Please give me some tips for stopping him pulling

12 week old Dougal has just been out for a walk with me and my son (20 months old) how can I stop him pulling so much, he pulls so hard that his front legs don't touch the floor.

It is soooo hard with on my own with my son and my hands are killing me!

He just doesn't seam to show any signs on keeping to heel. We don't start dog training classes for about 3 weeks but thats 3 weeks too long!

So can I have some tips PLEASE!

We tend to walk Jake where he can be offlead most of the time. Saves your arms no end! (Started him walking off-lead from a VERY early age, while his puppy nervousness would keep him close to us.)

Also, a halti stops him pulling, but he hated it!

If all else fails, when he's older, get one of them rig things. Been a couple of threads about them recently...

(In order of usefulness, I'd rate my suggestions in order of:
2nd suggestion.
1st suggestion.
3rd suggestion.

Hi Stephie your puppy is probably excited to be going out and needs to be taught pulling means he is not going anywhere, this behaviour will not be rewarded . This training takes time and patience and you should not give up after a couple of sessions saying it doesn't work, in dog training many people expect instant results and although this may sometimes be the case, it is not always so.

Before a walk start by having a play with the puppy to get rid of a little energy. Put the lead on and set off making it clear in your voice that this is serious not play. As soon as the puppy pulls... stop/ stand still/ ignore him, when the lead goes slack praise the puppy and set off again, as soon as he pulls stop again and just keep repeating the process . Initially you will not get very far, it may take half an hour to walk a few yards, but it WILL work eventually. Some people turn and walk the other way when dogs pull and that works also but I have always use the stopping method.

At 12 weeks he will be full of enthusiasm and eagerness for his walks as the world is a very exciting place!

Try doing heelwork practice in a less exciting environment like at home indoors or even in your garden perhaps? I would use either treats or his favourite toy for encouragement and reward for when he does do well. Keep training sessions short as he will quickly lose interest, at this age they do not have the capacity for lengthy attention spans! Use your voice well, keep "happy talking", plenty of encouragement and praise as you go, he must be more interest in you than what is going on around him to learn, it is hard work!

I would graduate from home to doing little training exercises just outside your home along the pavement and back, if the only time he sees the lead is walk times he will always get over-excited and pull you. However, by doing these sessions he will not only learn to walk better, but be de-sensitized a little to the whole excitement of getting the lead on.

You will need patience as it will take time for him to settle down him being so young and full of vim!

I'd also suggest getting a StopPull harness for ordinary walking (eg when you are with the children or just don't have time to train ) as it takes away the pressure of having to train every step all the time (which you must do if you don't use the harness! )

StopPull are available from Kumfi products, I think they are the same as Hi Craft but not sure...

Thanks, its not, not having the time to train him its just he is very strong already and it makes it difficult going out with him on my own with my son and I want to be able to take him out as he does love it.

We have puppy training lessons in 3 weeks so should be able to teach him really well then.

I want him to learn to walk to heel and not to pull because I also need to train him to walk aloneside the pushchair, let alone because it is so much nicer walking with them if they don't pull.

You say that your son comes with you. Is there any way you can get to walk the pup on your own without your son as it will make things alot easier.

I had a staffordshire bull terrier who used to pull like a steam train and the only thing that got him to stop pulling was to walk backwards when he started to pull, you soon discovered muscles you never knew existed Initially it took me 10 mins to get passed 5 houses but after 2 weeks he was walking beautifully to heel. It takes alot of effort and patience but it is all worth it in the end

Hiya....
I tried this Stop method With my meg....and yes It really Works...But I found Making her Look at Me before we Set of again really Helped to get her attention....And Right now she is Not Bad the lead Is Slack most of the Time, The only thing i have Is If we are Walking and She Gets Excited becouse she See,s Somone She Thinks Should Come and See her....Im glad Most people Will walk right past her...Thats helpful.

It's actually one of the hardest things to teach, loose lead walking

Walking to heel is really an Obedience exercise, what you are after presumably is just a dog who doesn't pull, yes?

I suggested the harness because otherwise, esp. with your son, the dog will be pulling every step or few steps and it's hard to concentrate on luring him back into position and rewarding, or stopping and waiting until the lead is slack, or turning into the opposite direction with anyone else ... so the harness will take that pressure off, when you are walking sociably with anyone else and need to relax and so on

Definitely second what mini says,

Also...Each dog is different...One of my dogs responds very well to head collars and is a dream while walking with one on...where as the other is awful on them and will not listen to any commands or even respond to you wearing one, it is not for him and I have realised that. Stopping and or changing direction really is the only thing that is working with him and believe me you have to do this every walk until they understand that pulling gets them no where or else it makes the process take forever. They simply must not be allowed to pull ever or else they will think it is a choice and they can pull if they feel like it. Your training has to be consistent at all times. I always stop and don't move again till the dog returns back to myside or if the dog is really pulling hard and not paying me much attention at all I will do a walking fast type of run and keep changing directions very briskly so that the dog really has to pay attention to me because it has no idea where I will turn next! That I find really settles my one dog down and gets his attention back on me.

You must train and train now while your dog is still small enough because believe me if you think he is strong now, wait till he is 6 months plus. The dog I have had to work extra hard with out of my two is 90lbs now and it is a must that he walks well, because he is very strong. He pulled me over for the first time at six months and had alot of strength back then and at that point I wished I had been more consistent with his lead training earlier, so you must stick with it.

You can of course try him on a head collar for those walks when you don't have an hour to make it only a short distance! The head collar can be used then so that you can get where you are going yet the dog is still not able to pull. Then make sure walks where you do have the time are always just collar and lead and loads of training because the head collars only inhibit the pulling they do not teach it out of them. Your dog might be a nightmare on a head collar at first. He wont be so strong with his pulling but some dogs hate wearing them and like my boy will rub the skin off their noses trying to claw them off etc, most dogs will settle down and accept them, you need to give them time. But with my boy dog after 4 months and the fact his behaviour was getting worse while wearing one I knew they wern't suitable for him at all.

Good luck with your training