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Message: [QUOTE="CL82, post: 4122845, member: 44"] For what it’s worth, I think the biggest ingredient in training a dog is consistency. For the most part, they really want to please, so if you’re clear in what you are asking them, they will give it to you. Keep in mind the physics related to walking a dog. They are lower to the ground and have four points of contact. That’s a big advantage for them. The longer the leash the bigger the advantage. So the easiest thing to do is short leash the dog, even if that means grabbing the leash halfway. As with most training, you need to give positive reinforcement to lock of behavior in. For walking a dog, the positive behavior is a loose leash rather than a tight leash. First pat your leg or point to your heel to show them where you want them to walk. Then begin walking with the short leash. Once they stop pulling, and they should, then loosen up the leash and keep walking. If they move ahead of you wiggle the leash or pat your leg again to let them know where you want them to be. If they don’t immediately come back shorten up the leash to put them where you want them to be. Eventually they’ll understand that they have more freedom if they don’t walk in front of you. It’s really that simple. I know other people who will simply stop walking if the dog gets ahead of them, I think that would work, but I don’t have the patience for that. Some people say to use treats, but then you’re stopping the positive activity of walking to give it a treat. It seems like it would be more confusing to me. This process becomes infinitely harder if others in your family are not using it too because the dog has to learn two different ways of walking. That’s my approach, but I’m sure there are others that are effective. Good luck. [/QUOTE]

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