How to train puppy to walk on a lead nicely?

[Heidinotinthehills]

Puppy is doing great at the moment- our one issue is lead walking: lots of pulling, stopping etc. I have heard people constantly feed treats to keep the dog’s focus on them but I don’t know the idea of feeding treats like that on a walk doesn’t appeal so would like to hear of other methods?

[adaline]

You won't need the treats forever!

But sorry to say they're the only thing that works for mine. Walks are exciting with other dogs and new sniffs and smells and sights and sounds - you need something on you that means they look at you and focus on you above all else.

It's easiest to train things like heel and recall while they're young because they don't want to be away from you much so they're more likely to come back.

Honestly it won't be a permanent thing. If you're going to train with treats I would also recommend feeding meals after walks so the puppy is hungry and more eager to please for food!

[BiteyShark]

Treats would and do not work with my dog (spaniel). He has nose to the ground picking up scents and I could throw a steak on the floor in front of him and he would ignore it.

You do need to find the right method for your dog. If your puppy is food orientated then the treats method is a good one to try. Once your puppy has learnt not to pull you start to reward less often.

If you have a puppy like my dog then forget that and try one of the other methods. I use the stop and start one so when he pulls I stop, wait for him to stop and then move on again. I use a harness with front ring and double lead to help as well.

[BiteyShark]

That should have said treats would not (rather then would). Wish MN would fix the preview button

[Ylvamoon]

How old is your puppy?
I found the best way to teach them is when they are very young and go through the phase of following you around.
I just "walk" with them in the garden/ home by getting them to be at my side and give "heel" command for a few steps. (No lead needed!) As attention span increases, I increase the time of walking. I always release the dog with command "free".
Later on, I slowly build it up on leash walks in pretty much the same way. It worked for mine. But every dog is different!

[Girlintheframe]

We started by using lots of treats, literally one ever few steps.
Now however he is 7 months and at most I use maybe 6 for his whole 30 minute walk. I imagine this is just going to get less and less as time goes on.
If your worried about weight gain as we were we bought low fat treats and broke them into tiny bits.
Our pup is food orientated though and will do (almost) anything for a treat

[missbattenburg]

Treats don't work for mine much either. Stop start did. Turns out that he considers moving forward to be much more reinforcing than hot dog.

[elloelloello]

My Springer was never interested in treats out on walks - too many smells and he was never that food orientated.

Every time he pulled I stopped dead, repositioned him beside me and told him heel, then set off again. Some days it took half an hour to even get off our drive but he got it in the end