Hi all, We have a 4 months old black labrador called Milo. He is going to be a large dog so looking for advise on training him to walk without pulling. We are finding that he is pulling alot but also has his head down alot looking for things to pick up. We are trying to train him to walk to heel but will also change direction or stop when he starts to pull ( this sometimes work) Currently we use a collar & lead but was interested on people's views on whether a non-pull harness would be better or some other prop? We are concerned that a collar/lead will hurt his neck because of the pulling. Would Milo grow out of trying to pick up things from the ground? Graham
I like our harness for our lab and my husband uses both harness and just collar. I also like the leash I bought with a hand holder about 2 feet from collar and then regular leash hand loop. It gives me more control crossing a street etc. My pup got better by 6 months but got very stubborn around 9-12 months. (testing, jumping etc) Sometimes I have the time to wait it out, but other times I need control to get him in house and it helps. He doesn't pick much up, he does listen to "drop it" but pulling is ongoing, better and than not. This was harness https://www.chewy.com/petsafe-3-in-1-reflective-dog-harness/dp/148611 https://www.chewy.com/prima-pets-dual-handle-reflective-dog/dp/140805
Teach your dog to walk to heel then whether you use a lead or harness will be less important. https://www.thelabradorsite.com/teaching-a-dog-to-heel/
Ajax pulled and yes it's annoying but with consistent training, even if only for 2 minutes in your home, they'll get it. My routine was I would stop when he pulled out of the heel position, and give the command "stop" then say "backup". I would then pull him back, if necessary which it was for some time, to heel position and give the command heel. Off we go for round 26. Instead of teaching 1 command your pup will learn 3 -- heel, stop, and backup. Be patient and good luck.
