Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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This is more of a dog question than a tripawd question but the dog I am having a problem with is a tripawd so I figured i'd ask here...can anyone suggest ways to get your dog to stop pulling? It is getting out of control with my almost 4 year old tripawd. any advice is greatly appreciated!! Let me tell you, she may have 3 legs but she is still STRONG! I'm afraid i'm going to go down the stairs with her! lol
Has your pup always tried to pull you along, or is this a new thing? Murphy tends to pull on the lead more now than he did before his amp. There are probably a couple of reasons...one is that he knows that i am less likely to turn him around in a small circle like I did when he had four legs, and the second is that his gait is much better at a faster pace. When he goes slow, he has a little hop step rather than a regular walk.
What have you tried in the way of training for her to walk at heel?
Kathi and Murphy
Murphy is a five year old Lab/Chessie cross. He was hit by a car on 10/29/12 and became a Tripawd on 11/24/12. On 2/5/13, he had a total hip replacement on his remaining back leg. He has absolutely no idea that he has only three legs!
UPDATE: Murphy lived his life to the fullest, right up until an aggressive bone lesion took him across the Rainbow Bridge on April 9, 2015 and he gained his membership in the April Angels. Run free, my love. You deserve it!
Tripawds definitely move faster than quadpawds, because they have to in order to keep the momentum going. But there are ways to cope with it, such as working on the heel walk training command as Kathi mentioned, and also trying various training tools such as the Gentle Leader and associated training collars. One thing I don't recommend is using the Easy Walk harness, which can slow down a dog when walking but in my opinion can negatively affect a Tripawd's balance and gait (a rehab vet once told me that she felt the same way about that harness too).
And sometimes on stairs, we just have to let our Wyatt Ray do his thing and run down ahead of us, he's come close to pulling us down too but we try our best not to let that happen. Be careful!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I was once told to never expect a Tripawd to heel beside you. And... it's true!!!!
With our Franklin we went out and bought an extend a lead.. you know the kind that extend out 16 feet. it was enough that he could walk, and we wold walk and he would never end up pullingbecuase he would always stop at some point to sniff or mark.. and we could cath up then.
Their gait is fasterthan a four legger.... and usually we just walked quicker to keep up with him..
Frankin... forever in Christine's heart♥
Franklin, he was the Happiest Dog on Three Legs! Diagnosed 09/26/2012 with Osteosarcoma, amputated 12/4/2012. Had a wonderful 5 1/2 months painfree until he ran for the Bridge on 5/15/2013. Always in my heart, and always a guardian angel of my pack... You can follow his Tripawd Adventures, before and after, in my blog, Frank'n'Farter!
Exactly Christine! Rear leggers can come close but front-leggers, no way.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
We just got back from our mile-plus around the neighborhood. Our time is way faster than before. By the time we get home, I'm dragging, and Murphy s still dragging me. He would go another mile if I had it in me.
Kathi and Murphy
Murphy is a five year old Lab/Chessie cross. He was hit by a car on 10/29/12 and became a Tripawd on 11/24/12. On 2/5/13, he had a total hip replacement on his remaining back leg. He has absolutely no idea that he has only three legs!
UPDATE: Murphy lived his life to the fullest, right up until an aggressive bone lesion took him across the Rainbow Bridge on April 9, 2015 and he gained his membership in the April Angels. Run free, my love. You deserve it!
Thanks everyone, I did buy her a harness and she seems to like it. She didn't pull nearly as much. This is only her second walk on it. She pulls because she wants to get to stuff, anything. She'll pull to sniff, to see other dogs ( which I try to keep her away from because she is not super friendly when she is on a leash ), if she sees a squirrel she pulls. Hopefully the harness will help a little. It seems like the pulls more when there is snow on the ground and maybe it just bothers me more because I hate the snow and don't want to slip on the ice. lol
Oooh, both of you please be careful on the ice!
It sounds to me like she could really use some distraction training. Focusing on getting her to look at you, not the object that's tempting her to pull, is a good way to help stop the pulling. It's a great way to spend time together, to build your bond, and to get her to see that YOU are much more fascinating and fun than bright shiny objects. Maybe not squirrels, but you can always work up to that!
Our friend Sarah Wilson has an awesome book that can teach you how to do this, it worked wonders for our pack. Here's a video with her showing our Wyatt that "Near is Dear" and a blog post featuring her book, My Smart Puppy.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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