I work with Kim Hessel at Heaven Can Wait in High River so I follow her very successful techniques for dog walking - she rehabilitates some of the most abused dogs in the Calgary area and turns feral first nations dogs into loving companions. She uses a check or choke chain. Fit it up high behind the dog's ears - not at the base of the neck. The dog should walk on the left hand side of you with a loose leash. No sniffing, no pulling. Just a focused walk. The dogs only pees when you tell him/her they can. If the dog starts to pull forward do a sharp 90 degree turn and walk back the way you came. Repeat as necessary. The dog will soon realise what he is doing is no fun and should start to listen to you more. I am a fan of the halti headcollar - my girl walks well and very relaxed in it. If the dog is a bit Jekyll and Hyde - eg good in the halti and bad on the choke chain. Put both on the dog. Start using the halti and intermittently use the choke chain. Slowly you should be able to only use the choke chain and just have the dog wearing the halti with no attachment to you. If you have a young, high energy, untrained dog give it a good run or play session before doing any training and don't feed them. Then use a high quality treat to get some focus (weiners are always well received!). Ignore the bad behaviour and praise the good behaviour. Also don't use harnesses unless it is a very small dog - harnesses are designed for pulling so are not good training tools - fine for long, relaxed, hiking days. Dogs thrive on routine so the same walk each day until you have a well mannered leash trained dog is best. If you keep going different routes that just raises the level of excitement and makes it more difficult for the dog to focus. Hope some of that was some help and made sense - rather doped up on happy pills after a visit to the dentist!
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