| One of the most frustrating behaviors for most dog | | | | This type of harness is easy to find online. Simply do |
| owners is when their dog refuses to walk calmly by | | | | a Google search and you should easily find places |
| your side and instead constantly tries to pull you | | | | where you can get it. |
| along on your walks, dictating where he wants to go, | | | | 2. Learn clicker training. A clicker is like the duct tape |
| how fast he wants to get there, and pays little or no | | | | of dog training devices. It can be useful in correcting |
| attention to you, his owner. | | | | so many different unwanted behaviors in dogs, that I |
| Dogs who pull on their leash believe that they are | | | | encourage you to take a look at this training method. |
| running the show and that you're simply there to | | | | In a nutshell, the way it works is that you train your |
| follow their lead. As a result, they'll often pay | | | | dog to expect a reward whenever he hears the |
| attention to squirrels, other dogs, new smells, | | | | sound of a click. Once this expectation is planted in |
| bicycles, kids on skateboards...basically anything other | | | | his mind, the dog will almost instantly focus his |
| than you. | | | | attention exclusively on you whenever he hears the |
| It's a very common problem but one that is easily | | | | sound of the clicker. |
| solved. What's incredibly helpful is to watch videos of | | | | We don't have a tremendous amount of space in this |
| handlers who know how to control their dogs so that | | | | article to go through the ins and outs of clicker |
| you can learn the exact methods they use. But more | | | | training, but there are plenty of resources where you |
| on this later. | | | | can learn the basics. |
| First, let's cover three very easy fixes to rein in a | | | | When correcting leash pulling, a clicker is useful |
| dog who pulls on his leash. | | | | because you can use it to stop a dog who is |
| 1. The Pack Leader Harness. One of the problems | | | | focusing on something other than you, and redirect |
| with just about every dog collar on the market is | | | | that energy back to you, his handler. |
| that they actually encourage your dog to pull harder, | | | | 3. Food rewards. Any dog owner knows the power |
| rather than working with his natural instinct to keep | | | | of the food treat to mold a dog's behavior. When |
| him calm and by your side. | | | | using treats to stop a dog's leash pulling problem, |
| Instead of a typical collar, a choke chain, or a prong | | | | what you basically want to do is introduce the food |
| collar, try a different method such as a Pack Leader | | | | to your dog, and then let the dog use his naturally |
| Harness. This device fits around your dog's body and | | | | powerful sense of smell to direct his attention and his |
| applies pressure when you tug on the leash exactly | | | | movements in the direction you want. |
| where it needs to be to refocus your dog's attention | | | | This is a little bit difficult to demonstrate without |
| back on you. | | | | actually seeing it done, so let's cover that right now. |