r/BalancedDogTraining

Hello! This post is for anyone who is located in Finland.

I need to get off this from my shoulder because it frustates me so much. I just moved to Finland for studie reasons and of course i brought my dogs with me because im not leaving them behind just because things change in my life.

First i have to state that both of my dogs from shelter and have a difficult backround. Both of them were probably abused and had / have behavior issuses. Back in my home country balaced training is the avarage. There are some "deep green animal activist" who try to advocate FF training but its the minority. Dog training in my opinion thrives with amazing trainers. For us personally prong collars helped for my dogs to overcome thier triggers and from being an anxious overly scared and reactive dog whom were scared of people now happy pooches who loves to greet people and making new friends being calm even in new enviroments. We arrived at a point where i could put a prong or a choker and most of the times i dont even have to use them at all, ita just there for emergencies.

And from this structured and well balanced life we are here...

In finland.. Where people clearly love dogs any want them to have a good life but they are just so blind to thier dogs problem. Zero boundaries zero training. Im not even seeing FF trainers training on the street despite every second person having a dog.The just walk the dog. Thats it. The dog lunges? no problem. The dog barks like crazy and ready to tear someone apart? Not even a word comes from thier mouth. They dont care. AT ALL.

But the best part is that if you someone who tries to teach your own dog boundaries they literally comes up to you in the street at strats to argue with you. FOR TRAINING THE DOG. Thier animal wellfare law banned the use of prong and choker and shock collar. While i dont agree with this I ofcourse FOLLOW THE LAW as i am merely a guest in thier country. Im using a flat collar but i still correct. Calmly with a stern but kind voice and reward and prais when they are being good. I just wanted to state that im not doing anythinf crazy, you can see me do a little training session then the next thing you see is me having fun my dog, cuddling them and playing with them and both of us have fun!!! And even this is too much for them.

So my question for anyone who located in Finland AND is a balanced trainer who want to set boundaries etc. How do you do it so the people wont literally burn you on the stake?

Like do you train in secret or something? Is there a balanced traning group in Finland, does that even exist?

Im just so lost. Without being able to set boundaries my dog tottall fall apart. They were not with me when they were puppies they are adult independent dogs with a very bad backround and a weak mental state, the only thing that helped them change for the better is consitency, allways being able to predict what is going to happen and clear boundaris. Without these they are lost. We are having some of the worst walks ever. Its horrible to see them lose thier self.

Any one have any advice who is in similar boat?😕

Sorry this is a long one.

Hi. I really need some help with a dog we have just rescued.

Here is some background and information on the dog

\-name Atari

\-age 2years 9months

\-breed cane corso mix (unsure with what we think some kind of bully/pittie breed)

\- acquired her from a rescue

\- she was rescued as a young pup found as a stray ( around 6-8month old)

\-she was in the rescue for 300 days before we took her home (the rescue referred to her as institutionalised as she had never had a proper home)

\- usually such a well mannered, polite, well behaved corso

\-weary of strangers (expected she's bred to be)

\- a tiny bit fearful of barking/growling/stiff body language dogs (guessing from bad experience as a stray) also fearful of things that sound like dogs (car exhaust pops, low engine growls)

So, when I take her on a walk and let her off the lead to let her have more freedom she seems to go crazy and start biting my arms, clothes, jumping at my face and recently she's ever started to bite legs and ankles.

To give a more clear example this is what happened this morning.

\- taken for a walk at 6:20am on a slip lead

\- walk her to a quiet grassy spot with no one around.

\- drop the lead on the quiet grassy spot and start walking away to get the dogs attention.

\- she follows in a heel.

\- I tell her to sit, she sits

\- I scatter treats, she goes to find them.

\- we practice sit and stay.

\- put her in a sit, walk away, she stays I come back with a treat

\- do a few reps of this.

\-last rep I come back to give a treat, she goes wild starts jumping at me and biting.

\- maybe she wants to play tug, I pull her rope from around my neck.

\- will not redirect.

\- stops for a second after being told no.

\- try to redirect again with rope

\- ignored rope and bites arms and hands instead.

\- im now cut and bleeding from her bites.

\- will not stop, will not be redirected, will not listen to commands.

\- she rips the pocket off of my jacket

\- I'm forced to physically restrain her by grabbing her head and mouth to get my arm out of her mouth.

\- goes to re-bite, I'm forced to pin her for my safety.

