LOL
I'm such an idiot!
Finally learned about the martingale collar. I have seen these on dogs, but always from a distance and I kept thinking, "Why do people get collars that are way too big for their dogs?"
Here's something I'm working on with Belle. Not only do I change directions if she wants to go another way during a long walk, I also take a few minutes during one potty out session to walk around and randomly change directions with purpose as added mental exercise. In addition, in my mind I pretend I'm doing all this on purpose and it's a very important thing to do and project that energy towards her. Then I close with a bit of a run back & forth and move fast so she has to keep up. The run part is really fun for her, so I kinda use that as a reward after doing the walking part first. I'm hoping further down the road, she will see that by hanging close she won't miss out on anything fun and then can be more trustworthy off leash.
Then she's doing it of her will instead of food bribes.