Week 8 with our first puppy and leash walking finally clicked - wanted to share what worked

We brought home Luna (golden retriever, 11 weeks when we got her) 8 weeks ago and leash walking was a complete disaster for the first 6 weeks. She'd either bite the leash, just lay down and refuse to move, or dart sideways constantly. I was honestly starting to think something was wrong with her specifically.

What finally worked for us was stopping every single time she pulled, without correcting with the leash. I know everybody says this but i didn't realize how consistent you actually have to be. Like every single step where there's tension, you stop dead. Every time. My wife thought i was being obsessive about it but after about 5 days of walks where we barely made it to the end of the block, something clicked. Yesterday we did a full 30 minute walk with maybe 4 total stops.

She's still wild in 800 other ways but if you're struggling with leash pulling - the stop method, stay consistent, it works. Just wanted to share because i was really close to hiring a trainer just for this one thing and saved myself probably $300.