Stopping pullling on lead and confidence to let off lead

Q1! We have a 13week old springer spaniel who is just having his first walks out, we have almost mastered the technique of him sitting if i stop walking, but we are struggling with getting him to stop pulling on the lead, (training classes start next week, but would like as many opinions before then), he pulls till his eyes go red and he puffs, i am saying good boy anytime he slows and the lead slackens but it is slow progress!

Q2. How on earth will i ever be confident and what advice can you give me for when the time is right to let him out and about off of the lead, it is not easy in places other than our back garden to get somewhere fenced in to test him in!

I share your pain, I have a 5 month old springer/lab mix and he pulled like crazy. We always took treats out annd/toys to keep him by our side and say good boy when he is.

Unfortunately we've never had the off lead problem, since we dont live near busy streets and that since he was 13 weeks we left him off lead and he would only go so far in front but he was good, he's had to be leash trained for when we go round public places or to the beach.
I had a rottie pup who didnt come back so I would attach her lead to my dogs lead and let them go, I would call her name then my dogs name and she would learn her name meant come back, simularly, in the house, go in a different room and shout him/her and get ready with the treats. This repeated will help a little.

You may want to invest in a long leash, springers dont tend to lift their nose off the ground much, so get soem nice warm smelly treats and let him explore on a long leash then call him and get a treat out ready (have it in a pouch so that he cant really smell it until you get it out, a gentle tug may be needed though...no dog can resist a warm treat (make it something he only gets when he's out and about) this will reinforce it.

Once he comes back on the long leash and you feel confident enough to let him off, do so, if you're not confident then your dog will sense that.

Hope this helps

Have you thought of a harness, then when you pull him to heel you wont be hurting his neck.

The problem with harnesses are that they were designed for pulling purposes, however I do agree with Jols that at a young age he really should be on a harness, Louie was on a harness until recently.

Thats interesting, i dont know much about dogs, i thought harnesses were to stop pulling, not that they should be used for young dogs. thanks

springers are renowned for pulling on their leads the best method is as he pulls in front you back up and then when he falls in line turn round and walk forwards, you'll go round in circles for a while but he'll get there in the end.

Off lead, now!! take him somewhere away from roads and go for it, trust me at 13 weeks he'll be more interested in staying close as you're mum at the moment, i have done this with both dogs i have had from pups and they are fine, fudge being the latest, who was off as soon as he went out, and has great recall

You picked an interesting choice for not knowing much about dogs lol, I'm joking springers are lovely (when they're not bouncing off the walls - JOKE) there are specially designed harnesses to stop dogs pulling that are specially designed for their backs to stop damage being caused, but harnesses were originally designed for those dogs that pulled carts or sleds. We had Louie on a harness til about a few weeks ago, mainly cos he got too big and didnt like it but because he was getting too strong on a harness to handle, we got him a halti, I didnt like that much so we're training him with food rewards.

I would use a harness to walk him on until you've got heel more or less perfect at training classes

One of my dogs used to pull like mad. I used a halti to cure him. To be honest I could handle him but my wife struggled when he was excited about going out. One snowy day I asked her if she'd like me to knock her up a sledge to stand on and she could have a go on the klondike run. The halti was great because when the dog pulls it just turns his head. It cured him after a few weeks.