Prey drive on the charts..

lotus

lotus

New member
So for the third time this month Shadoe has pulled me down to the ground and the injuries are getting worse each time.I feel like crying and I rarely cry...from being hurt, to embarrassed and to angry with him.
He has also broken his leather lead each time. I was told to buy a good quality leatherbecause it will last you forever...yeah yeah yeah! Well he breaks them going after squirrels and rabbits. Unfortunately for me my property is filled with them. The prey drive kicked in about a month ago.
He comes back when I call him after he realizes he can't catch them. But in the mist of the chase, I don't call because I know he won't come back.
His obedience is really really good after spending a lot of time with his trainer, but the prey drive .....is killing me. Both my knees are swollen and cut and my hand is pretty banged up.
He is 150 now and neutered and this is our biggest problem right now. Some times I am able to distract him before he see the critter but when we go out at dawn I can't see them but he can. On walks they don't seem to bother him or I'm am able to correct the action before it goes into the zone( barking, jumping, pulling whining) but once in the zone I have to wait for the critter to be out of reach.
I was soooooo angry with him this am...he came back when I called but at that point I couldn't punish him because he did come back. What should have been his punishment.. I just walked out of the room because at that moment I was bleeding, hurt, pissed about another 30 dollar leash and ready to "fight". So glad the phone didn't ring.
Is ther anyway to harness prey drive or is it a useless dream.
 
YorkvilleNewfie

YorkvilleNewfie

New member
Okay, first things first. Get a nylon leash. Leather breaks. That's why "breakaway" halters for horses have leathers straps on the back (crown). The nylon part holds while the leather part "breaks away".

Secondly, do you have a prong or a harness for addressing the pulling?
 
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NewfieMama

NewfieMama

New member
Nylon lead (premier makes a good one) or Ruff Wear makes one from climbing rope.

You may well be looking at a prong, some private trainer sessions, or both...

I felt like Zuzu was going to drive ME to Tommy John surgery with her dashes And lunges after squirrels and chipmunks and birds on leash. Then one day a few months before she turned 2 she just stopped. No idea why but I will take it. She never pulled me down though - which is why I think you might need a prong.
 
ElvisTheNewf

ElvisTheNewf

Active member
Prong collar. Have your trainer show you how to use it, and remember to always use it in combination with a chain collar as back up.
 
lotus

lotus

New member
YorkvilleNewfie said:
Okay, first things first. Get a nylon leash. Leather breaks. That's why "breakaway" halters for horses have leathers straps on the back (crown). The nylon part holds while the leather part "breaks away".

Secondly, do you have a prong or a harness for addressing the pulling?
Click to expand...
nylon leash first thing in the am...I will be going back to the prong for outside , we had success with show collar until this prey thing kicked in. He never showed much interest until about a month ago...has me completely puzzled
 
Lori

Lori

New member
Prong collar too. Had to use one with Chance, if I didn't he would pull like a fool on walks. Once it was on, he was good.
 
TerriW

TerriW

Active member
First, I'm really sorry you've gotten injured. And by your Newfie, to boot! I know he just doesn't know his size (like Ben tonight when he stepped on my laptop...arrrgh) but it doesn't make it less painful. Good for you not punishing him when he returned. :)

That said, Prong + Nylon leash. YEP. All 3 of my Newfs had to go through the prong phase. Once they passed a certain age (maybe 5 or 6) they never needed it again. But heck yeah. Use it to save him, someone else, or yourself.

Feel better.
 
M

MMtnmom

New member
there are some dogs who always want to walk daintly by your side, obedient to your every thought. Having said that, Lucky was one of those, and not the biggest newf around, maybe 100 pounds. When we went to pick her up from her TPLO surgery, she DRUG her surgeon to the front door! As he came skidding up, he commented, "These dogs are incredibly strong aren't they!" and remember they are easily distracted. Remember UP...and "squirrel!" Gracie has never been very attentive and a few trips around the block with the prong really turned her around...never pulled with it, never even thought about it. A harness never worked on her, and I never tried a head halter because I figured that she was bound to injure her neck with one, as contrary as she was.
 
blaue_augen

blaue_augen

New member
I am so sorry about your injuries. Ouch!!

I just wanted to add about the nylon leash, but if your nylon leash gets a nick or starts to fray along the edge somewhere (say from someone chewing on it, as happens at our house), replace it. Once the webbing is compromised (even with a small fraying spot), it can easily break. And it sounds like you have someone who could test the strength of any leash!

I hope your knees are feeling better soon!
 
TerriW

TerriW

Active member
I never could get a gentle leader or head harness on one of my Newfs. And I KNOW that they should be trained well enough to obey. But we live near deer, coyotes, squirrels, foxes, etc, and roads and cars and trucks and I just wouldn't want to take a chance.

I did find that once they realized the prong collar was going on, they behaved better. I check it frequently when on walks, just hold my fingers under the prongs, to make sure they're not biting in. Usually they're resting on top of the dog's thick fur - - just waiting in case they're needed.
 
M

mrs big dogs

New member
I use a prong on Bentley, but I also spent alot of time with him training him to WAIT when being around all sorts of distractions in his early years
 
Whybu1

Whybu1

New member
I forgot they also make a gentle leader harness as well that pulls under their legs. Maybe worth a shot. I know my male dane is very well behaved on prong, pretty good on a martingale and only OK on a flat collar. He knows which one is which.
 
YorkvilleNewfie

YorkvilleNewfie

New member
Whybu1 said:
I forgot they also make a gentle leader harness as well that pulls under their legs. Maybe worth a shot.
Click to expand...
This is sort of like what I linked to before: http://www.softouchconcepts.com/index.php/product-53/sense-ation-harness

Mila did go through an awful pulling stage that was quickly rectified with this...I wanted to try the harness before going prong and I'm glad I did and that it worked. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a prong and if the harness hadn't have worked, I'm sure I would have ended up with one...but I'm a total mushball softie and am glad that I didn't have to :)
 
lacey9875

lacey9875

New member
Ugh. Maggie was like this. If I even accidentally kicked a pebble, she was off. Rabbits, squirrells, leaves blowing in the wind, stinking moths, the stupid little dog next door, ( ok, really his owners are stupid and he's just annoying ) I've been drug all over hell's half acre.

Gentle leader worked great, until she saw something, then it was off so quick I didn't even see her do it. The prong is the only thing that worked, and even then she pushed it. I even threatened to shave all her neck fur off. What really worked was a combination of the prong and using the Leave It command. You just have to be hyper-aware of what is around you. If that means not walking in the dark until you can get this under control, it's probably for the best. It's extremely difficult to find a black dog at night. And he could possibly drag you in front of a car, or you could hit your head and be knocked out....really anything could happen ( I tend to think the worst, sorry!)

Good luck! On the up side, she doesn't chase things on a leash now, and will just watch.
 
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