I know that it can be incredibly frustrating when your dog has no “leash discipline” — when he prefers to pay attention to every distraction the comes by on your walks, rather than walking calmly by your side.

A dog pulling on leash is a definite signal that they think they are in charge and that you’re simply there to follow their lead. So what winds up happening is that they pay attention to distractions rather than you, the handler…basically everything else that’s going on around him instead of you.

It’s a very common behavior problem among the dogs I train, but it’s extremely easy to solve.

What’s incredibly helpful is to watch videos of handlers who know how to control their dogs so that you can learn the exact methods they use.

More on this shortly.

First, let’s cover three extremely easy fixes for your dog pulling on leash problem.

1. The Pack Leader Harness. Unfortunately, most of the collars you can buy today make this problem worse, because they actually make your dog want to pull harder.

I’ve found that using a Pack Leader harness instead of the traditional collar can be an incredible help. This type of harness fits in exactly the right way around your dog’s body and applies pressure where you need it in order to focus the dog’s attention back on the handler.

This type of harness is easy to find online. Just do a quick search on Google and you’ll find places where you can order it.

2. Learn clicker training. Clickers are a great tool, kind of like the duct tape of dog training tools. It can be useful in correcting so many different unwanted behaviors in dogs, that I encourage you to take a look at this training method.

In a nutshell, the way it works is that you train your dog to expect a reward whenever he hears the sound of a click. After you plant this expectation in your dog’s mind, he’ll instinctively start to focus his attention on you as soon as he hears the clicker sound.

We can;t cover everything there is to know about using a clicker for training here, but there are plenty of resources and even entire books written on the subject that are easy to find.

A clicker is useful in correcting leash pulling, because the sound will redirect a dog’s attention away from the distraction and back on you.

3. Food rewards. Dog owners know that behavior can be influenced with the use of food treats. When using treats to stop a dog’s leash pulling problem, what you basically want to do is introduce the food to your dog, and then let the dog use his naturally powerful sense of smell to direct his attention and his movements in the direction you want.

It’s obviously a lot simpler if you can just watch this in action, so let’s get to that now.

It’s a fairly easy process to stop your dog from pulling on his leash. I’ve demonstrated some of the exact techniques mentioned above on numerous TV shows, and would like to share a step-by-step video with you that shows you exactly how to correct this behavior in around 30 minutes or less.

First, check out this dog pulling on leash article on my blog, where you’ll find a full video that reveals how to use a pack leader harness, a clicker, or food rewards (or all three) to train your dog to walk calmly right by your side and always listen to what you want him to do.

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