Anyone hate walking their puppy as well?

[TheStirrer]

Just looking for some solidarity home that it’s not just me!!
He is 5 months and I love him to bits but walking him is painful. I have ti chase him to get the harness on and it feels like he’s either sniffing or pulling and despite the most stinky of sausage there are times when he just can’t be persuaded to move ….
Please can someone tell me it will get better……
and yes I do let him off lead when I can but he still has to be on a lead to get to a field …..

It gets better with training.
It won't get better just by itself, puppies are not hardwired to walk beautifully on the lead.
Don't chase him with harness, it just reinforces that behaviour.
Change the routine leading to the walk to break that behaviour, and reinforce with treats and praises any baby step.
Also, note that sniffing is very normal and necessary for dogs.

My best advice is stop chasing to put the harness on.
Sit quietly and hold it. Until he comes and sits it doesn't go on.
Was very strict with my original ddog. Other 4 have followed suit... Stress free pre walking prep
Save the stress for the actual walk!!
My 2 as dpuppies...

Yep I agree with this. They won’t magically
grow out of it without training. Echo don’t chase him with the harness you are making it a game and therefore rewarding him. The moment he runs off put it down, sit down and ignore him. Repeat 81759295 times until he stops praise like mad the second he stays still.
Thwre are some great gentle methods for loose leash walking. I prefer turning around the second they take up the slack and rewarding as soon as it’s slack again the other way

Definitely will follow advice re not chasing to put on harness and will just have to leave more time or shorten walks slightly.
I am just having one of those ‘omg - why did I do this’ days. In fairness we can now get a few metres of lose lead walking but there are just sooooooo many gateposts and lampposts to sniff!!!!! My fault for getting a cocker spaniel. 😉
will keep on persevering with the training ( and only getting to the end of our road 🤣)

My dog (20 months) looves the harness chasing game but I’ve stopped it by offering a treat in one hand and slipping the harness on with the other while he eats it. Now he just sticks his head through and waits for his treat 😂. He was a nightmare with pulling up to about a year old but now we get comments on how nicely he walks 🥰. I still use a halti no-pull harness on him with the lead attached to the front and I’m happy to stick with it.

If it’s any reassurance with the loose lead walking, it used to easily take my sister 1.5 hrs to do about 300 meters. It was painful. However she’s got a big dog so couldn’t cut corners as there was a real risk if badly trained he could
pull her over or into the road. Now at four he is an absolute joy and so polite.

I'm having similar issues with mine. She's a 5 month old springer. She behaves well putting the harness on and sitting/waiting whilst I open the doors and gates etc. but oh my god...lead pulling is unreal.

She can go a decent distance like a little angel but then becomes a nightmare for pulling. I'm trying the change of direction each time she pulls and praise when she has the smiling lead but god it's hard work.

I think I have the puppy blues because most days I am wondering what I was thinking getting a puppy right now!

I feel for you. But as others have said, you need to persevere. It takes months not weeks for a puppy to 'get' it, even for bright breeds. If the harness has a front ring as well as the back ring, try that. It worked with my spaniel.

I have tried training eye contact for treats. My pup 16 weeks old constantly looks up at me for treats when on the lead. If he's checking in he's not pulling. He knows that treats only happen when he's right next to my leg. I have also tried something weird that has worked for me. When the lead goes tight I say "good boy" which is his mark for a good behaviour. So, he stops pulling and turns round and comes back for his treat. He's now learnt that tight lead means good boy, means come back to mum, means treat. He's starting self correcting a tight lead now. I got all this from Steve Mann Easy peasy doggy Squeezy book which goes into more detail than his puppy book. Also I have an advantage- pup is working Labrador- very bright and absolutely food obsessed which makes training much easier.