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We have a rather large dog (a Rhodesian Ridgeback). He’s a sweetheart and a goofball, but for years we struggled with getting him to behave on walks. He’d pull, pull, pull the entire time, choking himself and wearing us out. It was pretty clear who was walking who. Worse, if he saw or heard another dog he’d get super excited and jump around like crazy, nearly pulling us off our feet.

Naturally walks with him weren’t a whole lot of fun. He’s a strong dog, and he’s stubborn too. It was exhausting.

Now I’ve trained dogs in the past with no problem, so this was very frustrating. My other dog would heel off leash, and even come back to me at a dead run if I called her while she was in the middle of doing her favorite thing (chasing jackrabbits).

But our dog now? With him pulling the entire time, I just couldn’t figure out how to get through to him. I don’t know why we waited this long, but we finally got help.

We paid a dog trainer a hundred bucks to work with us. Literally within about an hour it was like we had a different dog. I took him out for a bit last night and he didn’t pull even once. The leash just dangled there in a loose loop as we walked. My husband had taken him out earlier and passed several dogs, and while our dog still started to jump around, the corrections helped.

So if you find yourself struggling with something that you can’t get past, or even if you just feel like you’re not quite at the level you could be with something, it can certainly pay to get help. Why not take advantage of someone else’s expertise, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel yourself? Spending a few bucks to get help from a reliable source is worth it.