On my daily walk around the block, I would occasionally pass a woman who was being dragged down the road by her dog. We had a chat and I passed on some advice - which included about the Easy Walk harness. The next few times that I saw her, the dog was now wearing an Easy Walk harness and things had generally improved a little.

Then one day we were talking, whilst her dog was sniffing the hedge, lunging at my dog, sniffing the hedge, etc. She mentioned the dog taking clean items out of the laundry basket, and repeated, complete with tone of voice of how she told the dog off. The dog on hearing that tone stopped what it was doing, looked up and became attentive. I highlighted to the woman what had just happened, and the instant change in the dogs behaviour because of the tone used. She said that she really dislikes the dog taking things out of the basket. She said that she doesn't like to use that tone on the street as people might think she's a nasty old women who's cruel to the dog. But like I said, you teach them right at the beginning, and you wont have to correct them every day as they remember.

Be strong and firm. Instruct with a sharp "Leave" or "Leave it"

None of this "Oh pickles, don't do that". Speak with a tone of voice like you mean it, rather than you're making a suggestion, and they soon pay attention