The first couple of times I walked Franky, he was almost ripping my arm off. I started giving corrections by a slight tug on the leash accompanied by the command of Easy. Which, to me and Franky, means don't pull on the leash. I've had him about two weeks now, and he only pulls for the first block or two of his walks. If he's pulling hard, I stop dead in my tracks, put him in sit and turn around and ignore him for a minute or so.
Now, he's gotten to where the command "easy" means walk with an almost slack leash. I started training him tonight with semi-heel work. I'm not going to show him, so I don't care about the perfect heel. But, I issue the command of "by my side," which to him, means slow down and let me grab the leash all but a foot and a half or so and walk next to me.
I use a regular leather collar and a standard nyon leash that 's six feet or so long. He has respoonded very well. Our walk tonight, which is about 4 miles/1 hour of walking, went really, really well. He's not to the point of automatically sitting everytime I stop, but considering that only two weeks ago he got renamed, he's doing incredibly well.
I was going to get a harness, but I don't see a point to it right now. I think that if you're a good pack leader, you're animal has no choice but to do what you will it to. I love my dog to death, and I never do anything cruel to him, but I have to constantly remind myself that he's a dog, not a human. I do not let him perform any unaccepatble behavior whatsoever. I think that if you establish that, you're training in all areas will be so much better.
I'm not trying to turn this topic into a discussion of what constitutes Alpha dominance. Merely, I am simply telling you what works for me. I only give one or two treats, if any, during walks because of the risk of bloat. Admittedly, I don't know much about it. I just know that I prefer to wait at least an hour and a half before/after feeding to walk him because of it. So, any positive reinforcement is performed through really making a fuss of "Good Boy." It works well for me, I hope that this helps.