Making The Leash Less Terrible
Probably one of the main troubles most people have with their dogs is getting them to walk nicely on a leash. Whether you just want to be able to take a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood, or you want to compete in off-leash obedience, heel and loose leash manners are exceptionally difficult to teach plus reinforce.
One of the most important things to remember about teaching your dog to walk nicely on the leash is that EVERY time you put a leash on your dog, no matter the age, training is going on. Whether it is that very first time you drag the puppy outside to potty, or the first trip to the pet store, or if you just want to take a quick walk. Intended or not, training IS happening.
With that in mind, it is obviously very important to start off on the right foot, and continually reinforce plus reward the behaviors you are looking to strengthen.
I hear often from owners of 4-7 month old dogs, “He used to never pull on the leash, then he just lost his mind and now we can’t go anywhere.” What happened is the pup hit a crucial step in development where it decided to branch out and do some independent exploration. Until that point, he was content to follow “Mom” or "Dad" wherever they went, but now is old enough to realize the world is a fascinating place, ripe for the sniffing, marking, and chasing. People walk slow, and in straight lines. We don’t stop and sniff the grass, or chase a butterfly, or track a frog through the woods, and all of these are absolutely natural dog behaviors.
Walking nicely on a leash is a very UNnatural dog behavior, yet it is critical to a happy relationship with your dog. So how do we start?
The easy way to start is very young, when the puppy is offering you the behavior you want to encourage. Get your clicker and your treats, and live with them in your pockets every time you put that puppy on a leash. Every time the leash is nice and slack and puppy is paying lots of attention to you, click, say a word such as “Let’s Go” and treat. Same with heel, if you want your dog to heel, rather than just loose leash walk. Catch the puppy doing it, click, “command”, praise and treat.
Now at this point the command means nothing. We are simply associating it with what the pup is doing at that moment. We will eventually phase it out of being a reinforcement word and into being a command, but the dog has to have some association BEFORE you start giving verbal commands in what amounts to gibberish. Dogs don't speak English, so you have to give them a context and an association to a wrod before they understand what you are asking for.
If your puppy tries to wander off and sniff something, the instant the leash reaches tight, stop dead in your tracks and don’t budge. Brace your feet apart, and balance your center of gravity well over your feet, so you can maintian this stance with a GIANT puppy pulling you. DO NOT let that puppy drag you on a tight leash over to sniff whatever he thinks needs sniffing!! The simple act of letting him sniff with a tight leash rewards the behavior of tightening the leash, and teaches him that he can choose whether or not that leash stays loose. As soon as he stops pulling, slackens the leash, and returns to your side, then the walk can resume, and now would be a good time to go let him sniff, assuming he keeps the leash loose the whole way there. If not, repeat your stop and wait strategy.
If he stands on alert at the very end of that leash, and refuses to bring attention back to you to see why the walk has stopped, you can chirrup, or kiss, or make a similar attention-getting noise, then reward his return to you by moving forward. Eventually you should be able to phase out the noise and he will begin to return to you without even getting the leash all the way tight.
For the very insistent pup, sometimes it is necessary to actually turn and walk away. Again, timing is important, and it is critical you never let your puppy drag you to see anything on a tight leash. So the instant that leash gets tight, simply turn and walk the other direction. Don’t waste time or effort trying to prepare your pup or get him to turn with you, just turn and walk away. He may skip along backwards behind you for a ways, and you may find yourself determinedly dragging a backward facing pup for a bit, but soon enough something in front of you will catch his attention and he will catch up with the program. If he returns to loose leash position, click, command and treat. If he races back out in front of you to head for something else, abruptly turn around again and go the other way, until he learns, “Nothing fun ever happens when my leash is tight.”
These are lessons more easily taught at young ages, and steadily reinforced and strengthened throughout the dog’s life. However, they are tactics that work just as well for the adult dog needing some manners.
As with all training, start off with no distractions, for short periods of time. Work in your living room and hallways before graduating to your yard, then going out into the neighborhood, then to the pet store, then to the dog park.
Make sure he is 95% reliable at each phase before asking for greater and greater concentration and levels of difficulty from him.
Remember also that it is easier for your pup to listen when he is tired, so a good pre-walk play session in the yard will set you up for more success than using the walk to burn off his energy. As a matter of fact, you are probably not going to make a lot of forward progress on your first walks. If your walk is what normally takes him to the dog park to play, drive him there and practice your leash manners on the way to the car, and from the car to the park. Then let him have his play time and practice walking back to the car, and back to the house.
Remember, it won’t happen overnight. Leash manners must be constantly reinforced, and you must be vigilant your dog is never rewarded for behavior you are trying to discourage. But following these methods, you CAN have a dog that walks nicely on the leash, confidently at your side, and is a pleasure to take out in public.
Regardless of the manners your dog has or doesn't have, these are simple suggestions that can make a huge difference when instituted at any age.
(Yet another great article from J at Pawsitive U)
