Stop pulling on the leash

Posted by Janet Oquendo on March 11, 2014

How to train your dog to stop pulling on a leash

For many dog owners walking their dog proves to be a fun, relaxing activity. It allows the opportunity for the owner and dog to bond, as they spend time walking through the neighborhood, through the park or on a trail. However when I receive desperate phone call from clients whose biggest problem is they are unable to walk their dog on a leash without him or her pulling on the leash, it now makes the walk unpleasant and reduces the fun walking experiences they desire to have with their companion dog. Dogs pulling on the leash is as frustrating for the owner of a dog who is 10lbs to the owner of a dog who is 110lbs.

So what can we do? do we need to use a prong collar? choke collar, shock collar? Absolutely NOT!

Teaching a dog to walk nicely on a leash should be done through the use of humane training techniques not equipment which causes damage and pain to your dog. When I help my clients to teach their dog to walk on a leash without pulling I use a front clipping harness. I also teach my clients how to develop effective leash walking techniques, using the harness certainly helps facilitate the exercises in a calm and gentle way.

If you are a dog owner who is walking their dog on a prong collar or choke collar and God forbid a shock collar, you have to ask yourself a couple of important questions:

If I did not have any of this equipment on my dog do I really have a leash trained dog?

Do I need to use a choker, prong or shock collar for the rest of my dogs life?

If I dropped my dogs leash would my dog still be walking close by me or would he see this as an opportunity to take off and get away from me??

Here at Pawz for Health Dog Training, we will teach your dog to stop pulling on the leash. We will work with you to develop excellent leash walking techniques to effectively teach you how to walk your dog without ever having him or her pull you on the leash again.

Effective loose leash walking is the start of teaching your dog to walk off leash!

This video shows my client using a prong collar to walk their 85lb Chocolate Lab.

Notice how the Lab is still pulling!