Like I said in my last blog there are many tools that are wrong for the job when teaching your dog not to pull, but what are the right tools?

First of all let’s talk about collars

Gosh there are so many different ones now. Half-check, choke chains, prong collars, buckle or clip fastening and I’ve even seen a double collar design. It can be very confusing for an owner on what to buy when faced with all these options in store.

What you need is a standard buckle or clip fastening collar, but you need to make sure it fits correctly. Using a collar that is too loose or tight for your dog will get you no where. I do find a lot of owners buy a collar that is usually way too big for their dog.

So what is correct fit?

Well personally I feel for small dogs you want to be able to to get 3 fingers flat under the collar once fastened and 4 fingers flat for bigger breed. Now I do not mean 3 fingers stacked on top of each other, I mean 3 fingers flat and it should be a snug fit not loose.

(See image for reference)

Choosing the right lead for dog walking

All you need is a standard lead 1.5/2 meters long. Reframe from using any leads that has what is known as a ‘bungee’ in it, this extra slack does not help. Also I cannot stress enough do not use a retractable (Flexi) lead! A retractable lead actually teaches your dog to pull, so I advise all owners not to use one until their dog has been taught to walk without pulling.

Some of you may use a retractable to give your dog a sense of freedom when at a local park because they have poor recall, which I understand. However, if you remember in my blog ‘Golden rule for lead walk’ (if you’ve not read it, please do.) You aren’t going to be going to the park when training are you?! Now for a while at least and when you make it as far as the park, you then want to teach them to walk without pulling around it before granting freedom.

So there you have it, the correct tools for the job are a standard collar and lead. None of the other fancy stuff will be needed to help you walk your dog!

Next I will be sharing with you a rather personal story and why I decided to dedicate most of my blog to lead walking. You can read that in my blog ‘Why I hate pulling dogs’