Alright my 5 month old Seppala is a terrible puppy to walk; he'll pull you till you can't keep up literally choking himself to death and if you take him off the leash all he wants to do is explore everything. My question is how to I teach him to walk by my side not dragging me or choking himself?

I dont know about puppies but if my dog pulls me on the lead which isnt very often, I just pull her back on the lead and then she corrects herself.

Practice walking her after she has had plenty of exercise. Teach her to walk on a loose leash separately from teaching "heel". For loose leash walking do not ever allow her to move forward if the leash becomes tight from this point forward. Just stop moving completely and then take a few steps backward. Change direction suddenly (I used "this way" to signal that I was going to change direction) and frequently before he hits the end of the leash. If he chokes himself contantly look into getting a front-clip harness such as the Easy Walk.
Once you have him walking on a loose leash then work on teaching heel. I've found that a clicker works great for this. Click everytime he walks near your left side on his own. You can either wait until he moves into the correct or close to correct position on his own or you can lure him there...click and treat. Keep heeling sessions short...just a few steps at first and gradually work your way up.

I don't like the use of choke collars. I think that when dogs start to lead they are just excited to be out and want to explore everything. Opokki has the right idea. Try to go with that. I think that it will help.

Hi

Yeah this is a real pest, I have found that if I just stop when my dog starts to pull and don't set off again until the leash is loose it corrects the problem.

This article has got a few tips that you may find useful - training a puppy to walk on a leash.

Good luck!

I don't use choke chains but do find that changing direction works very well.

As soon as the leash start to go taught just switch round and walk another way.
You look a bit daft if you practice this on a busy road, so I would try it in the garden or somewhere first

My dog can be strong when excited(generally most of the time) haha I have found walking him with a harness works great cause A. he doesn't chock himself B. You have more control. Just through walking him everyday with a harness he has settled and doesn't pull nearly as much plus the harness doubles as a seat belt so my pup travels safely in the car!

One of the personnel in a pet store told me to use a choker chain rather than the cloth collar. He said that the cloth collar damages the internal part of the neck of the dog. He also said that I could teach my dog on walking properly with. So do check on the choker chain and its benefits and other.

My 8 month old German shorthaired Pointer is really bad for this. We have even used halters and he still pulls. Try a Halti or Gentle Leader, it should help. Bo is just stubborn!

I bought a no-pull harness for my dogs. They are quite strong when they want to pull (fortunately, not too often). These harnesses have worked pretty well for my dogs & they're not that expensive. You can get them at WalMart for about $10 or so.

How cool is this? My brother gave his girl friend a Seppala and a no-pull harness accessory to help her in training the dog. But the girl friend basically leaves the dog with us because she said her cat was starting to get jealous! My brother said it was really him who wanted the dog, anyway!

Ah, cute little puppy behaving like it's his first day in school. Well, puppies are just like kids they are curious beings who love to walk around and play with anything that gets their attention or whose attention they get. :d

Just make sure he doesn't choke on his chain. Read the above posts, they know better what to do.

My little yorkie boy does this as well...he just doesn't want to walk outside! I find myself carrying him like a baby most of the time. I want him to enjoy waking outside and do his business.

I really don't know what to do...

The heel training sounds like the best idea. You need to teach them to control themselves on walks. A harness is great if you dog is large enough to wear one.

I use a leader, which just goes around the snout of the dog and they really don't like having thier shout pulled in a different direction than theyre walking. Also, when my dog goes too fast, I simply stop until she's calmed down, then continue walking.