Train eye contact, not heel. A dog cannot look up at you and pull ahead at the same time, so a dog who learns that looking at you pays walks beside you as a byproduct. But that training only holds if you also fix why your dog is so desperate to get ahead in the first place.
By Max Randall · IMDT Qualified · OCN Accredited · 1,000+ dogs helped
Hold a lead in both hands. Your end walks at three miles an hour. The dog's end wants seven. That's pulling. That's the whole thing.
The pulling walk. Your end does 3 mph. The dog's end wants 7. Pulling is just the gap.
Reward the check-in. A dog looking up at you cannot also drive out in front. Pay the glance and the position sorts itself.
Five seconds after the treat. The world still pays more than you do, so the dog banks your chicken and gets back to business.
Skip the heel drills. A dog cannot drive out in front of you and look up at you at the same time, so pay the look. The loose lead comes free.
Boring room, no distractions, say nothing. The second your dog looks at you, mark it. Let them work out what made the food happen.
The food always arrives at your trouser seam. The dog starts hanging around that exact spot, because that's where the good stuff lands.
Room, garden, quiet street, then real walks. The full step-by-step, taught with a dog who'd never done it, is the Everything Lead Walking lesson.
Someone asked me this at the end of my last webinar, so I stood up and grabbed a lead. Because here's the bit nobody tells you: the training worked. Your dog learned that looking at you pays. That's why they take the chicken.
Then they shoot straight back out front. Not confused. Desperate. The smell, the park, the dog across the road are all paying more than you are. Your dog knows exactly what you want them to do. It just isn't benefiting them.
So the real question is: why is your dog that desperate? This next bit is the most useful thing I'll ever show you about your walks.
Not for water. For doing stuff: sniffing, chasing, finding, shredding, being a dog. When those needs aren't met at home, your dog leaves the house parched. And out there?
Through your dog's eyes: the lamppost is water, the smell is water, the squirrel is big water, and that spaniel across the road is a swimming pool. A thirsty dog isn't ignoring you. They're drinking.
You cannot train thirst away. Every "stop pulling, leave it, this way" just makes you the barrier between a parched dog and the water. That's why the treat stops working, and why being firmer won't work either.
Real sniffing work, proper outlets for what their breed was built to do, actual sleep. A provided-for dog walks out the door with the tank full, and the bowls out there stop mattering so much.
Eye contact on a dog who isn't desperate becomes a habit in a couple of weeks. Same training, different dog, completely different result.
The catch? What quenches your dog depends on what they were bred to do. A collie's water is not a beagle's water is not a spaniel's water. Working that out for your exact dog, and building it into a day that actually fits your life, is literally what MK9Plus is.
Find your dog's water →7-day free trial · Bare Hands money-back guarantee
Amy's dogs both pulled on the lead. She didn't fix it with heel work, gadgets or corrections. She quenched the thirst, and the pulling went with it. Here she is telling it herself:
Watch Amy's interview, with the rest of the member stories, on the MK9Plus reviews page.
The ones owners actually ask me, answered straight.
The Whole Dog Approach quenches what's driving the desperation first, so the eye contact training holds on every walk, without a pocket full of chicken forever.
Start Your Free Trial →Rated Excellent on Trustpilot · IMDT qualified · OCN accredited
Written by Max Randall, IMDT-qualified and OCN-accredited dog trainer · More free dog training guides · The philosophy: Don't De-Dog Your Dog · FAQ