Hello everyone.  Could I please ask.....what's a good way to train your dog to walk on the lead?

I have a 6 month old english springer spaniel.  He works to the whistle and is pretty good (most of the time) but putting him on the lead to teach him to heel is a nightmare.  I ask him to heel but he keeps pulling!  I thought I might be confusing him whilst we were on our walks by me saying "heel" but him thinking "pull."  So I tried at home. I toldl him to heel (with and without lead) and he was as good as gold.  I taught him the heel technique from the gwen bailey book. 
I have tried every collar/lead (except choke chain and half choke).    He is much better with the head lead but I'd like to get to a point where I don't worry about this. 

Loads of ESS owners I speak to only laugh and say, "but he's a springer."  I know....but it would still be nice to get him on the lead.  Am I asking far too much from a 6 month old?  I definitely don't want to hit and be aggressive, surely there are other ways?

Thank you.

Just because he's a springer doesn't mean he can't walk nicely on a lead.
I found the best  way was (i've got three dogs on leads at at time) to put their leads on in the hall but not till their all sat calmly then i always walk out the door before them, if anyone starts to pull i don't say anything or look at them but stand still until they calm down. then when they stand quietly i will continue. they soon realise that if they pull then they don't get to move anywhere. this may take alittle time and you'll be stopping quite a few times but i've never known it fail yet.
I did this with all my dogs at separate times first, so they all got the hang of it.  
sure other people will have other methods for you.   

I used the same method as bear.
Lead on only once dog is sat calmly, me first out of the door, dog to sit/stand  calmly without pulling while I lock the door, if dog pulls, stand still. To start with, every step pup took on a slack lead was praised ('good walking') and sometimes re-inforced with a treat, then when the message seemed to be getting through I introduced a 'no pull' verbal if he did pull. Sometimes with major distraction (loose dogs, screaming kids, people walking close etc...) I would get him to sit untill he calmed down before walking on.
You can get your dog to walk 'nicely' on a lead. My dog loves to pull (he enjoys pulling me up a very steep hill on command 'go on'), but I managed to get him to walk great and he's not the sharpest tool in the box, LOL.

Some peolpe prefer the change-direction method, but I couldn't get on with this, I found it only excited and confused my pup. I wanted the lead to = calmness, so it was not the method for me, add to that a confused & excited pup doesn't learn as well as a calm, focused pup.

I lead train puppies with a training lead , I extend the lead putting it into a loop as you walk if he pulls release the loop and turn around walking the other way sometimes to the left or the right as they run to catch you up say heel putting them in to the heel  (remembering to loop the lead back up) so they learn that is where you want them to walk I also have treats in my pocket and occasionally say look when they look then treat, this makes the puppy watch you rather than pull as they dont know which way you are going to go or if they are going to get a treat.
Difficult to describe but works really quickly if you are consistent , it can sometimes take you a while to get where ever you are going but worth the work to have a dog that is a delight to walk on a lead.

HTH

Roni

Try using a clicker to train heel walking, first at home as he can already do that, then when you are out.
Because it is a more instant reward which doesn't stop the behaviour (if you just give a treat when walking along the dog will often stop walking to heel while they eat it), but marks it, you can get the dog to better understand what is expected, even though he is excited to be out and about.
Don't forget to 'prime' your clicker/dog with treats before you start training, though.

Hi
OK, so he can do it at home in the garden.  Have you then tried the exercise on boring places like car parks? Bowling greens? Parks? Then the open countryside?  What I'm saying is that there is a hierarchy of distractions;  whilst he understands the concept of 'heel' in the house/garden, the distractions of where you walk are currently too great, so you need to find somewhere less distracting and get the behaviour there first and then build up. 

If you can, stop the idea of 'going for a walk' - ie getting from A to B;  if you need to free run him, drive him somewhere where you can open the car boot and let him out.  Then you can concentrate on your lead training separately when you're not under any pressure to get somewhere! 

And NO....you don't need to hit or be aggressive, but it does take perserverance!  :-)  Trust me....start now!  In retrospect I  let my first GSP get away with hell on the leash as a pup;  it has taken YEARS to repair and although he can now walk around a pheasant pen on a loose lead he has learnt choice and will just every now and then remind me of that fact!  Having suffered the indignity of being dragged and subsequently falling over (several times!) - courteousy of a 35 kg pointer - I made damned sure that the next one NEVER learnt to pull on the leash!  Hindsight is a wonderful thing.  :-)