german shepherd pulls hard on leash

[woot1902]

I have a 14 month old german shepherd female (fixed) dog. Whenever i take her for a walk she pulls very hard, almost dragging me along. Ive tried everything from shortening the leash to where she is right next to me to making her stop and sit, ive tried treats.. Ive read books and done some things they have suggested but nothing seems to work. The funny thing is she knows what the "walk" command is because in the house if shes about to run up the stairs and i tell her to walk she will walk up the stairs. But when we are outside she doesnt want to listen to me. She knows a ridiculous amount of in-house commands, but outside she seems to be very hard headed. I have not used a choker chain collar because i think that would be mean but im at a point that i know she needs to learn now or she wont learn at all. I try to be "pack leader" which seems to be the case inside the house, just not outside.

Just basic commands outside like "sit" she doesnt seem to want to obey. Shes also extremely aggressive toward other people outside but not so much in the house, so im trying to take steps to fix that and her listening to me when we walk would be a step in the right direction.

Taking her to some sort of obediance school is sort of not possible at the moment for me so its something i need to fix myself, not because i dont love my dog but i cant afford it at the moment so any suggestions would help. My dog spends usually 10 hours a day by my side so its just a mystery why she wont listen to me outside. She has never growled/snapped at me or my wife, and after my friends have come over a few times she is pretty friendly to them as well. She does however bark frequently at strangers.

There was one instance a friend came over that she has seen a few times before, but he basically burst through the door which startled her and instead of being aggressive she just seemed to bark very defensively, backing up and running off. So im not sure if she is aggressive because she is scared when she is outside or aggressive because she really wants to attack someone.

[hollywood2357]

Hi:

My suggestion is find a professional, now. The earlier one stops or curtails aggression the better. Often aggression if it is, comes from fear, bordom, etc. Not true aggression.

Look for a certified behaviouist, not a trainer. A behaviouist can and will teach the basics, but more important will work on the dogs mental state.

Hollywood

[Lyka_01]

Originally Posted by hollywood2357

Hi:

My suggestion is find a professional, now. The earlier one stops or curtails aggression the better. Often aggression if it is, comes from fear, bordom, etc. Not true aggression.

Look for a certified behaviouist, not a trainer. A behaviouist can and will teach the basics, but more important will work on the dogs mental state.

Hollywood

Agree with that idea...behaviorist can help you much better than a trainer...because it can analyzed what's really going on to your dog...