I will show you logical, effective and humane solutions to teach your dog to walk nicely. Whether you want a specific "heel" or simply teach your dog to walk on a loose leash the process is actually not very complicated. It does take time and repetition, but I can help tailor your plan for you and your dog.
There are a few main principles for you to focus on:
- Teach your dog that a tight leash doesn't work. There are many training exercises that can be used to achieve this goal. If your dog realizes that the best way to go say, "Hello" to Fluffy the Poodle is to walk nicely, then he will be motivated to do so.
- Your dog should follow you when you walk away. When you turn right and he turns left, if he knows to follow you, this solves a lot of problems and results in a loose leash!
There are a lot of training strategies that you can practice inside, in your backyard, at Umstead Park or around your neighborhood that are fun and simple. Leash training is similar to any other training strategy; start slow and build on your progress and success. If you simply focus on training a bit more on every walk, you will make lots of progress, and I can show you how.
Leash pulling can be one of the more frustrating experiences, because it seems logical that dogs would simply learn on their own not to pull. I never recommend metal collars, but dogs can choke themselves even on a flat collar and even show discomfort on a harness if they are major pullers. You would think that dogs would get the message and stop pulling, right? It just doesn't work like that. Dogs are pulling because they want to get over there! Now!
Tips From A Dog Training Expert
- You can't reason with a dog, you have to teach. I can show you logical, effective and humane strategies to prevent leash pulling and it will be fun!
- Did you know one of the best ways to teach a dog not to pull is to use a long leash? Wait until you see how this works!
- Did you know that one of the easiest things to do is bring a toy on the walk and throw it in front of your dog the whole walk? I can show you how!
If I sound excited about this it is simply because I am really proud of the techniques that I have honed since 2002 that are simple, effective and humane. No yelling, metal collars, or other things that might make you feel "yucky" and hurt your dog. It is just good, humane, science-based methods that work.
I frequently get asked if I offer Board and Train. If you are not familiar with this type of training option, trainers will take a dog into their home (or in a kennel in the backyard) and work with the dog for a period of time each day, often for weeks at a time. They then return the dog to the family and (hopefully) spend some time explaining what their dog learned and teach the family how to communicate to their dog and continue the training that was done with the trainer. 
