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Pulling on-leash is a very common problem for pet dogs because most dog owners unintentionally train their dogs to pull on their leash.

When you take your dog out for a walk, every step of the walk is a reward. If your dog is pulling on their leash and you take a step forward, you’re rewarding their behavior. You have taught your dog that the best way to get you to move forward is to pull on their leash.

Instead, you want to teach your dog the opposite. You want your dog to learn that the only way to get you to move forward is to stop pulling on their leash, and instead, to sit down and look up at you.

This is actually pretty easy to do with Wait & Reward training, it just takes a little patience.

Put your dog on a 6' leash and stand still. Be prepared to hold your ground even if your dog pulls with all their might. If you have a big strong dog, you might need a big strong handler to start this process.

Just stand still and wait. Do not say anything and do not move. Do not give commands and don’t try to lure your dog. Just wait until your dog sits. With most dogs, it takes 2–5 minutes, a few dogs may take 5 or 10. The longest my Dad ever had to wait was 22 minutes for a Weimaraner in Los Angeles. But every dog sits eventually.

When your dog sits, (or lies down) if only for a split second, immediately, say, “Good Dog”, offer one tasty treat and take just ONE large step and then, stand still again and wait for the next sit.

When you take that one step, your dog will likely explode to the end of the leash. They’re probably thinking, Finally, it’s about time and they will be eager to get going.

This goes to show the reinforcing power of a single step. Just think about all the steps you’ve probably taken while your dog was pulling on leash, and all the reinforcing you’ve done as a result. This is the damage that we are about to undo.

Now, simply wait for your dog to sit again. As soon as your dog sits, say "Good Dog, Goood Dog", offer a treat and take another, single large step and then stand still again to wait for your dog to Sit once more. 

When it does, say, “Good Dog, Goood Dog, Goood Dog”, give a treat and take one large step and wait.

With each sit, you should progressively increase the length of the Sit before offering the treat and moving forward again, so that each Sit is actually a Sit-Stay. After just a half-dozen of these Sits you will already have a different dog. Your dog will sit pretty quickly when you stand still, will no longer lunge to the end of the leash and will probably start keeping an eye on you in anticipation of getting a treat.

Once your dog routinely sits immediately when you stand still, try taking two large steps before stopping and then three, then five, eight, 10 or 20 steps. Now just keep walking.

If, at any point, your dog tightens the leash, simply stop walking and wait until your dog sits and stays for half a dozen seconds or so. While you are walking with your dog, speed up and slow down frequently. When you slow down, your dog will probably look up at you to see if you’re going to stop for another refreshment break!

At this point, your dog should be walking by your side without tightening the leash, speeding up and slowing down when you change speed and quickly sitting whenever you stop and the only words you said were “Good Dog”.

When done properly, this technique works with EVERY dog. If it’s not working for you, review these instructions and follow them carefully.

This is a fool-proof way to teach your dog to walk on a loose leash, but it’s well worth taking the time to teach your dog to actually want to stay by your side while they are off-leash, which I’ll explain in the next videos.