Hi Laddie's Mom,
I have been quietly following this post with interest as I had the exact same problem with Darla pulling like a trooper! I tried several different tactics, leading her with a wooden spoon laden with peanut butter, high value chicken treats, stopping dead when she pulled and treating her on return to my side, turning around repeatedly whilst getting odd looks from neighbours to name a few. Did she improve? Absolutely not, and I kept these all going for 9 months.
Perhaps I didn't do it for long enough, my timing was off with the treating or turning and that's why I wasn't successful, but to be honest I could not see any of the training going into Darla's head. She is so hyper aroused whilst walking it is incredibly difficult to get her attention. She goes over her threshold as soon as we start walking, even though she leaves the house calmly. Like Laddie, she will have her nose permanently to the ground, she doesn't look at all where she is going and I will occasionally kick her up the bum by accident as she will cut me up or stop in front on my feet. She has also walked into walls as she hasn't been looking where she was going! She is very attentive to me and my fiancé at home, but is a totally different dog outside. She is on a stimulation high! We put it down to her being crated all day, every day for 4 months when she broke her leg, but who knows!?
So, what did I finally do? I got rid of the collar which just restricted her breathing and seemed to make her even more nutty and I went for a harness. She still pulls a little, especially when she sees another dog or people, but it has improved so much and made our walk so much more enjoyable I couldn't recommend it enough. Weirdly enough, it's not a specific no pull harness, it's a regular one that clips to the back but I just have so much more control and she seems a lot more comfortable as she isn't restricting her air way anymore. I can now even manoeuvre her out of the way if I see her heading for a wall collision
I also have another sheltie, 7 month old Hugo. Now he is the complete opposite. He doesn't pull, he is very attentive to me and my fiancé outside the house, he doesn't go nuts for other dogs or people and he is very quiet whilst out. Darla however, will scream for attention when I stop to talk to people, she will whine relentlessly if we stop walking (even to cross the road!), she will zoom off and get in other dogs' faces and just make herself a general nuisance. She has had so much more training than Hugo and she still has a lot of behavioural problems whilst out on walks, good as gold at home mind you. All this i just put down to personality. We haven't had to teach Hugo how to walk nicely, behave politely with other dogs and not be so attention seeking because he already did all these things.
I think it is possible to manipulate their personality to a certain extent with LOADS of training, but it is a hard continuous road for the whole life of the dog. You are also having the impossible time of your training being undermined by your husband, which makes your life even more difficult and will no doubt make you feel like you are not achieving anything at all. As such, I think anything that makes your life just a little bit easier is so worth it, you must grab every chance and option you get. Definitely go for a no pull harness such as the easy walk, you can always continue working with Laddie on his walking too. But for now you can have a relaxing walk with him, bond and just have fun being together. I think it will do you both a lot of good.
Best of luck to you and take care of yourself and your little guy
