Dog Training Tips & Guides

How to Stop Your Dog Pulling on the Leash

Leash pulling is the number-one complaint dog owners bring to trainers. If you've tried jerking back, saying "no," or just giving up and letting them pull — you're not alone, and you're not doing it wrong. You're just missing the one rule that makes everything else work.

Why dogs pull in the first place

Dogs pull because it works. Every time they lunge forward and you follow, they learn that pulling gets them where they want to go. It's not stubbornness or dominance — it's simple cause and effect. Your job is to break that equation.

High-energy breeds like Labradors, Huskies, and Belgian Malinois have stronger instincts to cover ground fast. But the same principles apply to every dog at every age — it just takes longer with a dog who's been rewarded for pulling for years.

The one rule: forward motion is the reward

The moment the leash goes taut, stop moving. Don't yank back, don't scold — just freeze. Your forward motion is the most powerful reward on a walk. Withhold it the instant they pull.

1. Leash goes tight → you plant your feet and wait.
2. Dog turns back to you or the leash relaxes → say "yes" and take one step forward.
3. Repeat — hundreds of times, every walk, for two weeks.

It feels slow at first. You may make it half a block in 20 minutes. That's fine. You're rewriting the behaviour from scratch.

Add equipment that helps

A front-clip harness attaches at the chest. When a dog pulls, the clip redirects their momentum sideways — the pulling motion becomes self-defeating. It's not a cure, but it makes the teaching phase much easier while you build the trained behaviour.

Avoid retractable leashes entirely while training. They teach dogs the opposite lesson: pulling always gets more slack.

Teach the "with me" cue

Once your dog is reliably checking in and the leash stays loose most of the time, add the verbal cue. Say "with me" as they're walking in the right position, then reward. Within a week or two, "with me" becomes a reset you can use mid-walk when their attention drifts.

Puppy Potty Training Schedule by Age

Potty training isn't complicated — it's a numbers game. A puppy can only hold their bladder for a limited time, and most accidents happen because we either waited too long or missed the signals. Here's what to expect at each stage.

The golden rule: age in months + 1

A puppy can hold their bladder for roughly one hour per month of age, plus one. So a 2-month-old puppy: roughly 3 hours max. That's the ceiling — not the expectation. When in doubt, take them out earlier.

8–10 weeks: every 30–45 minutes, plus after every nap, meal, and play session

This is the most intense phase. Your puppy's bladder is tiny and their awareness of needing to go is basically zero. You're managing the environment entirely. Crate training helps enormously here — puppies are reluctant to soil where they sleep, so a crate that's just large enough to turn around in becomes a built-in signal.

What to do: Carry the puppy to the same spot outside (scent reinforces the habit), wait up to 5 minutes, reward immediately after they go. No delay. The reward has to happen within 2 seconds of the behaviour.

10–14 weeks: every 45–60 minutes

Bladder control improves. You'll start to see signals — sniffing the floor, circling, suddenly going quiet. Interrupt and redirect outside without scolding. If you catch an accident in progress, a calm "outside!" and quick trip out is ideal. Scolding after the fact does nothing — the puppy has no memory of the act by the time you've found the mess.

3–4 months: every 1.5–2 hours

Most puppies can make it through the night by 12–14 weeks if their last outdoor trip is right before bed and first thing after waking. They're also starting to signal reliably. Watch for: going to the door, sitting near it, or making eye contact while circling.

4–6 months: working toward independence

By 4 months, most puppies can signal consistently and hold it for 3–4 hours. By 6 months, many are reliably house-trained. Regression happens around growth spurts and changes in routine — don't panic, go back to basics for a few days.

The final piece is a reliable verbal cue: say "go potty" (or whatever phrase you choose) right as they start to eliminate. Within a few weeks, the cue will trigger the behaviour on command — useful for quick bathroom trips before car rides or long outings.

3 Ways to Stop Excessive Barking

Barking is communication. Before you can fix excessive barking, you need to identify which type you're dealing with — because the technique that works for alert barking at the window is completely different from what works for demand barking or separation anxiety.

First: identify your trigger type

The three most common categories:

• Alert/territorial barking — triggered by strangers, dogs, or sounds outside. Often at the window or door.
• Demand barking — the dog wants something (attention, food, play) and has learned that barking gets it.
• Anxiety barking — triggered by being alone, overstimulation, or fear. Often includes pacing, whining, or destructive behaviour.

Method 1: Interrupt and redirect (for alert barking)

When your dog starts barking at the window, call them away calmly and reward them for coming. The goal is to build a reflex: stimulus → leave the window → get a reward. You're not suppressing the bark, you're building a competing behaviour.

Over time, pair this with a "quiet" cue. Wait for a natural pause in barking, say "quiet" in a calm voice, and reward. Don't say "quiet" while they're barking — it won't stick. Wait for silence first, even a second's worth, then mark and reward.

Method 2: Extinction (for demand barking)

Demand barking survives because it gets results. The fix is consistent non-response. Every time you look at, talk to, or push away the dog during a demand barking episode, you've rewarded it — even negative attention counts.

Turn your back, leave the room, or become completely still. The moment they stop barking (even to take a breath), turn back and give them what they wanted — but only if they're quiet. Within a few days to a week, the barking episodes shorten and frequency drops.

Caveat: Extinction causes an "extinction burst" first — the behaviour gets worse before it gets better. Expect 2–3 days of more intense barking before it starts declining. Stay consistent through it.

Method 3: Desensitisation (for anxiety or fear-based barking)

For dogs that bark from fear — at sounds, strangers, or when left alone — the approach is gradual exposure at a threshold where they can stay calm. If your dog barks at the sight of strangers from across the street, start by rewarding calm behaviour with strangers visible at a greater distance, then slowly close the gap over days or weeks.

This takes longer than the other two methods, and for severe anxiety cases, it's worth consulting a veterinary behaviourist who can assess whether medication support would help the training process.