How To Help a Three-Legged Dog to Stop Pulling on the Leash

We worked with Clio an adorable three-legged dog who needed help to stop pulling on the leash and walk next to her guardian.

After I arrived I sat down with Clio’s guardian to chat with her about her main dog behavior concerns. One of her concerns was that Clio was pulling on the leash. One of the issues for little Clio was that she had one of her legs amputated prior to her guardian being adopted, which made it hard to find a harness that would fit her properly. To solve this problem and give her guardian more control we used a martingale collar and used a flat leash as a harness so Clio wouldn’t hurt her throat if she tried to pull on the leash and also made it so she couldn’t back out of the harness. To see how we accomplished this you can watch the video below.

I want to remind Clio’s guardian to remember that timing is very important. When Clio starts pulling on the end of the leash you will want to stop quickly so she learns that pulling on the leash equals stopping, which is not as much fun for her. Then when the leash is loose and she relaxes she can start moving forward on her walk again, which is a lot more fun! This will help Clio make the positive association between being calm and relaxed with a loose leash equals a fun walk.

By the end of the session Clio was looking to her guardian for leadership and direction. To keep up with this good behavior remember to think about your body language when working with Clio and use the Escalating Consequences to disagree with unwanted behavior. We wrapped up this dog behavior session with Clio’s Roadmap to Success, which you can watch below.