My siberian husky has been on a gentle lead for 4 months now?

Question

and hes still tries to scrape it off his nose when were walking, alot worse now than he did when we first started, and sometimes he walks nicely beside me but as soon as were in a new area he starts trying to pull and runs in every direction.

Answer 1

Make sure it still fits okay- it may need adjustment as he grows

Answer 2

The Gentle Leader doesn't have anything to do with your dog's behavior when you are in a new area and "he start tryingto pull and runs in every direction."  The best way to help your Siberian Husky walk better on a leash or heal is to enroll in an obedience class that focuses on positive reinforcement (not negative reinforcement, no choke chains or pronged collars).  Positive reinforcement is rewarding your dog when he does what you have asked.  Obedience class is really less about making your dog obeGentlemore about helping you learn how to communicate and train your dog.  Siberian Huskies respond well to positive reinforcement since they are highly intellegent, food motivated (haven't found a Sibe that wasn't food motivated to date) and have the "What's in it for me" attitude (which is so often mistaken for being stubborn).  Positive reinforcement feeds all of these things...especially the "What's in it for me" attitude.  You may also be able to find a class in your area that works with training dogs using positive reinforcement and the Gentle Leader.  Please make sure you speak with the trainer prior to paying for any class.  When I was searching for an obeidence class in the past, I had "trainers" tell me that they would not allow adult dogs in their classes (only puppies) or Suberian Huskies could not be trained.  Both of these are absolutely absurd and not true.  Those "trainers" really are not trainers at all and have no idea what they are talking about.

As for your Siberian Husky pawing at the Gentle Leader when he is wearing it...try taking some treats in your pocket when you take your dog on a walk.  When he paws at his Gentle Leader, ask him to sit or lie down.  When he completes the sit or lie down, give him a treat.  The idea behind this is that you are diverting his attention from the Genlte Leader to a command and something to do that he will result in receiving a treat.  So, he looses attention from the Gentle Leader AND ends up with a reward for responding to a command.  A win-win situation.  I have done this with a couple of my Siberian Huskies in the past and it has worked great.  One thing is that your dog must first be trained on how to sit or lie down or this really will not work very good.

Two things to be leary of with the Gentle Leader (these both happened with my most recent, youngest, Siberian Husky):  (1) KC, my dog, was scratching/pawing at the Gentle Leader under his chin.  Because of his excessive stratching, KC stratched himself and he bled for a while and had wounds for a week or so.  (2) KC was also able to pull on the Gentle Leader's strap that went around his head enough that the plastic clip finally broke and the whole thing fell off of his head.  LUCKILY, KC never realized that he was actually FREE before I was able to grab his collar.  This is the second plastic clip that has broken when I was walking a Siberian Husky.  I will NEVER have a plastic clip on a Siberian Husky ever again.  I like Gentle Leaders.  But, I wish they would make them with buckles instead of those plastic clips.

Answer 3

I had one of those for my English Mastiff puppy.  He did the same thing.  We switched to the Easy Walker harness by the same company.  It works better, the hook is in the front and you can hook the leash to it and the collar.  I am able to better control him with the harness.

Answer 4

I have 2 huskies that I walk together. I use a regular no slip collar on both of them. If they start to pull, they get a jerk, if they still pull they get a harder jerk. If they are in that excited mode then we stop and don't go anywhere until they sit down. They are now both trained not to pull and to sit when I stop and will automatically go when I start. Your dog cannot be allowed to pull at all. If he walks nicely and then starts to pull you need to stop immediatley and make him sit to calm him down. When I walk, I stop frequenlty just to show my dogs that I am in control and we do what I want. MY younger husky is 18 months and in the beginning he would whine and cry but he quickly learned that unless he sits and stops crying we are not going anywhere. They want to walk so the reward is letting them walk again. This will work for you as long as you stay consistent.

Answer 5

The Gentle Leader may stop him from pulling, but it does not teach him not to pull (same with those silly no-pull harnesses).

You need to teach your dog that pulling you is NOT okay. I train my Siberians on prong collars. These are an excellent tool for this breed, because the prongs settle right through the coat, and the dog essentially corrects himself.

I suggest that you go to a pet supply store and find someone who can *reliably* help you fit a prong collar. You should also consider attending an obedience class so that you can learn how to properly teach your dog to walk on a lead using the collar.

Good luck!

Answer 6

treehugger, I wish I had a a siberian husky.

Answer 7

all dogs hate thosehttp://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...  this is super useful and changed the way i thought, only for training only, read all answers