Put your dog on a lead before you leave the house and walk him to the door as if you are leaving the house if the dog pulls ahead of you, stop and tighten on the lead and bring him back to where he started. Let the lead slacken and tell the dog to heel on your left side. As you walk towards the door again try to keep the lead slack as not to get him into the habit of leaning on the lead. Keep repeating this until he stops pulling on the lead, when you get success, praise the dog and give him a treat.
When you get the dog to the door, get the dog to sit while you open the door, when you tell the dog to sit you may need to exert a small amount of pressure on his lower back area to encourage him to the sitting position. If the dog attempts to move while you open the door quickly tell him to sit and keep repeating the action until the dog is steady.
You should walk threw the door first and then encourage the dog to follow you. When you are on the outside, tell the dog to sit again while you close the door and do not close the door until you have the dog steady. When you have managed this, praise the dog again by speaking in an upbeat tone. (You do not have to give a treat every time you have success as it will take from the reward the dog expects)
With the dog on your left side start to walk forward keeping the lead slack while commanding the dog to heel, if the dog pulls forward tighten the lead again and bring the dog back to your left side and as you stand still slacken the lead again. If the dog rushes forward again tighten on the lead bringing him back to your left side again and slacken on the lead again. When the dog remains steady, praise him again in an upbeat manner and give him a treat.
While your dog is walking correctly, you should give him praise but don’t over do it because it may cause the dog to get excited and start to pull. While walking, you can give the dog a treat now and again, which will make the walking to heal a pleasant experience.
If at any stage the dog starts to pull while you walk with him stop at once and tighten on the lead tell him to heel again and as in step one, slacken again on the lead and start to walk again. Try not to lose your cool with your dog, as it may make him afraid of you and so he will not want to walk beside you which will defeat the purpose.
Finally while on your walk, do not let your dog smell every lamp post, park bench or tree for that matter because it will become a habit that will ruin your walk with the dog due to incessant stopping every twenty.
I hope some of these tips will be of benefit to you in training your dog on a lead. A problem that I see day in day out as I drive around my city looking at people been dragged around by over exuberant dogs that just don’t understand because they have not been shown a couple of few easy steps. Remember stay calm, be patient and when your dog behaves properly give him praise. Enjoy your walk.