Out of all the training questions I receive on a daily basis, leash pulling tops the list.

If your dog pulls hard and often or maybe they only pull when another dog (or cat) comes around the following will help you stop this behavior forever.

Before you set out to teach your dog leash manners you should first understand why your dog pulls in the first place.

Over the years I've found the majority of dogs that pull do so because one of the three reasons:

1. You walk the same direction and visit the same place daily. Your dog knows this and wants to get there post hast. Hence, they pull like mack truck jerking a Volkswagon out of a mud hole.
   
   
2. They have never been given any boundries. In short, they walk you and they have been allowed to do this for one reason or another.
   
   
3. They are rarely walked so when they are the excitement causes them to take off like an F-15 off an aircraft carrier.

Your job is to find out which one of these three is the main motivator behind the pulling and eliminate it completely.

With that said let's get to the actual leash training...

Teaching Your Dog to Stop Pulling on the Leash:

The idea of this method is to teach your dog that if they pull, they lose their reward.

Their reward in this case is forward movement and progress.

With that in mind every time your dog gets to the end of the leash you simply stop.

I know you might be short, not as strong as other people, etc...but you can do this.

Basically when you see your dog is going to get to the end of their leash stop and lean back a little bit. When they hit the end they will stop.

Important: When they stop you do not move.

Your goal is to out last your dog. They will get frustrated and start to try and pull, you can not let them.

Extremely Important: At some point they will loosen the slack on the lead, this is when you say, "Yes!" and start walking.

You will probably get about 3-5 feet before they start to pull again. Once again stop, wait, and once the leash is loose say, "Yes!" and start walking.

Repeat this everyday. Eventually (this method takes a bit of time but it's worth it) a light bulb will turn on in your dogs head. Once they make the connection with a loose leash means walking and fun you'll notice a considerable difference in their manners.

Step One: Start by getting your dogs attention with their all time favorite toy or treat.

Step Two: Tease them with it. Hold it up and move it around. Make sure it's out of their reach.

The idea here is to literally annoy them into barking at you.

I may take a bit of time for them to bark, do not give them the toy until they do.

Step Three: As soon as they bark give them the reward and say, "Good dog!" or whatever praise you use.

Now here's the important steps to making this look natural and non-cued in front of people.

Step Four: When you hold the toy or treat up and get them to bark using it, they will start to cue in on that motion for the "bark" command.

So after several times of getting them to bark, hold the treat/toy up to your chin and wiggle it.

When they bark, reward and praise.

You can put a word to this too if you want to. I trained both, verbal and non-verbal.

Step Five: After some time of doing step one you should be able to wiggle your hand by your chin and your dog will bark. If you put a word to it, use that word and wiggle your hand and they should bark.

Now comes the fun part.

Step Six: Changing the cue to a subtle one. You don't want people seeing you cue the dog otherwise it's not as impressive.

Once you have gotten your dog to bark on command using either a voice command or a hand signal you can move the cue to your eyes.

How do I get Angel to bark on command? I blink twice.

Yes, it is that subtle and she will bark if I blink twice (without trying to get her to blink) if she's watching me. haha.

You move the cue by putting your hand by your face as usual, but instead of wiggling the treat you blink. When your dog barks, reward and praise.

Gradually lower the hand but keep the cue/reward the same. Blink, bark, reward and praise.

Once you understand it's not about control and results but the journey of bonding and learning any Pit Bull can be trained by using 100% positive methods.

All you need to do is find your dogs motivation. Once you have done that, anything can be accomplished using positive methods.

Don't believe me?  Well try it for yourself.

Take this test.  Find your dogs motivation. Food, toys, praise or whatever really gets your dog excited.

While in your house and your dog off the leash, ask them to sit and at the same time show them their "prize" when they sit give it to them immediately.

Do this 10 times in a row.

On the 11th time, do not say sit. Hold the "prize" just as you held it the previous 10 times.

I would bet dollar doughnuts your dog sits without you saying a word.

When they do, reward them and end the session.

That is positive training and your dog learned to sit through consistency and trusting they would be rewarded for their actions.

What are you waiting for? Go for it!

Signs to look for:

1. They suddenly start sniffing the ground and scratching a lot.
   
   
2. They appear to be hunting for something.
   
   
3. They appear to be curious about their surroundings even though they are used to them.
   
   
4. They "tale" with a body gesture such as squatting to urinate.
   
   
5. They pace or circle an area.

These are all signs your dog is thinking about going to the bathroom that you need to watch out for.

