Leash Manners
Leashes are an important safety tool in every dogs life. It is important that all dogs learn to be comfortable and safe when walking on a leash. Here are some of my tips for promoting great leash manners for all dogs.
Puppy Leash Skills
The most important thing to focus on with a young puppy is that they enjoy being on a leash. Expecting a 12 week old puppy to be able to learn loose leash walking is like expecting a 2 year old to learn Calculus… they just aren’t there yet developmentally. However, we can teach a 2 year old to count and write numbers, laying the groundwork for more advanced math later. The same can be said for puppies and loose leash walking. Work on the following items to set a great foundation for later skills!
- Have fun on leash! Being on a tether can be a weird and sometimes scary experience for a young dog. It is incredibly important that we teach our puppies to be comfortable and confident on leash. Start by taking your puppy to calm and quiet places. Let them sniff and explore as much as they want. You can gradually work on going to busier places, as they get more confident.
- Reward them for following you! The start to great loose leash walking is teaching your puppy that following you when they are on leash is rewarding. Anytime your puppies chooses to follow you, mark and reward them! You can encourage them to follow you by making a funny noises and acting silly to get their attention. If your puppy tries to pull, stop and get their attention and try to get them to follow you in a different direction. Mark and reward them when they do follow you.
- Do not use the leash to physically move them around. A surefire way to make your puppy uncomfortable on leash is to use it to move them around. Puppies are so small that it can be easy to force them to go in a certain direction by using the leash to drag them. However, would you enjoy being dragged around on a rope? Probably not. If I did that a lot, you would probably start to avoid me whenever said rope came out!
Tips for Loose Leash Walking Training
Loose leash walking can be defined in a lot of ways. Your criteria for this behavior may look different than someone else’s, but generally all loose leash walking (LLW) training has a criteria of having slack in the leash. I like to think of it has keeping a J shape in the leash (or U shape… depending on how tall your dog is!). Your criteria may also include if your dog has to walk next to you, in front of you, which side they walk on, etc. Here are a few tips to help improve your loose leash walking practice.
- Start indoors! This might seem silly, but training indoors is a great way to ensure your dog is successful. We want to set a good foundation for our leash training, and we can’t do that if our dog is too distracted to learn. Therefore, it is best to start your training indoors and practice till your dog is clearly understanding the rules of the LLW game!
- Short outdoor sessions at the end of your walk. If you are just starting your LLW training, don’t try to practice it for the whole length of your daily walk. We need to start with short durations and gradually build up. The best time to practice your LLW training is at the end of your normal walks! This way, your dog has gotten over the initial excitement and distraction of being outside, they have had a chance to sniff and potty, and therefore will be more likely to be successful.
- Physical cues for LLW training. Dogs are very detailed oriented, and this can be used to our advantage. If you have a harness that has two places to clip the leash, you can use one of them when you are LLW and the other when your dog is free to do as they please. This gives your dog an added physically cue to tell the difference between LLW time and free walking time.
- Pretend the leash is lava! Do not use the leash as a cue. It can be easy to try and use the leash as a cue to get our dog to stop, slow down, etc. A little tug on the leash and they may look at you or stop walking. It seems like it works, right? Unfortunately, this kind of leash pressure rarely teaches your dog anything. In fact, usually it just confuses them! Plus, the more you use the leash to try and control your dog, the more you will need that pressure as a cue during LLW. Isn’t the point of leash training to STOP having pressure on the leash? If you are struggling with removing leash pressure as a cue, try using a hands free leash and pretending it is lava… don’t touch it, or you might get burned!