They can't pull as hard. My dog actually prefers the head harness -- she pulls so hard on a collar-attached leash that she starts gagging. She's a 50-lb. setter.

I also was able to distract my previous dog from going prey-berserk with a laser pointer. She would go after the laser dot down the sidewalk until we were past the critter. She was a lunger -- she'd actually back up to get a running lunge to try to snap the leash out of my hand. Many times I sat on the ground so as not to be pulled over. The Gentle Leader solved that!

I hadn't heard of Gentle Leader, but will look into it right away!

I have a 115 pound doberman/hound mix. Squirrels used to be the bane of my existence on a walk. It is AMAZING the difference with the gentle leader. Just note - they will probably try to paw it off at first...just keep walking a brisk pace to distract them, and in no time they forget about it.

Also, teach them to "leave it". It is my favorite command. It is basically the "stop paying attention to whatever that is and pay attention to me" command. With successful leave it, if they react to critters on a walk, I tell them leave it and between that and the gentle leader, we have good walks now.

Leave it - how my trainer taught me to teach it. Put your dog on a leash. Put a plate of something yummy on the floor (hot dog, cheese, etc.). Have pieces of whatever it is on you. Let them wander over to the plate. As they get closer, say "leave it", and gently tug on the leash. When they back away, praise, then treat. Keep doing it until they back away on their own, praise, treat. It is the handiest of commands. Baby bird in yard, dogs running towards it...LEAVE IT!!! They both stop and look at me. Squirrel on a walk, LEAVE IT... walk on by...

I have 3 big dogs. They are 85 to 95 pounds. My shepherd mix has a huge prey drive. The only time she has pulled me down was when I was walking on ice in Boston. I went through a bunch of harnesses. The head leader worked well, but it started to cut into her snout, so I went to the EZ walk, which attaches around her chest and under her belly. I would suggest that you start walking your dogs one at a time. They might behave better alone with you. You also might want to run them in your yard if you have one. Try to tire them out with a game before your walk. I have also seen trainers use small treats to distract the dogs when there's prey around. You have to get them to look at you and give you their attention and treats are a good way to get that. Don't use prong collars or choker chains though. I went through that as well, and they just made my dog worse. Good luck!

I've tried that, and the left-behind dog has a meltdown, crying and barking at the front window.

Funny you should mention tiring them out prior to the walk. I take them on their walk to a nearby field where they can run, run, run to their heart's content -- and get all tired out. So, my way is backwards!

I have 3, so two get left behind with their kitty sisters so they are not alone. Anyway, good luck!

And someone actually suggested against them. Bless you. Nice bunch here.

I really wish they were outlawed.

so take anything I say with a grain of salt, but I always loved to watch the show "It's Me or The Dog".

Here are suggestions from Victoria Stilwell:

https://positively.com/dog-behavior/nuisance-behaviors/leash-issues/pulling-on-the-leash/

I watched that video and can try that method with my dogs (in the backyard).

No matter what "beastly" behavior the dogs on the show displayed, Victoria always fixed it! Amazing.

And if I remember correctly, it is all about treats and rewards.

It's not so easy to curb a very strong prey drive, but what is probably your biggest problem is in not teaching them that they aren't allowed to lunge at whatever they want.

I've always owned large breed dogs, and I'm a small person. Pound for pound they're far stronger than I am, and if not taught to walk properly on a leash beside me or not to lunge at anything be it animal or human I wouldn't be able to walk them on leash at all or I'd end up face planting constantly with my arm ripped out of my socket. I HAVE to teach my dogs that they have to behave on leash or there isn't going to be any leash walking, and the latter isn't going to happen since they have to have their exercise.

That doesn't mean they aren't allowed to take an interest in other critters or other people. They can be as interested as they want as long as it's not a problem for me. We've chased bunnies and squirrels and sent flocks of birds into flight or chased mice down street drains or into someone's ivy plantings or leaf piles in the Fall, or whatever, but no cat chasing allowed (it's not nice to unnecessarily frighten other peoples' pets, and kitty may decide to come out swinging in which case doggie will lose).

There are a lot of different bits of equipment to make walking on leash easier, but the most important thing is to teach them what's allowed on leash and what isn't. Letting your dog walk in front of you is a problem since that tells the dog that they're the leader on leash walks which means they get to decide how they act on leash because in a dog's mind the leader of the pack always goes first.

It's also got to be a hell of a lot easier to teach your dogs how to walk on leash one at a time. Walking them both at the same time especially with both leashes in one hand means you can't correct the one that's needing correcting without correcting both which will just confuse the one not doing anything wrong yet being corrected. Until both dogs learn to heel while on leash and that you get to decide what they're allowed to do on leash and what they aren't allowed to do, walking both at the same time is going to be a problem.

You're going to have to work with each of your dogs separately on leash or you can get someone else to handle the other dog that will be the one doing the teaching. Once they learn what behavior is ok on leash and what isn't then you can walk both together... usually. Sometimes certain dogs when they walk together decide to forget everything they've ever been taught and egg each other on into misbehavior. Then again, some dogs behave better when a certain other dog is also walking with them.

All that said, it's time for Yoshi and I to leash up and do our nightly constitutional. Bunnies beware! LOL!

My Border Collie mix used to want to chase everything and herd joggers. I would bring great treats; pull her back(on harness) say leave it and give a hot dog bite. With two dogs you might want to take them on some separate walks for training. My dog tripped me a couple of times before I did this and I ended up with bad scrapes and bruises. Now she's a dog I can trust to not cause me to get hurt.