Dogs pull on the lead for many different reasons:

If you allow your dog to pull, you are simply rewarding the behaviour, and if a behaviour is rewarded it is likely to be repeated. Collars can actually cause pulling because being held around the neck is very uncomfortable and a dog does not always understand that if he were to walk nicely the pressure would ease. Imagine that a person grabs you around the neck and pulls backwards - your reflex would be to pull immediately in the opposite direction. Therefore a lot of lead pulling is the simple physics of opposing forces - you pull, your dog pulls etc. Often, people teach their puppy to pull within seconds of first trying out a collar and lead. The tiny puppy who has never been held by his neck before, runs to the end of the lead and the person goes with the pup to avoid the pup hurting his neck. Bingo, the pup learns "run where I like and the two legged thing will come with me". Simply using a soft harness, a long lead and a few bits of tasty chicken to keep the pup by your side could prevent your puppy ever learning that pulling works.

Dogs and people see the world differently, for example:
Person thinks: My dog has pulled all the way to the beach as usual, thank goodness it's time to let him off.
Dog thinks: Pulling on the lead is what gets the lead taken off

Allowing your dog to pull is actually teaching him or her that this is what they must do to get to where they want to go. Pulling on the lead is extremely rewarding, don't allow it. Some dogs who have been subject to harsh jerks on lead, will often avoid a loose lead because a loose lead immediately precedes a jerk

How to teach your dog to walk on a loose lead

Harnesses

Give some serious consideration to walking your dog on a good quality harness, both for training and long term. Leads attached to collars can actually cause a dog to pull in the first place and pulling on a collar can cause long term neck, back and throat problems. A good harness can be a real asset to training and your dog's long term health.

Don't allow your dog to pull – ever!  *(see notes below if you are training a sled dog)  That can be a scary thought for owners of dogs that pull like mad, so do some planning as follows:

Learn a positive reward based training method for teaching your dog to walk well on the lead,. There are many excellent techniques to try and a good dog trainer will be able to teach you the right technique for you and your dog because no one technique will suit every person. In fact a good trainer should be able to tailor a different technique for everyone in their class if needed. It is possible to learn a lot from books and the internet but serious lead pulling is best dealt with by consulting a professional. There is no instant fix, it takes time and effort.

Every time your dog is on lead must be a training session. Allowing pulling some of the time will undo your hard work and confuse your dog.

If you use a long line or extendable lead, make sure you ask your dog to sit and wait before allowing them to run free, this way they won't learn that pulling makes the lead give way.

You could consider setting aside a whole day or a weekend or even a week off work to give your training a flying start.

Lead walking and Maturity

Most dogs are not fully mentally mature until they are about three years old. This may differ slightly with breed. It is only at this age can you expect your dog to know how to behave, and only if they have been taught positively and consistently from puppyhood. A two year old dog that has always pulled, may take until he's three, but it's more likely it will be longer as he will need to be rehabilitated.

Management and Training

In a perfect world, you would train your dog to do all the things you want him to do in an environment with No distractions. Then you would train him to do the same things with very low distractions. Next you would train the same things with slightly higher distractions and so on and so forth.

But at no time would you ask him to perform any aspect of his training in an environment where the distractions are too high – Would You?

If you do this, it is much like a driving instructor asking a pupil who has only just learned the controls, to drive through town in rush hour!

Therefore you can only expect your dog to sit, or lie, or come back or walk with a loose lead when the distractions are within his current level of training.

There will be times of course when you need your dog to go into more distracting environments than his current level of training, and that is when you need Management.

Good management is about preventing your dog from learning the wrong thing. Here are some ideas:

Avoid walking your dog where the distractions are too great completely. Use the car, choose different walks.

If it is safe to do so, don't use the lead.

Kerri Bee holds a Foundation Degree in Canine Behaviour and Training from the University of Hull. This particular qualification included a very strong element of practical dog training, teaching and counselling people and canine behavioural work as well as a high level of study in all things canine. She is also a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (no.0999) and runs training classes and one-to-one consultations in West Pembrokeshire. Visit her website. http://www.windrushdogsforlife.co.uk

Editor's Note * This would not be the case if you were training a sled dog, as you would want such a dog to pull, but it is useful for the dog to know when he is in work mode, ie pulling and when you want him to loose lead walk. My own husky is loose lead walked wearing a harness with 2-points-of-contact with a high point of influence, whilst for work she wears an x-back harness with the connection at the base of the tail. This way she know exactly what is expected of her.

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