Leaves and pulling

[Discussing Labradoodles & Goldendoodles]

Help! Decker will absolutely not stop eating leaves lying around in the yard. I'm concerned about him getting ahold of something that will make him sick. I can tell him "leave it," "no," try to redirect and just lead him to a less leaf-littered part of the yard. All to no avail. Any suggestions? It's a rental house so even if we were to buy a rake to get up all the leaves, there are so many trees around that they blow into the yard from every direction. I know he'll eventually outgrown it, but what can I do in the meantime?
Then there's the pulling. We use a fabric martingale collar and he pulls so hard on walks that he chokes himself and ends up gagging and coughing. In addition, I'm disabled and it makes it very difficult for me to walk him. He's only 14 weeks old and a little over 20 lbs but he's strong as an ox! I'm concerned about him pulling me right down into a fall. After three strokes and being on blood thinners for the rest if my life, that's something I would prefer to avoid. I intend on talking to our trainer later this week, but was wondering if anyone else has had this issue and how you overcame it.
Whew, sorry for the long post, just needed to ask for opinions on both of these issues.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

You might want to try an Easy Walk Harness to help deter the pulling. It is much easier on a young puppy with no chance of crushing / injuring his esophagus.
I can only tell you, the grabbing of everything in sight, dismisses with age. Until then, re-enforce the leave it command. Wish I had a nickel for every piece of " whatever" I pulled out of Enzo's mouth.

[Adina P]

Key point in your post was "he's 14 weeks old."  Commands like 'leave it" and "no" are good ones, but at 14 weeks, he is still barely learning what they mean and how he is to respond and WHY.  Most pups his age are NOT obedient...they are like 15 month old toddlers...they just go and do and are crazy explorers.  So with maturity and a training plan you WILL be able to teach him to respond to your commands...it just won't happen, at a reliable level, yet.  For example, you can't train "leave it" in the heat of the moment. You have to start the train it in a calm moment at home where you have control over the environment and the 'thing' he wants to get at.  And then don't even use the command when he's in a situation where he is unlikely to obey until you've worked up to that. 
Similar with walking politely on leash.  It takes training time and working up to difficult situations.  In the meantime, just do your best to keep your eye out and he'll probably be fine.

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

About the collar, a martingale, a slip type training collar or a prong collar will not work unless it fits properly and rides high on the neck, just behind the ears at the base of the skull.  Your local pet shop or any trainer can help you fit that correctly.  My Meg pulled until she gagged as well until we got the proper fit, walking became a dream with the proper fit and a very small amount of training.

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Both my Sasha and Oliver were horrible pullers, once I got the Gentle Leaders no pulling !!!  As far as picking up leaves, that is just a "puppy" thing and everyone said above he will grow out of it - eventually :)

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Adina said it all. Start training now but he is a baby. You can't expect too much for a long time.
Leaves- rake or blow the leaves to clean them up, then install a simple snow fence.
I have to do this every year because I have neighbors who don't even know what a rake is even though they have 17 gigantic trees. Snow fencing might make a nice little play area for you too and leaves stay out
If you don't clean up the leaves you really have problems later: fungus, dead grass- which equals mud. Clean now or clean later. It's easier to clean fresh leaves

[Donna Bay & Buzz]

Two words...Gentle Leader! It will change everything for you with the pulling. Keep him on a leash til the leaves are gone. Its almost over.

[Donna Bay & Buzz]

And by the way...did i forget to say welcome? And your Decker is adorable. Gentle Leader...Gentle Leader...Gentle Leader :)

[Lynda Kamrath]

I would suggest a harness for walking.  We have collars, harnesses, and choke collars, but found that the harness is best for either the BTL (bike tow leash) or for walks.  I don't like the collars either because of choking with the puppy exuberance, but our 7-yr-old doodle also pulled so hard when he was on the BTL that he was like a steam engine walking down the path.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Fabric martinggales don't give you correction control.  We use a corrective collar on Clancy because he can slip out of a flat collar.  For our Springer we use a prong because he gives little jerks all the time.  We are older and our dogs know better than to pull, but they still do it sometimes and need correcting. Your pup is still very young and needs training to learn NOT to pull.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

A prong collar for a 14 week old? Wow!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

It should not be the age or size of the dog. I mean why would we treat an older dog with less respect or kindness than we would an younger dog? Or a tiny dog?
I've seen many puppies with flat collars on that I thought was total abuse by the handler than I've ever seen with the gentle and proper use of a prong.

Also, too often I see mimiture dogs poorly trained just because they are " too tiny to train"
No matter the age or size the same good training and respect.
Just my thoughts

[Tammy and Violet]

Violet had a prong collar too when she was very young.. worked great ... we were in puppy class and got fitted...now we switch off from prong to a easy walker.....tryinnt to fid what works ! good luck!!