When you see these signs you should:

Immediately pick them up and go outside to the spot you have designated as the bathroom.

This area should be fairly large. Around 10 x 10 feet or 20 x 20 feet would also be a nice sized area.

If you don't have that much room that's fine, it'll just be harder to keep your puppy in the area.

One way to do this is to put up a fence or box in the area with wood.

Now you may be asking yourself, "Why would I tell you to set up this area for your dog".

There are two main reasons and they are...

(A) To make clean up a hundred times easier.

(B)To teach your dog to go in a specific area and keep the rest of your yard free of waste.

Okay, back to the topic at hand.

Once you have them outside place them into the "bathroom" area and wait until they go potty.

When they do, praise them with a good dog! Good potty!

Yes, you might sound silly but this will pay off in spades in a few days. :o)

With your dog's favorite toy or treat get their attention.

Remember you are supposed to be in a quiet area, free from distraction.

It's a good idea to remove anything your dog might find interesting too.

With their attention focused on you, lure them close to you using the toy or treat.

Sometimes they will get excited and attempt to jump on you, or do whatever it takes to get their reward.

Do not let them (again easier said than done) get it.

Okay, now with the treat in your hand, step toward them and hold your hand just above their head with your fingers closed.

As you do this your dog will back up. Stay close to them and stay in step with them.

Move your hand just behind their head but still high enough where they can see your hand. By doing this, your dog will tilt their head back and look up.

Here's a photo example of the position your dog will end up in if you lure them correctly. (Note the position of my hand and the ball over Angels head):

As they scoot back eventually they will sit down.

Reward them! Yes! Good dog! Repeat these steps.

You can use anything to start training this, I prefer a prized toy.

Something you know they won't wait for.

Why start wtih something like this?

If they learn to wait for a highly prized item teaching them to wait for less prized items is easier. :o)

Start by getting their attention with their toy or treat.

Put it on the ground and put your foot on it.

Your dog will try to get it. Let them attempt this until they step backwards and look at you. Some dogs won't do this, in this case, you're in for a wait. :o)

When they look up at you say, "yes!" and then let them have it.

Repeat this exercise two or three times a day for a week.

Do not change anything and do NOT allow them to get their prize without looking at you.

Here's what you will see happen.

When you get their attention and put your foot on the prize they will look at you first.

This is important because this puts you in control. You can then put the word "wait" to it.

Increasing the time you have them wait from 10 seconds, to 30 seconds, and finally up to 3-4 minutes.

Step 1: Exercise them more. You know, I have not yet found a single Pit Bull that couldn't use more exercise. Even if they are exercised daily, for several hours, more exercise can be worked into the picture. Especially for the super high drive types.

Do not over do it of course, but add an extra hour or two per day onto whatever you are currently doing now. Introduce them to this extra hour carefully and in small increments of 10-15 minutes at a time.

Step Two: Mental stimulation. Pit Bulls need to use their heads for more than bumping into things.

A buster cube (get them at your pet store) is one idea. Another is to have them solve training situations by allowing them to think their way to their reward.

Let's look at the second one. Instead of saying, "Sit." Hold their prize up and let them figure out what you want.

When they do what you want, reward them.

This helps your dog learn to think around problems instead of being a "robot" dog. Once they discover they can think and offer you things, they will do so more often and you can use this same idea to work out behavior problems.

Step Three: Boundries. I can't say this enough. I'm guilty of not putting limits on my dogs and I paid for it for 2 long, frustrating years of chewing up things, jumping, and a host of other negative behaviors.

The day I put boundries on my dogs is the day my house was quiet, my dogs were relaxed, and peace reigned in our kingdom. :o)

When feeding, you control their food. Instead of free feeding set times to feed your dogs.

When walking, he or she must sit or down while you put him or her on the lead.

When playing, work in waiting for reward, and allow them to offer you training behaviors before you play.

If they were allowed free reign of your house, revoke this privilage for a week and only allow them in certain areas for that week.

When you apply these three steps you are gaining control over your dogs and putting them in their rightful place.

Which is, as the dog of the family. Not the little person or the little bundle of cuteness that steals your heart.

And finally, once you have established these three steps, they deserve your love and affection.

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