Hello all,

I have a great 8 month old German Shorthair pup.  He is very intelligent, full of energy, and has all of the other qualities you expect from a German Shorthair.  However, I have difficulty controlling him on walks.  He can heel, and he will sit and wait while people pass us (but occasionally tries to lunge at them), but in general he pulls very hard, trying to cover and sniff out as much ground as possible.

I've been working with him constantly to try to get him to stop pulling, but as soon as something catches his attention, he starts pulling again.  Right now, I use a normal collar and leash, but I have been thinking of getting him a harness or Gentle Leader.  Can anyone offer advice on what will prevent him from pulling?  I want him to enjoy his walks and be able to sniff whatever he wants, but I just want some more control.

I used a gentle leader with Bella when she was a younger pup. She was not a crazy puller, and I used it only in places where she would be overly excited or stimulated like feed stores and festivals. It works well when used correctly, but I wouldn't recommend it if your dog lunges as he might pull through it. There are easy walk harnesses that I know also work, but I have seen and heard complaints of them rubbing under the dog's arms. Again, if used correctly probably not a huge issue. I've seen people leaving them on their dogs when their dog was allowed to run off lead and I would assume that would cause a lot of rubbing. My friend uses one on her rescue and it has only thinned the fur a little at the pits, not rubbed.

I have seen many on here suggest a prong collar which is a little more harsh of a consequence for pulling (which is why I passed them over), but what I am seeing is that it something that you only have to use for a short amount of time before the dog learns. I've never tried it personally, but whereas I wasn't before...I'd be open to it now.

One thing I did with Bella, again as she is not a mad puller, but did like to have her nose to the ground (which is not an acceptable heel for me) was interchange heeling and "go sniff" where I followed her lead and she was free to sniff as she pleased. This seem to help a bit as we both got what we wanted. They have an innate need and desire to sniff and explore their world. I also incorporated a "walk free" command which allows her to be in front of me as long as the leash is loose. This gives her a little more freedom on walks without me expecting full perfection the entire duration and saved us both a lot of leash walking headaches. She's still not perfect...but we leash walk maybe once or twice a month so I really can't complain about something I don't actively work on daily  We can at least enjoy leash walks without stopping every five seconds to enforce the solid heel

My tuppenceworth - we struggled with this with our previous gsp for 2 years and with our current gsp who is now 15 months old.

I've now got Keely walking well with a normal collar and leash and it's because i went to a gundog trainer who knows the breed.  He backed up what i'd been told from day one but actually showed us how to put it into practice - be interesting to your dog, work for his/her attention when on the lead starting with places with little or no distractions and working up to busier environements.  I'm still working with Keely on the busier environments but there's been definate improvements recently as i've only lead-trained when i'm honestly feeling REALLY motivated for results and success.  If i cant be bothered, she picks up on it, i then get frustrated, she starts dancing around, and so on.  Honestly, just be totally engaging, and build up. 

I have the same issue as Smatulewicz in the respect that not every walk is on-leash - i can be down a busy beach with lots of dogs and people and excitement going on and Keely off-leash and i have complete control, but she knows we're still coming to an understanding (ie MY way ) about how she behaves when on the lead.

The lunging thing, she still does it to a degree but i stay calm and i dont fight her, i just change direction - she still tries to drag me to other dogs but i'm finding more and more that it's sinking in with her because she gives up a little easier now.  

Harnesses are a difficult one - many argue that normal harnesses encourage pulling, others that they give more control if you're stuck with a puller anyway - i've experienced both outcomes so i'll sit on the fence with that one. I'm currently using a gencon figure of 8 headcollar for Keely purely to have more guarentee of control for when i'm walking her with the new pup, but aside from that i do truly believe that although tools are handy there is no permanent substitute for proper lead training.  If you do use a tool (harness, headcollar etc) use it to your full advantage to show the dog what's expected and maybe alternate it with a normal collar under less distracting conditions. Good luck.

We tried harnesses on Joey, but she still would lunge like crazy if she got excited, and a regular collar she'd choke herself like crazy. We ended up following the advice of people here and getting a prong collar. Its not harsh at all, I made sure I tried it on my arm first and tugging on it.

They have a "choke" mode if you only hook the least to one loop that tightens like a regular choke collar in addition to the prongs which we don't use. If you hook the leash thru both rings on the collar, it won't choke. I honestly feel best using it as I know its not choking or hurting her, but also keeps her under our control. They do look a bit nasty but to me knowing that its the best thing for our dog far outweighs any perception. To each their own, but this worked wonders for us.

ps. we barely EVER leash walk her, only at the vet or in a pet store basically. I kinda feel it defeats the purpose of a GSP  . We have a fenced in yard and she runs off lead normally elsewhere.

Dad, its 1 degree outside!
 

 Our GSP is 2 1/2, and we tried most of the front attachment harnesses but we had a lot of issues it rubbing under her armpits even though adjusted perfectly, mostly because her fur is so thin under there. We also tried the prong collar which worked fairly well, but what we're finding works absolutely best with us is the gentle leader collar...i.e. see picture below. Luna doesn't like it, but I LOVE walking her on it. It's completely night and day!