\- grab the slip lead to control her and let her up

\- she starts biting at arms and hands again

\- forced to pull up on the slip lead to choke her off my arms

Now I don't like being this physical with my dog, I hate it, I know it can damage the relationship with her and she has let out a little yelp when I had to pin her. It hurts my heart so much but when she is pulling my skin (my clothes are replaceable, my skin hurts a lot more) and ripping it, unfortunately I don't have much other choice because she won't listen.

I try everything everyone says. Redirect, ignore, scatter treats, turn your back, cross your arms, walk away. It just doesn't work. If she starts getting bitey in the house she redirects with a toy quite well.

We have worked with a "trainer" who has said "oh this is an easy fix" but everything we have been told to do but her doesn't work and I'm not willing to stand there whilst Atari is biting me waiting for her to get bored a smaller dog maybe but not a 30kg corso with a bite force stronger than a lion.

Please any advice would be great and yes I know pinning her is not recommended I really don't want to do that so please don't tell me it's wrong, I know. I had no other choice. Please I need other alternatives which aren't the previously mentioned methods.

Please message me for the videos, I want a second perspective on them

I had a setup next to a reactive dog that completely stopped following commands when it saw another dog within about 15-20 ft.

The trainer had on a pinch or prong collar and was using quick snaps, kind of poorly communicated because they were in multiple directions, like she would yank upward, and then shortly took yank down to tell the dog down.

The yanking around was getting so bad that I was getting extremely uncomfortable and got two videos of their training session.

They seemed like a professional trainer.

I don't want to post the video publicly, because I could just be ignorant to their training methods.

DISCLAIMER I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL DOG TRAINER.

I personally choose to use r+ with my own dog but respect that balanced training can be done well. I'm posting on this sub because I want my discomfort with this trainers methods challenged rather than affirmed.

Is illegal to use an e collar that has the capability to shock the dog in any way so the only think I can use is vibration, do you have any recommendations for vibration collars that I can use and if you wouldn’t recommend it I’ll happily listen.

Im trying to get some reassurance that im doing the right thing for my dog. I am using a shock collar on my dog to correct her behavioral issues. My dog (2F pitbull) is reactive to other dogs and lunges on a leash. I have read that walks are very important for dogs to build a relationship with an owner and for physical and mental exercise. Due to these issues I have been using a shock to correct when my dog pulls or lunges toward other dogs (the other dogs are across the street - I try to maintain as much distance as possible). I have tried the shock collar on myself and it feels like a muscle spasm and isnt painful just an odd feeling.

I also think it is important to note that I have tried other positive means of correcting like rewarding with treats but the behavior did not stop or get better at all.

Curious to get some helpful feedback, thanks!

I'll be taking my 2.5 year old reactive, anxious pup to a veterinary behaviorist in the coming weeks. It's been a long road of training (positive, balanced, board-and-train) and I'm reaching the end of my rope. My girl has fantastic obedience but continues to struggle with anxiety which appears to directly influence her reactivity. I suspect a lot of it has to do with her chemical makeup especially considering these issues have been present since she was a puppy. Hence why I'm seeking out a behaviorist.

While we are going, my concern with a behaviorist is it seems they all preach fear free. Which means no aversive methods at all. In regards to her fear and increasing confidence, I take no issue with positive reinforcement. But when it comes to obedience and following through on commands, I have found fear free to fail every time.

Has anyone in this sub who uses balanced methods consulted with a veterinary behaviorist? If so, did you receive flack for balanced methods?

What was your overall experience with the behaviorists methods? Did you find them to be successful?

Our girl has been behaving very adolescent lately, and her recall has gone to hell, but she needs off lead time more than ever now.

Is it unreasonable to consider incorporating an ecollar (mini educator) under the guidance of an experienced trainer ATP? We're going to continue working on her R+ training, but with how she's been i want the ecollar as backup for safety.

i have a 9 month old standard poodle puppy i'm training to be my service dog. shes doing well, and so far we've been using mostly positive reinforcement or negative punishment to train. the problem is, we live in the middle of a very busy city and her pulling or going to sniff something she shouldn't can be dangerous. there are e-bikes and scooters zooming down the sidewalk, cars, homeless people minding their own business that my dog has decided she must sniff, cigarette butts, etc. her engagement with me is fine, but if she gets over threshold or excited she'll pull on her martingale and not care about it choking her. i was wondering if a prong could be helpful for solidifying our leash training and keeping her safe when we're walking down a busy street or passing something dangerous. if so, when do you start your dogs on a prong? herm-sprenger says to start at 7-9 month minimum. im looking at a 2.25mm herm sprenger for her.

