Everything You Need to Know About Leash Training Your Dog Correctly
Introduction
Constant struggling, stretching and pulling at the end of the leash. It's frustrating and can feel completely hopeless at times. But it's not! Here's how to turn your leash from a miserable pull rope into a friendship band.
Create balance and harmony in your dog
Have a balanced, harmonious dog. A stressed, over/under-stimulated, angry, fearful or pain-affected dog will not have a slack leash as a top priority. Make sure your dog feels good!
Choose the right equipment for leash training
Have the right equipment for your dog. Collar or harness? A two-meter leather strap (longer leashes can work wonders) or an old piece of rope... It doesn't matter. As long as your dog finds the gear comfortable to wear. Nothing that chafes, strangles or pinches his armpits please. Many dogs appreciate two-point harness attachments more than single-point attachments, for example.
Don't jerk, don't roar, don't curse. From all that, dogs increase their distance. It is a perfectly natural response to want to get away from the unpleasant - pure self-preservation.
Find the right pace for your dog
Make sure that you walk at a pace that your dog is meant for. Some dogs are retirement paces; if your dog is hustling, you can do the same. But if you've bought a thoroughbred, keep up the pace! You should definitely not run after your dog, but keep a comfortable pace.
Drain your dog's mental energy before the walk
Do you have a working ant for a dog? Then create the conditions for the right mood on the walk. Before the walk itself, indoors.
Hide treats for the dog to sniff out. Run some challenging training sessions in the hall. Start with contact exercises and play for a while.
Create expectations of positive interaction while draining the jerk's mental energy and setting the mood for interaction.
Start the compliance training step-by-step
Now get out, you first. Why? Because you should be the one Because you should be the one checking the situation on the street to make sure everything is calm. You scout, you watch, the dog follows. The message is: come with me my friend. Not: I'll follow like you, like a flag at the stern of a racing boat.
In addition, your gait is important! Move with purpose. Walk like you know where you are going, take big steps and look ahead. Dogs seem to love that. They get curious and prefer to follow those in control.
But also sneak, scout, turn on your heel and lead the walk towards new adventures (the same old routes get boring). If your dog follows your changes of pace, antics and directives - reward! Dig down and find a treasure, a pile of treats, a battle rag or a crunchy leaf with liver pate underneath. How cool it will be to follow your master/mate if magical things happen every now and then.
Treasure hunting is fun! We value obedience in our dogs. And so we should give them a reason to want to follow us.
Reward your dog's undesirable behavior
Now for what most dog owners find a bit tricky. Reward the slack leash before it gets stretched! Chirp words of encouragement, offer a treat, bring out the toy or be hilarious when the leash is slack.
We are problem-solving oriented. We sometimes forget that problems don't have to arise to be solved if we catch the opposite first. Praise and reward what you want! It increases the tendency of the dog to want to stay close.
Staying within the radius of the leash will be rewarding. Be sure to get funny when the leash is slack, not when the dog is about to stretch it. Otherwise, you only risk creating a counterproductive chain of behavior; the dog will go into the pulling position for you to get funny.
The importance of pausing during walks
We are very good at teaching our dogs that walking means constant movement and activity. Even Boatman gets excited. Because we walk and walk, walk, walk. And walk.
Stop, stand, enjoy the landscape. Listen to the birds, cuddle your dog, breathe and go. Micro-breaks on your walks work wonders for notorious walkers. Give it a try!
Pausing slows down the dog's pace, teaches the pooch that being outdoors doesn't mean lying on a leash. While you're at it, take the opportunity to do something rewarding with your dog. Maybe you can talk about the weather, practice sit or down, smell for a rabbit or just scratch behind the ears.
This promotes interaction, relationship, contact and compliance. Really good stuff to install in a notorious puller. It is difficult to gallop around the neighborhood in full cart and at the same time keep track of whether it is time to scratch the master behind the ear or look for candy in the blueberry rice.
How to avoid jerking the leash
Now for the big question... What do I do if the leash is stretched? Well, first you investigate whether it is you or the dog that is stretching it. It's important to know. If, for example, you walk away in one direction while the dog walks in another, then you will pull Fido...
Do not do that. Instead, say "This way!", pointing with your whole hand. Literally, just for clarity. The pointing and "this way!" usually does the trick. Don't forget to praise if the dog follows.
If, on the other hand, it's the dog that's pulling, then stop lagging behind. Get cement in your boots and stand perfectly still. Rock steady. Because if the dog can move forward with you in tow and reach that pee spot or the dog that comes strolling, then the pulling is rewarded something colossal.
Wait until the dog does the leash slaughter. It will happen, sooner or later. Stand still and wait. When the dog does the leash slaughter, leave. Preferably in a funny direction. If your dog becomes a yo-yo, be sure to change direction. It's hard to be a yo-yo if you don't know where you're going.
But it doesn't work to just use the leash stretching trick, all components are needed for successful leash training.
Be consistent for success in leash training
Boring. But actually crucial to getting the results you're after. If you start the walk super consistently but then lose the energy and let the dog pull, then you have created a plus minus zero. The dog has first learned not to pull, then practiced it and the results are not there.
One way to avoid being 100% consistent is to have a piece of equipment on the dog when you can't be bothered to train, say, a harness. Something ergonomic that doesn't put too much strain on the dog. In contrast, you have a regular wide collar when you are training and you can be consistent.
This way, the dog will know what to do depending on what he is wearing. You can go out with the dog wearing both a harness and a collar and thus only switch to the harness when you can't be bothered to train.
With time and training, the idea is that the collar becomes the dog's walking outfit and the harness is taken out when the dog is allowed to pull, such as uphill on jogging trips.
There are lots of other fun leash training activities that might suit your dog better than the above. Most of them are much easier to demonstrate on the spot than to scribble down in text.
So if you've tried these tips and your dog still tugs and pulls, call a proven dog trainer. Because who knows? Maybe there's a reason for your dog's tenacity that none of us have figured out yet. Urges that need to be released or instincts that you need to collaborate on instead of forbidding.
Things to consider with leash training
Don't get caught in the statue swamp. It will be backwards and wrong. Instead, create the conditions for success by starting from scratch. Then you can become a statue, if necessary. But don't forget the sticking point, be consistent.
Written by: Caroline Alupo
Caroline Alupo is Petli's co-founder. She has a master's degree in ethology and is also a trained dog trainer and dog psychologist. She has 19 years of experience as a professional dog trainer. Read more about Caroline here.
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