do tend to sort of "give up" after a while out of frustration. We take her on quite a long walk after dinner every evening and after an hour of fighting with her, it just becomes very tiring and we just don't know what else to do. If I correct her every time she starts to pull, or do direction changes, I'll end up spending the night in the park! LOL I mean, you can correct and correct over and over, but at some point, you have to start heading towards home and she just does not get it. With the looks she gives us, I think she is resenting us at times and is actually scared of being corrected and with direction changes. We'll keep trying, it's just very frustrating with her. Sigh

Prairiedoug, just so you know that you are not alone in this frustration, me and the pup went on a walk last night and with all of the correction changes we ended up walking for our full hour and that was one block! It is frustrating but near the end she was looking up at me to see what I was going to do next and she would wait a little longer before she started pulling again. That's after only 2 days of doing this correctly. Don't give up! Then the dog wins and you will be training this step for a very very long time.

vltrudel - it's nice to see the dog looking up at you isn't it?
It makes that hour seem worth it. If only your dog will remember it quicker next time ? Eh ?

Don't give up. You'll be SO happy when you get home, walk through the door and say "That was such a pleasant walk today".

In a while you'll look back and think - man, remember when . . . . . believe me, that day will come. You'll have setbacks once in a while. We have experienced those with the changing of the seasons, when all the "smells" change.

I used to be afraid to walk my two dogs. They are both around the 60lb mark and trying to walk them while holding onto the leash was terrifying. I'd be pulled into the street all the time, onto people's yards, into anyone who was passing by. My arms would ache with the constant pulling. It was so embarrasing that I dreaded walking them and only took them out after 11pm, in the hopes we wouldn't run into anyone.

Now, just a couple days ago, a woman stopped me on our afternoon walk to say how lovely it must be to be able to walk two dogs that walk right beside me. We were just walking leisurely along, with two leashes that were slack. (She could NEVER do that with her dog, or so she said). When the woman approached the dogs they sat down without me even having to ask. I was so happy. What a difference! I'm proud of my dogs and what they've learned. I think they sat immediately as we try to stop at as many corners and make them wait: patience training, but it made me smile that my dogs have learned the proper manners to greet someone as well.

When my husband takes them out he does a much more strenuous walk. Up and over park benches, in between parked cars, around trees, over rocks, going forward, turning around quickly, turning again...etc. You get the picture.

Just wanted to let you know that if OUR dogs can be trained to walk properly using umbilical, then anyones can! It just takes a LOT of persistance, a LOT of patience, a LOT of umbilical (including in the house!) and a LOT of walks! Good luck!


.....now if I could just get Daisy to stop counter-surfing when we're not home.......

................and being aggressive with food............

......................and barking like mad in the backyard........


everything would be just perfect. LOL

Hi Karinkelley. I have 2 dogs as well - one 90lbs and a puppy at 30lbs (but who will probably be around 70 lbs!). I get pulled around a bit myself, and have started umbilical training. My question is, with 2 dogs, did you do umbilical together or separately? When I walk them outside, I strap them both on, but when I'm inside, I've been concentrating on the puppy as he needs a bit more help. What was the ratio of separate to together that you used?

Having 2 is that much more complicated than 1 sometimes!

thanks!

I have a 150 lb Rottie. He has permanently damaged my left shoulder. It has been dislocated at least a dozen times..and can now pop out of place quite easily. Also, I have had almost every finger on my left hand broken. How? He saw a dog and ran after it, jerking the leash which was in my left hand. If I had it around my waist the damage would not have happened. When the leash is around your waist your weight is centered and the dog can't pull you over easily. Trust me it's a lot easier. I wish I had known about it when I trained him. It is so much nicer having your hands free as well. Easier to carry or push things. Especially to have your favorite drink in your hand when walking. Even cleanign up after their messes during a walk is easier.

Martingale collars work but they have to be adjusted properly..check it every time you go out. Sometimes they can slip a bit especially if constant pulling. Also, corrections have to be swift. If too slow they see it coming and it is less effective.


Good luck!

Wendy

One other thing...sometimes it takes 20 minutes just to get Cocoa..the husky out the door .She has to sit and be patient and invited out side..Somedays are harder than others so it will take longer. but then usually the walk is better once we do get outside..

Just to let all of you that are like me and are having a hard time with umbilical training, I met a lady last night on our nightly walk who has also just started training her dog (an 8 year old border collie) using umbilical. He fought really bad at first apparently but has gotten so much better apparently just in the last week. So, for you all and me, it is great to know that someone else (a person in RL) has had the same problems and gotten over them. If she can change the habits of an 8 year old dog, then we can train our puppies!! Keep it up!! We can't give up!! And we will win!!