NEW! I just put together a new complete “mini-course” on how to get ANY dog to stop pulling on the leash. If this won’t cure the problem, nothing will. CLICK HERE now to check it out. You’re going to love it!

I’ve already posted a video demonstrating some of these techniques (you can find that here: dog pulling on leash), but I thought I’d follow that up with a written guide explaining some of the things you see in the video.

If you’re one of those dog owners who has to deal with the incredibly frustrating behavior of a dog who refuses to listen to you on your walks — who pulls on the leash until you feel like your arm will be pulled off, rather than simply walking quietly by your side, then this post is for you!

First we need to make something clear. A dog who pulls on his leash is a sign that the dog believes he is  in control and that you’re simply there to follow his leadership. So they’ll pay attention to all kinds of distractions during your walks — other dogs, kids on bikes, skateboarders, etc…basically everything else that’s going on around him instead of you.

While it’s very common, it’s also very simple to fix. Here are a few ways to do this…
1. Use a Pack Leader Harness. One of the things you may not realize is that just about every collar will actually encourage your dog to pull harder on his leash.

Instead of a typical collar, a choke chain, or a prong collar, try a different method such as a Pack Leader Harness. This type of harness fits in exactly the right way around your dog’s body and applies pressure where you need it in order to focus the dog’s attention back on the handler.

You can easily find this type of harness on the Internet. Just do a quick search on Google and you’ll find places where you can order it.

2. Learn what you can about training with a clicker. Clickers are a great tool, kind of like the duct tape of dog training tools. It can be very helpful in eliminating a wide range of problem behaviors, so I highly suggest you at least look into this method of training.

Simply put, the dog starts to expect something positive when he hears the click. The great thing about this is that you can train your dog to instantly focus on you whenever he hears that clicker sound.

We don’t have a tremendous amount of space in this article to go through the ins and outs of clicker training, but there are plenty of resources where you can learn the basics.

A clicker is useful in correcting leash pulling, because the sound will redirect a dog’s attention away from the distraction and back on you.

3. Food rewards. All dog owners know that food has the power to change the behavior of your dog. When using treats to stop a dog’s leash pulling problem, what you basically want to do is introduce the food to your dog, and then let the dog use his naturally powerful sense of smell to direct his attention and his movements in the direction you want.

Those are three very simple fixes for the problem. Again, you can watch and see how these techniques work by watching the video I mention above. But for those of you who prefer a written step-by-step guide, I hope this helps as well!

I thought I would make a post today about a few dog training techniques that I see people using over and over and over again, but that never work. In fact, these techniques will actually do more harm than good, and actually make the process of training your dog much harder.

First, let’s establish something…

There are only 3 things that a dog has to learn and you can teach her/him anything.

1.      Words are signals.
2.      Rewards are wonderful
3.      Good behavior earns rewards.

So, if you can learn how to use food rewards (or a clicker, or a ball on a rope, etc.) to shape, reward, and reinforce the behaviors you want, your more than halfway home.

The problem is that most people don’t use positive reinforcement, and instead fall back on negative methods.

For example, it amazes me but people are still using force to get what they want (or trying to). One example is the technique of getting a dog to lie down by placing your foot on the dog’s choke chain and holding the leash tight to force the dog to go down… Now can it work? Yes, sometimes, but often it doesn’t, and even when it does, you frequently get a slow unwilling sit, down, or recall.

Big Mistake #2

Believing that escalating the intensity of a signal is effective (or you may want to call it escalating the level of corrections) is another crucial error I see many people make.

For example… someone wants their dog to sit.

First, they say “sit.” Dog doesn’t sit.

Then they say “sit” in a louder voice. Dog doesn’t sit.

Then they start screaming and repeating the word “Sit!!! Sit!!! Sit!!!” Dog doesn’t sit.

If they have a choke chain, they are already using it to choke or apply force to make the dog sit.

Wow.

Totally counterproductive. Why would choking and yelling at a dog make him sit? Isn’t it better to use a food lure and lure the dog into a sit or use a clicker and shape the behavior???

Now, just so you don’t get the wrong idea, I believe in consequences. But if I give a consequence and it doesn’t work, I don’t escalate the violence.

Instead I use a different consequence, or employ a competing behavior…but remember, if you’re your dog’s leader, you really don’t have to worry about problems… which is why being pack leader is so important, and which is why I spend an entire week in my online dog training course (click the link to check it out for free AND get a free dog training audiobook as well) covering this and only this.

So, I hope that makes sense. And I hope it encourages you to stop using these dog training techniques that don’t work.

I’m going to write more about this shortly, but I wanted to share this video with you that gives a bit of hint into what I consider to be a couple pieces of indispensable dog training advice. Stay tuned for the update in a bit. For now, here’s the video…

NEW! I’ve just put together a complete guide covering 7 things you can do TODAY to get your dog to recognize you as pack leader. They’re SO simple and I’d love it if you game them a try and reported back on the changes you see in your dog’s behavior. Click here to check out the complete step-by-step guide (there are 5 VIDEOS and a complete workbook as well!) It truly is everything you need to know! Here’s the link again to go check it out.

One of the things so many of my clients struggle with is the basic, fundamental concept of becoming pack leader to your dog. (It’s so important, in fact, that I spend an entire week worth of lessons in my online dog training course talking about this and only this.)

In the full course, you learn 7 simple things you can do to become pack leader with your dog. But today, I wanted to share just one of those techniques that you can do right now. It’s simple, fast and can be done right away because you do while you’re doing something you have to do every day anyway — feed your dog.

I’m going to post a video here in just a second that shows you the technique, but I wanted to give you a heads up because I know my subscribers look for these little “mini-lessons” from me.

UPDATE: The video is done and here it is. Try this today and let me know what difference you see right away…