Loose Lead/Leash Walking

Why do Dogs Pull on the Lead?

Dogs enjoy running about and exploring the outside world, usually at a faster pace than we walk. Dogs pull on the lead because we are slow and boring and pulling seems to get them where they want to go, which is usually somewhere more exciting!

When you allow your dog to pull, she learns that pulling gets her where she wants to go, so pulling is rewarded! It often becomes an ingrained habit.

Why Should I Teach my Dog to Walk on a Loose Lead?

A dog who has been taught to walk on a lead without pulling is a delight to walk. People are much happier to walk a dog who has been well trained and as a result, the dog often gets more walks and goes to more places with their owners.

Teaching a dog to walk on a loose lead can help teach your dog to give you attention, and control her impulses in the presence of other dogs or other animals that she may like to chase.

A dog that has been taught to respond well to the lead can easily be removed from any potentially stressful situations.

Pulling on a lead can bring about physical problems for a dog. They have an unbalanced and strained posture, which can lead to back, neck, trachea, eye, and nerve issues, among others.

A dog that pulls on the lead can be a cause of frustration and embarrassment for the person on the other end of the lead. Sometimes this can lead to a situation where an owner is unable to walk their dog at all, which means that the dog does not get enough exercise or stimulation. This can give rise to an ever-increasing cycle of frustration for both the owner and the dog, plus the dog is likely to develop behavioural problems connected with lack of exercise and stimulation.

How do I Achieve Loose Lead Walking?

The lead is an important management and training tool and keeps your dog safe. It should always be loose, unless you need to prevent her getting into trouble. Extending (retractable or flexi) leads are generally not a good tool to use, as they are too bulky, and not very easy to use if you need to get your dog back to you quickly. By their very nature, there is always pressure on the lead, which is not what you want when teaching LLW!

Having a play session with your dog before going for a walk may help to release any excess energy and frustration, therefore making walking calmly with you that bit easier. However, you don’t want to have your dog in an excitable state just before you leave the house.

You’ll need to think of on lead walks as training games rather than exercise while training is on-going. Keep the sessions short (around five minutes at a time) so she can concentrate and not get bored. Until she is good at walking without pulling, it may be an idea to drive her to somewhere she can go off lead for her exercise.

We are looking for it to become more fun and rewarding to walk on a loose lead than it is to pull on the lead.

Unless you are going to compete in obedience, you can teach your dog to walk on either side of you. You can lay good foundations for on lead walking by starting without a lead. Start off in the garden where there are little in the way of distractions. Every time your dog chooses to place herself by your left leg (or right leg if that’s the side you choose to walk her), click (or use a marker word, such as ‘Yes’) and treat. Take a pace away, then when she places herself next to you again, click and treat. Repeat several times. Once she is choosing to place herself there regularly, you can add a spoken cue when she does so. The word(s) you choose are not important but should always be the same to avoid confusion. You could use ‘heel’, ‘close’ or ‘let’s go’ for instance.

Once you have established a foundation that being by your side is a good place to be, you can add the lead and start to walk. Start with your dog in place by your heel, and then take one pace forward. You dog should follow you, so click and treat. Then take two paces forward. Click and treat if she comes with you and does not pull on the lead. Then take three paces forward… and so on until you have built duration up to around 50 paces. At this point, if your dog is doing well, you can start to build the duration in larger increments before clicking and treating and jump to increasing by around five paces each time.

If at any time your dog starts to lose concentration or begins to pull, then you will need to reduce the number of paces you take before clicking and treating. Perhaps even start from the beginning again at one pace.

You should aim to keep preparations for going for a walk calm and low key. If your dog is bouncing around before you even leave the house, then this behaviour is likely to continue when you go out of the door. If she is bouncing around when you pick up her lead, simply put the lead down again until she is calm. Repeat if necessary until she stays calm while you pick up the lead and attach it. She will soon learn that she needs to be calm if she wants to go out for a walk. You don’t need to click and treat this, as her reward will be that she gets to go for a walk.

You can also pick her lead up several times a day, but then go and do something else. This will teach her that just because you have picked up the lead, you won’t necessarily be going for a walk, and should result in her not becoming overexcited every time you pick up her lead.

You need to have a large supply of treats ready for when you leave the house, either in a pocket or a treat bag where they are easily accessible. Before moving off, you need to have your dog in the correct position by your left (or right) leg. Reward her for being there by a click and treat. If she doesn’t put herself in the right position even when you wait for her to do so, you can drop a treat by your left (or right) heel.

The lead and clicker should be in the hand on the opposite side to your dog. You can then use the hand nearest your dog to deliver the treat. You want to deliver the treat so that your dog stays in the correct position to doubly reinforce it, so your hand should be near your trouser seam and at your dog’s head height. Using the other hand to deliver the treat may result in your dog coming across in front of you in anticipation of receiving the treat.

You need to start off in a place with few distractions and build up gradually to busier and more exciting places.

You can try several changes of direction and a change of pace to keep your dog interested and focused on you.

Try varying your treats so that sometimes they are tasty and other times they are less so, such as kibble. This will keep her interest as this time it may be something good!

Remember, training is supposed to be fun for all involved and should always end on a positive note.

Tools that may Help

While you are teaching your dog to walk on a loose lead, it may be of use to use some sort of tool so that she can still get exercise without being rewarded for pulling. I find using a flat collar with a harness, or a harness with a front and back clip, combined with a double-ended training lead (sometimes called a police lead) a good combination that manages pulling without being painful for either your dog or you!

Problems?

If your dog really isn’t paying attention to you while out on a walk, she may be finding the distractions too great or may be overstimulated. If so, you could try:

• Increasing the value of the treats you are using. Try something that she finds irresistible and doesn’t get at any other time.
• Going back to a quieter environment to work on her loose lead walking and gradually build up to a more distracting environment.
• You may be building the duration by too large an increment. Try going back a few stages and building increments one pace at a time.