Far be it from me to give heeling advise, but here's my tail...In puppy kindergarden at 4 months, Cody learned to heel fairly quickly, after having his little paws stepped on a few times. But when on walks, it was yank, lunge, and pull, he walked me! Cause he's so big and powerful, it was an ordeal, not fun so then everytime he pulled I'd dig my heels in and stop, yank the leash back, sternly say "stay" Then I slowly started saying "Wait for me" , otherwise, I didn't move and he got the hang of it. It took a while. I agree with Rachel, because Cody is in the house most of the day when I'm not home, so he looks forward to his "sniffing tours" and I hate to restrict him. We walk from one side of the street to the other, where-ever he wants to go, providing there is no pull. I can hold the leash with 1 finger and even wrap it (6 foot leather) around my neck and walk closely with him. For years I used a loose pincher collar but I realized he knows exactly what is expected of him and stopped using it and he was fine. I think heeling, and walking without pulling was the hardest thing I had to teach him esp; since he has 4 strong legs and is soo powerful. He still has his rare bad days but I do the stop mode again and keep telling myself "I'm the boss"!" cause he knows how to get the best of me. (big brown eyes!) By the way, a Labradoodle sounds adorable!

[This message has been edited by karen israel (edited April 09, 2001).]