Walk on lead :(

Walking 21 wk old Spud on a lead is no fun, he pulls so much, just back from a little 15 min walk, he's still full of beans & my arms & hands are killing me. We usually take him to the beach & he runs around us for a long walk. On lead walk we always pull him back but he just does his thing. How am I going to fix this before he gets much bigger? :/ x

What have you done to try & stop him pulling?

I pull him back hard & keep repeating 'no' x

This is going to sound rude, but it isn't meant to be..............he won't know what on earth you're on about! He'll be thinking "No? No what?"

One good way of doing it is to wait until he starts to go ahead of you & immediately turn & start walking the other way. The second the lead tightens, say "Heel" or "Close" or whatever word you want to use, and give the lead a gentle tug. The second he catches up with you, turn around & go back the way you were going & say "Heel" (etc) & if the lead tightens, give a gentle tug.

If you do that every time he starts to walk in front of you he'll get fed up with it & will start to walk with you! It takes a few days, sometimes, and it'll take ages to get anywhere at first (not to mention looking pretty damn silly at times!), but it really does work!

P.S. As soon as he walks with you, give him loads of praise (and maybe a treat) & tell him he's a good boy to Heel/Close (whatever!).

sounds like a good plan.

Lol ha I hadn't thought of 'no' being useless poor confuddled Spud. Will try your suggestion next walk thank you x

I like Caryll's advice. Though I wouldn't give him a huge amount of praise, just gentle praise and a treat. Too much praise might make him excitable and pull again. Whenever I tell Loki 'good boy,' he walks a bit quicker . Just make sure you're patient and consistent with it, it'll take a while to get the hang of it, but he'll learn eventually.