loose leash walking
If your dog walks in front of you on a walk – is he showing you he is the boss and trying to assert his leadership? Nope, you’re just too slow!
A dog’s natural way to walk is much faster than us, and they like to explore much more. When walking off leash with a dog, she might walk in front, behind, or sometimes right beside us. If we want her to walk on an unnatural leash, we need make it fun for her and explain the rules.
You could snap the leash or yell at your dog and they will also walk on a loose leash (we’re sure you’ve all seen the choke collars, and prong collars in your local pet stores) however we believe in using positive reinforcement to teach your dog to walk beside you and also pay attention to you even if there is no leash. Everyone wants a dog they can walk in an off leash park or trail – it’s not just about having a solid recall, it’s about having a dog that wants to pay attention and be near you!
Free Shape the Walk
Shaping refers to allowing a dog to simply perform actions and then rewarding ones you like. Normal shaping means you try to reward the dog in closer approximations until you get the final behavior. For example, you might reward a dog that crouches, then puts one paw down, then finally both paws in order to shape a down command. With free shaping you aren’t trying to get to a final behavior, you’re just rewarding whenever you see a behavior you like, so that it increases.
With loose leash walking, we want a dog that pays attention and walks on leash. Take your clicker and food with you, and whenever you are walking with your dog – click and reward anytime he makes eye contact, or whenever he is trotting nicely beside you. This will encourage those actions and you can fade the food after a while.
Punish the Pull
Dogs pull because we let them. If pulling never got a dog anywhere, they’d never pull! If your dog pulls to get somewhere, simply use an interupter like ah then stop. By verbally interrupting the dog whenever we stop, it gives the dog a chance to correct their behavior. Never snap your leash or jerk your dog, just simply stop and wait for some slack in the leash. Soon as there is slack in the leash, say good dog and start moving again. You can then go back to clicking and treating for eye contact and being beside you. We want our dogs to learn that:
Attention and a loose leash = getting everywhere they need to go
Pulling = not moving anywhere and not getting to the things they want
Don’t be boring! Put it on Command
You wouldn’t walk a mile with your best friend and not talk to them, don’t do it with your dog either!
You don’t have to discuss the news with your dog, but talk to them and put everything on command. The more your associate words with their actions, they will understand what you mean. Here are some suggestions:
Praise your dog whenever he walks nicely with you (we start teaching the walk with food but for the rest of your dog’s life you can always praise a nice loose leash walk from time to time, especially if he resists pulling when there are exciting things)
Give your dog pauses to sniff poles and other dog news locations. Put this on command by saying go sniff before you get there
After your dog has a good sniff, say let’s go and encourage him to get moving
Say this way whenever you change directions, let him know the path is changing
Bring a toy and play tug or run with your dog while playing tug, this is really fun for most dogs
Being fun and using the free shaping methods above will ensure your dog wants to be beside you and will allow you to walk both on leash and off with a dog that is attentive to you.
If your new puppy doesn’t want to walk, be fun! Encourage him, bring a toy and make walking fun. Sometimes the reason your puppy doesn’t want to walk is because he is afraid. Maybe a car drove by in that area last time that scared him and now he doesn’t want to be there. This is why it’s important to use food and make walking fun to show the dog there is nothing to be afraid of.
Remember, it’s fine if your dog walks in front of you, the only rule is that the leash should be loose. A dog that learns to pull in order to get where he needs to go can take much longer to correct – an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
Note: If your dog is already pulling you off your feet, we suggest a Freedom Harness or Black Dog Training Collar available from Jollytails