I have a 4 year old GSD. He’s generally very well behaved but strangers in the yard or new people in the house set him off

He will just bark. He doesn’t try to bite or anything else

I had to correct him. Basically told him to sit which he blew off the first time so I upped my voice - not yelling but louder and he complied

For 2 days afterwards , whenever he would approach me it would be head down , very slow

My daughter had a friend stay the night last night and it happened again

This morning when he came downstairs he practically belly crawled to me for about 10 feet

He very rarely has to be corrected and when he does , if it’s not during active training , the correction is elevated voice (not yelling) where he has to comply or we don’t move on

Both times, I closed distance so I was standing directly in front of him and between him and the target if his barking and told him sit.

After he sits, he gets pets and praise

The submissiveness makes me feel bad. Anyone else experience this?

During regular training he takes correction from the prong I’ve collar like it’s nothing. He loves to train

Just weird

 I’m writing this because I feel like I have no options in a very chaotic, stressful, heart-breaking, and dangerous situation.  It is in regards to my 3 yr old male AmStaff.  His name is Ace.  The last six months his behavior has gotten progressively worse, and worse

  A quick backstory;  I got Ace off Marketplace approximately 3 years ago.  I was told by the woman who gave him to me that he was 7 months old.  And that he needed a home, or he was going to have to be put down.  This is the first dog I have ever owned.  Though I’m 50 yrs old I’ve always wanted a dog, but circumstances didn’t make it possible til now.  The woman didn’t disclose to me anything about him really, or about his reactivity.  I had to find this out on my own.  I was totally unprepared, and didn’t have a clue what I was getting myself into.  I had never come across a reactive dog before.  I didn’t even know there was such a thing.

  His reactivity was never aggressive.  But he sure comes across that way.  It’s more extreme excitement.

  About six months ago, my husband came into the house, ranting and raving about the cat getting out.  He was standing right in front of me, and while ranting, he was waving his arms about.  I knew right before it happened, but Ace got between us, and then went after my husband.  

   Not too long ago I posted about this incident.  Alot of people told me then I needed to get rid of Ace.  Easier said than done.

   Well since then Ace has went after my husband numerous times.  Sometimes when my husband startles him, like when he’s sleeping.  But there was a couple times he seemed to go after my husband just because he was there.

   We have been keeping him separated from my husband since the last incident.

   When this has happened I grab Ace and hold him back.  But the last time my husband didn’t just leave the room when i pulled him back.  He grabbed him by his collar, choked him bad, and then hit him.  I know my husband was angry, but that’s not okay with me.  

   Now my husband has been mostly residing  in our back bedroom, or out in the yard doing yard work.

   If Ace sees him, or even hears him, he goes absolutely crazy.  And it’s all rage.  He wants to get him.  And i don't really blame him. He's basically making it known that he's not gonna let my husband do anything like that again to him.

   I’ve been trying to find a new home for Ace, somewhere, anywhere, because I know he can’t stay with us anymore.  But there’s nobody that will take a dog like Ace.  I mean he’s not a bad dog.  He’s never bitten anybody.  And I’ve introduced him to plenty of people.  It’s just my husband he has this aggression towards.  I would never just pawn him off to someone and not disclose his behavior issues.  Which I take responsibility for a lot of it, because I didn’t do the proper research.  I don’t think I was exercising him enough.  Or enough mental stimuli also.

   So now I’m faced with this situation where there is no good choices.  I already know people will recommend BE.  And I’ve also thought about that option.  But I just know I wouldn’t be able to do that to him.  I love him so much, and the thought of that feels like it would destroy me right along with him.  I can’t.  I just can’t.  It feels so wrong.  Especially since he’s such a healthy, lovable dog.  To me at least.

   But I can’t expect my husband to live in the bedroom for ever.  I wouldn’t want him to at all.  

   I won’t bring him to a shelter and hope for the best.  Because I know that he would just be scared, and feel abandoned.  And almost for sure be put down anyways.  I wouldn’t do that to him. 

   But there has to be some other solution.  I know if he just had someone with strong leadership skills,  who could train him, he could be a great dog.  I just sorely lacked in that area.  I just baby him.  Which did nothing to help him be a confident dog.  

