Why Dogs Pull On The Leash… Well, Tyler Sure Does.

It can be quite baffling when your dog pulls on the leash. Dogs will ignore the pain being inflicted by the “noose” tightening around their necks and will even cause themselves to gag. Yet, once they decide to forge ahead, even this will stop them. All that dog obedience training goes out the window.

Some days, my dog behaves rather impressively as he walks beside me during our 1/2 hour trek around the neighborhood. And then there are days when he gets the scent of something and that’s all he can think about.

I put it down to the fact that he’s a Belgian Shepherd, a born tracker, who lives for odors that he can follow.

I used to think that dogs pull because they’re anxious to get going. Which might be true for some dogs. But for others, it’s about something much more important.

It’s Spring. And what happens in Spring? Females come into heat. They drive the males crazy as they walk along, dropping scents along the way.

If it’s not the females, it’s the other male dogs that have followed her. When your male dog comes along, not only is he after the female, but he’s in competition mode to get to her first. So he is also encouraged by the scent the males leave behind as they stake their claims to her.

It must be a stirring experience for a male to be out on a walk in Spring. Any training he’s received from you is out the window. He has only one thing in mind. Survival of his species. In other words… sex.

And he’ll fight to get it. It’s what males do.

Imagine what would happen if they didn’t have such strong urges. Under the circumstances, we can hardly blame them for dragging us mercilessly behind as they go after those powerful odors.

Next time your dog pulls, it might not necessarily be bad dog behavior. He has something important to do.

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One Response to Why Dogs Pull On The Leash… Well, Tyler Sure Does.

  1. My little Lhasa Apsos use to pull a lot but my dog trainer suggested fitting them with Gentle Leaders. This certainly made a huge difference. Of course, if they are distracted by other dogs out there, they still pull a bit but certainly not as much as they did before.

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