Training a Leonberger puppy on leash

Starting leash manners at 8 weeks with a Leonberger — that's exactly the right instinct. The first few months set the patterns for life, and with a dog that'll hit 70kg, the tools you use now really matter. The right equipment builds good habits; the wrong ones create pulling behaviours that are brutally hard to undo when your puppy weighs as much as an adult human. So tell me — how old is your pup exactly, what are you mainly trying to work on, and have you done any training with giant breeds before?

Bruno is a great name for a Leonberger. And you're thinking about this exactly right — prevention is so much easier than cure at this size. The single most important thing at this stage is not letting a collar be the primary point of control. Puppies naturally push into pressure, so a collar teaches them to lean forward and pull. What I'd recommend starting with is a well-fitted harness with a front-clip attachment point. Before I get specific, one quick question: are you planning to do any formal puppy classes, or is this mostly going to be self-led walks and training at home?

Perfect — garden work now, classes soon, that's a solid setup. For Bruno at this stage, I'd get him into a Perfect Fit harness. It's made by a UK company, comes in a modular three-part design, and crucially it actually fits giant breed puppies properly — most harnesses are sized for Labs and Spaniels and fit Leonbergers awkwardly even at 8 weeks. The front-ring attachment redirects him toward you when he tries to forge ahead, which teaches the right habit from day one instead of fighting it later. The modular fit also means you can adjust each section independently as he grows through those rapid early growth spurts, rather than buying a new harness every month. It's available on Amazon UK. Start every walk with loose-lead reward work in the garden before you hit the pavement — at 8 weeks he's absorbing everything, and what feels easy now is what saves you when he's 40kg by six months.

Keep a flat collar on him for ID tags — that's non-negotiable, and he should wear it all the time so it just becomes background noise. But for anything involving a lead, use the harness exclusively for now. The collar is identification; the harness is training and control. Once he has reliable loose-lead manners — which with consistent work can happen faster than people expect — you'll have options. But at 8 weeks to 6 months, the harness does the heavy lifting. The instructors at your puppy class will almost certainly say the same thing.

Good call — measure his girth carefully before ordering because sizing a Leonberger puppy can be tricky with the modular system, and their website has a clear guide. Enjoy Bruno's first weeks — giant breed puppies grow so fast that these early sessions will feel precious looking back. You're giving him a great start.