   I know his home can’t be with me any longer.  But just because of that, his life shouldn’t be over.  There’s gotta be some other option.  He deserves to live, just like any other creature.  I don’f feel I have the right, or that it is right, to decide if he lives or dies.  

   Please help.  I am seriously distressed, and torn about where to turn to next.

Puppy subs are buried in posts from distraught people who seemingly had no idea what was going to happen when they got a puppy. They seem shocked that this helpless infant animal is disrupting their lives, sleep, schedules, and social lives. Then they howl about "puppy blues" and scheme and machinate ways to get rid of the poor little thing they willingly took responsibility for while all the other people who did the exact same thing heap sympathy and praise onto them, while the little puppy suffers and is passed around from home to home, landing who knows where.

r/PuppyPhD is not about this trash.

If you hang out here, you will not be praised or congratulated for this behavior.

Instead, we will help you understand exactly what is going to happen when you get a puppy. PAY ATTENTION and think critically about whether you can handle this enormous responsibility.

To get us started, here are some things to expect:

1. The puppy WILL NOT SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT. It's an infant. It needs care every few hours.

2. The puppy WILL NOT HOUSETRAIN ITSELF. See above.

3. The puppy WILL NOT TRAIN ITSELF. See above!

4. The puppy CAN NOT BE LEFT ALONE AT HOME ALL DAY. Are you kidding me with this? If you work full time and can't adjust your schedule, no puppy for you.

5. You will have to put TIME, WORK, and EFFORT into training your puppy and caring for it. It's an infant! It doesn't know a damn thing. Every single thing you want your puppy to do will have to be taught to it BY YOU.

6. You will need to follow up on vaccines and deworming on a schedule to the letter! Your puppy is very vulnerable to diseases, and you MUST follow up with regular vaccines until the puppy is 20 weeks old.

7. Your puppy will RAPIDLY get older, busier, more energetic and more rambunctious. Enjoy that cute puppy breath, bumble around, roly poly stage as much as you humanly can because in about ten days it will be OVER. The demands on your time and attention will only grow as the puppy grows.

8. Your puppy will not "grow out of" unwanted behaviors. See #5.

9. Puppies are not mental health improvement props. The number of posts I see from people saying some variation of "I got a puppy to help me with my emotional problems" is just chilling. This is a BABY ANIMAL and cannot provide any mitigation for your mental health problems.

Puppies are a LOT of work and responsibility. They are not playthings, they are not accessories, they are not passing fancies you can dump when you're bored with it. Be honest with yourself about what you can and want to handle, BEFORE you commit to getting a puppy. If your answer is "I can't handle this and don't want to handle this," and you decide this BEFORE you get the puppy, KUDOS TO YOU! That is the right way to be.

Hi everyone,

I have a 7-month-old Tibetan Mastiff female. Overall she's a wonderful dog—friendly, calm, and well-balanced. She usually gets around 18 hours of sleep a day, is great with people and other dogs, and is generally very patient and calm.

However, we're currently struggling with a few issues, and I'd really appreciate any advice, especially from people familiar with livestock guardian breeds or Tibetan Mastiffs.

1. Biting when overstimulated or frustrated

This is by far my biggest concern.

On walks she'll sometimes softly bite my hand or leg (I am very sensitive, which is why my skin gets bruises quickly). It usually happens towards the end of the walk (even if we've only been walking for 15–20 minutes) or when there are lots of dogs, cats, people, or cars around. She spends a lot of time observing her environment, which is typical behaviour for that kind of breed. If a bird flies by, for example, she'll stop and watch it for quite a while. In the mornings I usually take the same route, while in the evenings I change it every other day so she can explore and sniff new places.

She also bites me indoors. For example, if she walks into the kitchen while I'm cooking, I point toward the door and ask her to leave. Most of the time she listens, but sometimes she'll grab my hand or bite my leg while I'm guiding her out. It seems playful, but it can hurt.

Another example: when she wants to play, she'll bring me a tug toy. If I stop playing and walk away, she'll run after me and bite my leg to get me to continue.

I've tried:

• ignoring the biting,
• calmly leaving the room,
• using body language to say "no",
• holding her collar until she calms down and then praising her.

Nothing has really worked so far.

The interesting part is that she only does this to me. I'm the one who trains her every day. She doesn't bite other family members like this.

