Walk your dog! Don't let them walk you!
The first step to having a peaceful walk is to train your dog to heel or at least walk on a loose leash. The key to this is a few weeks of commitment and in return you will have a lifetime of peaceful walks! The best thing to do is to have a place to to let your dog burn off their energy without the leash. The second is to do leash training a couple times a day in 5 minute intervals.
You want to start training in your own yard where there are few distractions. Before you begin get really tasty (high-Value) treats. A treat that smells good and tastes good (dried liver, small pieces of canned chicken (you can buy white chunk chicken in a can), small pieces of cheese, anything that will keep your dogs attention.
Put the leash on your dog and pull him close to your left hip. Hold the treats close to that hip and say heel and take a few steps ahead, as soon as he walks beside you (probably watching the treat), instead of pulling ahead say YES! and give a small treat. Say heel as you take 3 steps forward, and again, as he is walking close to your hip and looking to you, say yes, and treat. Try not to say heel as you are stopping as this will confuse him, but say it as you start out after the previous treat. If he does not remain focused on the treat, stop, stand still and try again, no treat, but you can lure him back to you by showing him the treat. If it still doesn't work, your treat is not high value enough. Think of it this way, if the idea of all the new smells and excitement of a walk is better in his mind than the treat you are holding, that treat is not enough to keep him engaged in learning something new!
Do this for just a few times the first time. If you have a fenced yard, you can then let him off leash to run around as he will be excited from the yummy treats and the "learning" of something new. If you practice this several times the first few days you should be able to move to longer periods of time and more paces between treating. Keep practicing and keep rewarding. Eventually, you will be able to phase out the treats and just use praise and it will become the new habit for the dog to walk by your side and not yanking ahead. Unless you are doing obedience, the goal is not to have the dog glued to your side, but to get him to a point that walking on a leash is a comfortable place.
Things to note: Your dog should be able to learn this with a regular collar. A choke collar should not ever be used. It can cause the dogs trachea to collapse and most times they are not used correctly. There are many alternatives to a choke collar and many tools that will help you comfortably walk your dog.
Heather Young
MidSouth Co-Coordinator