I don't think there is one sure fire method that always works without fail for every dog in every situation. I disagree that the prong (as long as it is used correctly), is painful. It mainly prevents pulling from happening in the first place, at least in my experience, the same as a halti does. I do not really agree with popping it the way you would a slip collar in order to give a correction. I don't use it for training, I use it as a band-aid/insurance only when I'm walking Tommy on a very busy street with traffic because he is prone to bolting if something startles him. He is stronger than me, and I'd rather have him wear a prong than yank out of my grasp and bolt into oncoming traffic when something startling happens. As I've mentioned before, I used to use a gentle leader (for 2 years), but he was miserable every time, no matter how many treats I gave him, how often he was exposed to it. He'd have his tail tucked the entire walk because he hated that thing on his face. I decided to try the prong for his sake, not mine, as I would have preferred to stay with the leader but I couldn't stand his misery with it.

As I mentioned, I don't train with it, training sessions are pretty much 100% positive reinforcement. I don't even say the word "no" while training. I completely ignore undesirable behavior, or give a passive consequence such as halting the walk until they stop and sit down, then praising and continuing.

Negative reinforcement is not bad reinforcement in the sense that you might be viewing it (talking to Audrey here ), it simply means giving a "negative" consequence that the dog will want to avoid, i.e. saying no, giving a correction, etc. In that light, I suppose stopping the walk until they stop pulling and sit is sort of a negative reinforcement. It's something the dog will want to avoid, but it seems to me most trainers don't really classify that as a negative reinforcer.

Positive reinforcement of course is a good consequence for good behavior, praise, treat, a toy, etc. Many trainers advocate using a mix of both positive and negative reinforcement when training. I suppose I do a combination in some instances, although not by saying "no" "bad" and making him/her do what I want. I prefer to behave in a way that makes the dog choose to do the behavior I want on their own. For example, if I throw Tommy's ball and he gets it and then gives it back to me when I say "give it to me" he may get a treat (random) or get the ball thrown again (which is a reward for him). If he goes and gets it, and does not give it to me when I ask him, I ignore him for a few moments and that usually does the trick, he'll often come give it to me when he sees I won't chase him. If he still doesn't, the session is over and he has to go back inside, no treat and no more ball throwing at that time. That's his consequence.

I found it's easiest to train leash manners starting out without a leash on, teaching off-leash heeling using treats as a lure and treating/praising heavily as they walked at my side, while saying heel. After some practice with this they learn to associate 'heel' with walking at your side and they do it enthusiastically for reward, not to avoid a pop. When they get proficient at that, you add in a leash and keep doing the same thing. I'd love to start out this way with a puppy and prevent pulling from ever happening in the first place, because once pulling habit is formed it's tougher to eliminate.

Tommy is fairly well trained on leash walking and I'm still working with him, however in his case he has his timidity issues, which I've also worked with extensively. Clicker training methods will not eliminate his startle response to sudden stimuli. I've worked with him on this extensively, and I still am. I have to work with each new thing individually, but I do not think I will ever completely eliminate his initial *jerk* response when something unexpected occurs. I don't use either choker or prong on Tasha, and I wouldn't use either on Tommy if he did not have that startle response issue. As it is, I only use it when I feel I am in a potentially dangerous situation, i.e. walking by a major highway or trafficway.