2. She's very stubborn

She knows all the basic commands (sit, down, stay, wait, come, paw,..), but she often hesitates a long time or simply ignores me, especially when I ask her to come or sit.

She's on a leash inside the house about 90% of the time because we have a large house with lots of things she likes to grab if we're not paying attention. The leash also helps because her recall indoors isn't reliable yet.

I'm wondering if this is just typical Tibetan Mastiff independence or if I'm doing something wrong.

3. She can't stay home without me

This is probably my biggest mistake.

At first I focused entirely on building a strong bond with her and didn't start alone-time training early enough. Now she wants to follow me everywhere.

For the last two weeks I've been practicing by closing doors behind me while moving around the house. Sometimes she'll lie down and watch me, sometimes she'll wait at the door, and occasionally she'll even fall asleep.

Interestingly, she's perfectly fine if I'm taking a shower, but if I simply go into the kitchen she'll immediately want to come with me.

The real problem starts when I leave the house. Even if she's with my boyfriend or another family member, she'll panic, cry, scratch the door, whine and sometimes even pee in the house despite being fully house-trained. I've tried most of the usual separation anxiety advice I found online, but nothing seems to help.

4. Stealing clothes

Sometimes someone accidentally leaves socks or clothes on the bed. She immediately grabs them, runs off, and chews them. By the time we notice, the item is usually destroyed.

I'm currently teaching "drop" by playing tug. She reliably lets go of the toy when I say "drop," but if she has something she's not supposed to have, the command suddenly means nothing.

How would you handle this? Should I trade for food every time? Keep practicing with lower-value items? Or is there a better approach?

I'd really appreciate any advice.

For some background: this is my third dog, so I'm not completely inexperienced. I've successfully raised two dogs before, but I've never dealt with these kinds of issues, which is why I'm wondering if some of this is simply typical Tibetan Mastiff behavior or if I need to change my training approach.

I’m trying to learn how to do different things with training while I wait for my course to start next year.

One of my neighbours has a dog that they tie up all day because he keeps wondering off and they will not get a gate. He keeps trying to give the dog to me, he’s a lovey boy but he’s a big boy, very energetic. I think he needs active engagement to tire him out and he needs to be threshold trained. Before you ask, no, the guy won’t get a gate and won’t invest in proper training. Hence why I’m trying to step in. On the off chance we end up having him we have a very reactive dog so he’d need to be trained well anyway.

I’ve paid for professional training for my dog so I’m fairly confident with some aspects, but threshold training just happened naturally for us because we have a gate.

So, any advice with any sort of training will be helpful really.

Please help a gal that just really wants to help a dog.

Update: I’ve read all your comments and agree his owner would not follow up on it. There is no gate at his property. Maybe I’ll just have to settle for extra attention while I’m there

Our 2yo lab/shep mix is on a sensitive digestion diet. She’s slightly underweight and continues to refuse her kibble, even when she’s obviously hungry (puking bile).

Sometimes, she will eat out of my husband’s hand, or she will eat some when we sprinkle kibble on the floor, but rarely finishes the whole serving on her own without a ton of coaxing. It’s been going on for at least a few months.

This is a dog that used to run over as soon as it was meal time. We have tried hills digestive (both flavours) and now are on to open farm digestion.

We don’t supplement with any treats throughout the day or give her any bones to chew unless she eats all her kibble.

We are feeling stuck and can’t figure out if she’s trying to be smart, enjoys the extra attention she gets when she refuses her meals, has become a picky eater, thinks she will hold out and get something better. Most of all I’m not sure if this is behavioural or if there is a more serious medical condition we aren’t looking at.

If you have any suggestions we are very open to them! Thanks in advance :)

I've lurked and commented on this sub for a while now, but this is my first time actually making a post for advice of my own. I apologize if this gets a bit wordy, but I want to ensure that I'm providing as much information as possible.

Context: We have two 3yo intact male dachshunds - Berkley and Cocoa. We've had Berkley (calm, relaxed) since he was a puppy, while Cocoa (spunky, affectionate) originally belonged to an older relative; we adopted him at 7 months old as she could no longer care for him. He was little more than a lapdog, so he arrived to us with every undesirable behavior and reactivity you can imagine, most of which was fear-driven. Through just position reinforcement, he's now about 85% better than he was when we first got him, and with the guidance of a TWC trainer for the harder-to-budge 15% of behaviors, I intend on using balanced training methods to get him the rest of the way there.

