Walking on the lead nearly always seems to result in pulling on the lead.

This is because most dogs love a walk and they want to get to where they are going as quickly as possible. If you walk with other dogs, you can add to this, the element of competition - not wanting the other dog to get in front!

Positive reinforcement is about the dog understanding the consequences of what he does. Sometimes it is actually negative reinforcement in that the dog is prevented from doing what he wants. Thus we can use this principle to teach the dog not to pull.

You need to practice this with only one dog and as a separate exercise. It is no good trying to do this when you are on your early morning dash to the park before work. You need time to teach the exercise properly.

Initially you need to be in control before you even leave the house. A dog that pulls you to the front door is already winning the game! Put the dog's lead on and take a step towards the door. If he pulls you there, stop, take the lead off and go and sit down again. The consequence of the pulling was "no walk". Next time, try again, if he pulls just stand still. Do not move towards the door. Eventually, out of confusion, the dog will turn and look at you. As the lead goes slack, say "good dog" and take a step towards the door. You may only get one step before he pulls again. You must be consistent. If he pulls, you either take off the lead and don't go at all, or you stand still until the lead goes slack.

This exercise could take several days. That doesn't mean you shouldn't walk your dog at all in that time. Perhaps take him out in the car so that the walk is not dependent on the lead.

Once you have got to the point where you can get to the front door calmly you can open the door but- the dog must NOT lunge out of the door ahead of you. If he lunges, close the door, take the lead off again.

This all sounds very negative but, from the dog's point of view, the reward is going for the walk. He must behave in an acceptable manner to be able to get his reward. If you are consistent he will get the idea very quickly.

Once you have got out of the door you keep going with the principle of "slack lead" = "forward"; "tight lead" = "stop". You MUST be consistent. The reward is the moving forward so if you keep going when the dog is pulling, you are rewarding for pulling. You can also use treats to get the dog focussed back towards you. I often get through a whole pocket-full of treats on a lead training walk. When the dog pulls I stop, wait for the dog to turn back to me, take a step forward so that the dog is level with my leg, then give a treat whilst the dog is in the correct position.

This exercise is hard work and very frustrating. But it is worth the effort in order to avoid that dog-owners nightmare, the dog you hate to walk because of the pulling!

There are products you can use to help cope with a dog that pulls. Many people have experienced success with these products and I've even used some of them myself. A word of caution is that they all need to be used with care. A head-collar used harshly can damage a dog's neck and a harness can damage the skin under the arms. You can consider: Various headcollars including Black Dog Head-halter, Halti, the gentle controller, the gentle leader or many different types of harness including the Kumfi stop-pull harness. I would never consider using a check (choke) chain although I have occassionally used a half check collar. My preference is for a flat, leather collar, every time. My final comment is that, whilst they may help in the short term, and certainly have their place, none of these are a substitute for good training.

This page was updated on 29th May 2007