ResourcesStop a dog from pulling

How to teach your dog not to pull. Dogs learn to pull because they have previously been rewarded for this behavior, inadvertently of course.

When a dog pulls you to the fire hydrant and gets to snif the hydrant the behavior was rewarded. We suggest that when a dog pulls you stop forward movement, i.e the dog loses something for pulling, when he looks back at you and there is loose slack in the leash say" "good" and then continue forward movement.

Your dog will start learning that pulling loses him something (walking) and allowing a loose leash gets him what he/she wants which is forward movement. For very stubborn dogs we suggest using a sensation harness, but continue ultilizing the same strateegy mentioned above.