Leash Walking

Question
Hi,My lab is 7 month old.She is very active and nice to be with.She is very good at potty training.But i have problem on leash walking with her.She keeps on dragging me.I let the leash loose but she soon pulls me.I have trained inside the house, she behaves well on leash when in house.But the moment i take her out for leash walk, she keeps dragging me.Apart from this she only comes to me if i have a treat for her ready in my hand.I need her to walk easily on the leash and come to me when called.Help on these two topics would of great help.

Answer
Are you using a metal slip collar with the rings on each end? Put it on like this for the usual dog on the left position. Pull the chain through the one ring forming a "P". Facing the dog, slip it over its head. The free end comes over the neck allowing the other end to release pressure when the leash is slack. A five month old's head will still grow some. If you buy one that easily goes over the head, it still should come off leaving the ears when the dog finishes growing. You need a good 6' leather leash, although you may not want to give a young puppy a chance to chew it.

Easier dogs will give up their pulling with a few good snaps of the leash combined with a stern "Bad dog!". You can work up to forceful corrections with the leash doubled up in both hands and your whole body behind it. But you don't want to use any more force than you need. One gentle technique I like is to just stop when he pulls. He wants to go. If you move forward when the leash is slack, and stop when he pulls, he should quickly figure out the only way to get to go, is not to pull. This is about teaching him not to pull, not getting somewhere. The man that taught it to me said "If in a half hour you haven't made it out to the front walk, fine, you have taught him a lesson. Pulling the dog backwards is a good technique too.

Still, you may want to switch to a head collar. The leading brands are Promise, Haltie, and Gentle Leader. They have a strap going around the dogs nose looking something like a muzzle. They work by pulling the dogs head around. No other way gives you such great control with so little force. The prong collar is now a dangerous relic of value only for its macho looks. Do not consider using one without hands on instruction from somebody with plenty of experience with them.