shy 8 month pitbull

hi well since the first day i got my pitbull she was very shy and reserved and had to be leash trained, she eventualy got used to walking on it while i walked my other dog however after an incident where i acidently jerked the leash to hard causin the collar to hit her slightly shes become terrified of the lead, now any time i attempt to hold it while clipped to her collar she just shuts down and lays on the ground. She also doesnt like to come out of the front even without a leash only when ive walked almost out of sight will she decide to follow, as you can imagine this is a nightmare o walk and do anything with her, so does any one have any ideas or tips on how to correct this

 

yeah, must be a pain in the butt try to go slowly and carefully

 

do not start with the collar. start with a harness. let her drag the leash around all the time. if she doesnt, let her sit there. try and play with her to get her mind off it. do that for a few weeks so that shes used to the lead. then switch back to the collar, doing the same thing, dragging the lead. the dog will get over it in time.

 

and imo your should start it in quiet places

 

You can also try the harness with a longer lead, maybe a 15' or 20' footer. The key is to be patient, some of these dogs can be super sensitive.

 

Try driving the pup to a park or someplace similar. Bring a kid, if you don't have one offer to babysit someones. They are great leash trainers. I have seen pups leash trained in an hour by kids.

 

IMO being overly shy and sensitive is improper temperament. It doesn't mean she is a bad pup just that you may want to keep an eye on her for other developing fear issues; hopefully this is just a stage she will grow out of...

Start having her wear a short tab lead that she can't trip over or self correct on around the house and every now and then pick it up to guide her giving a ton of praise and treats.

Also, you will want to start working on overall obedience to build up her confidence.

I agree with those who said take it slow.

Trying a harness may help with the leash/collar correction issue but isn't going to fix the problem if you want her to be on a collar and lead.

 

ive done this to quite a few of my pups and it has worked just fine. start with a harness to get her used to the lead when walking. switch to leash dragging on collar, then walking with it.