Diva

Hi people just wondering if someone can help me and my partner with diva... we have had her on a collar for over a week now and had a lead on her for 2 days straight so she can get used to it!! But when we pick the lead up and she sees it she just sits down and sulks won't move or anything unless we pull her

First thing I would say is never pull her by a collar, the potential for neck damage is huge. I always start with a harness as you don’t have this problem ...

If I remember, Diva is around 3 months old ? 
It is possible that she’s “sulking” as she might have caught the lead on something during the 2 days you left it on and so to avoid hurting herself again, she’s blocking.

You need to make the most of a puppy’s reflex to follow you. 
When Diva is just wearing her collar, call her to you in your garden or even in the house and lots of praise. This will get her used to wearing the collar whilst following you. Then you can try with the lead clipped on but just when you’re working together and then remove it. Have squeaky toy and treats ready to hand to call her to you.

Don’t forget the 5 minute rule too. 5 minutes of exercise per month of age.

Have you managed to make progress with Diva ?

Luna was the same when we got her,she would take two steps then sit and wouldn’t move for about 5mins then she’s make another two steps all it took for us was to get a harness (as the collar scared her way more I think) and bring her favourite rope toy. She just needed to see that walks are a lot of fun! Took her a good 2 weeks to learn that she can walk around though, even with a harness and a toy she kept getting afraid of cars passing,leaves blowing past her etc just be patient and make the walk as fun as you possibly can

I think advantages to harnesses are that the pup doesn’t hurt itself if they are in a situation where they pull on the lead (take a fright, try to run off in a direction).
If your pup is in danger, you can also use harness to lift/carry them to safety. Some harnesses even have a little handle on the back.

You can of course switch to a collar when your pup is happier about life on a lead if you wish.
The harness can be considered like those stabilizer wheels on a child’s first bicycle. For first positive learning experience before promotion to collar.

I personally only use collar during obedience classes, harness for car travel and walks/hikes