Now, onto the issue at hand.... he is totally obsessed with our first dog, Berkley, and not in the cute way that most owners experience. See, outside of typical dog stuff, most of Cocoa's day-to-day "down time" is directed to:

• Following Berkley around
• Vigorously sniffing and licking spots Berkley was previously sitting/lying in
• Vigorously licking his paws, chest, neck, ear, legs, and PRIMARILY his butthole and penis
• If Berkley is lying/sitting down, aggressively shoving him with his nose to force him on his feet, to do the aforementioned.
• Humping him, which is what all of the prior behavior is usually a precursor to.

And without getting into detail, since this is a bit gross to even type out to begin with.... I can say with almost 100% certainty that Cocoa does not do this for "dominance", like described in other posts. He does this for pleasure, and when unsuccessful with his brother, will literally hump the air while licking himself. It's disgusting as hell!

I truly cannot stress how obsessive it actually is. He at least doesn't do it while on walks or in the backyard, but otherwise it happens most days of the week, and for weeks at a time, extremely more frequently than usual.

Now, in similar posts, I've seen others mention that the source of these issues is typically under-stimulation or lack of independence between dogs. Except, I know this isn't relevant to our situation in particular, because they get:

• 2-5 walks/week, 1-3 times/day, 5-20 minutes each, balanced between walking them solo and together
• 1-3 solo structured play sessions (tug-of-war, fetch/retrieval) a day, 5-15 minutes each
• Intermittent training session, at least once a day
• Snuffle toys/balls for portions of their meals
• Chew bones/toys for down-time.
• Regular access to our large backyard, which has the common rabbit or bird and causes a chain-reaction of sniffing.

And as far as independence goes, since taking Cocoa in, we've made sure to:

• Feed separately (same times, but in difference spaces/sections of the room)
• Train separately
• Play separately (most of the time; sometimes I will let them play tug-of-war together, in a controlled manner. This also exclude dog-initiated play fighting, of course.)
• Crated separately (on the sofa or standalone bolster beds, they will occasional sleep next to one another, though)
• Walked separately, about 80% of the time.

They also get sufficient sleep for their breed/lifestyle, so I can confidently say that is it not a result of overstimulation, either.

Another issue is that Berkley is an extremely tolerant dog, almost to a fault in this specific scenario; so even when Cocoa does the aforementioned, Berkley doesn't do anything to stop it. If he does correct him, by way of growling, snarling, pushing him back, or snapping, Cocoa will temporarily back off before returning, essentially doing this ad infimum until Berkley gets tired of correcting him. Attempts to "defend" Berkley ourselves harbors the same effect; we've tried:

• Saying "no" as Cocoa approaches and/or does the above, and calling him back to our side
• Rewarding Cocoa with physical/verbal/edible whenever he approaches Berkley, but chooses to not harass him
• If Berkley goes to his crate to get some sleep, closing Berkley's crate so Cocoa cannot enter
• Physically moving Cocoa away from Berkley, if he is invading his personal space
• Following Cocoa whenever they leave our line of sight
• Keeping Cocoa on a leash, at my side, for a designated amount of time after attempting, and reining in slack/"popping" the leash if he tries anyways.
• Putting a temporary physical barrier between the two, until Cocoa seems to calm down
• Resorting to less-than-preferred methods, like spritzing with a spray bottle after every attempt
• Essentially everything, all of which just doesn't come to mind at the time.

All of this either suppresses the behaviors until removed, or simple lessen the frequency of him doing this by a minor amount.. so rather than actually stopping the behavior, we've really just been managing how and when he does it. Which is not the intent, of course!

Now, as a side note, my own conclusion is that this is mostly rooted in Cocoa lacking dog-to-dog manners, as he's never actually greeted or approached another dog that was not his brother. That doesn't excuse this, of course, but that's just my two cents.

So, I need some thorough advice. What in the world can I do, say, implement, etc to get Cocoa to respect that first "no" for what it is, a "no", and not just try again after 5 seconds? Or just not try again ever? It is driving us all a bit stir crazy, and with how much the behavior has increased in frequency in the last year alone, it needs to stop.

For dog owners dealing with leash pulling, what’s actually been the hardest part for you? The pulling itself, the inconsistency, or not knowing what to do on the walk?