Part of a series of short dog training videos
Lead walking without the pulling and tips for puppies first walk.
Getting straight into it, the method I use in lead training or loose lead training is the same method I use to teach a dog to walk to heel off lead, but I use the cue “back” this is just the cue I am used to when teaching this, you can find the cue/command word that suits you.
I like to teach the puppy the position I would like them to walk at which is at my side so there is no treading on paws or tripping over the dog and if they’re at my side they are not pulling me like I am their cargo trailer. I do this before adding the lead the mix so they already have a positive association to walking at my side, they are doing it because they find it rewarding not because they have a lead keeping them there. Pre teaching this early conditions the response to the cue you give so with consistency your puppy will walk nicely at your side. They have a live time of being on the lead so it’s only fair that they will enjoy it.
The side effects of lead pulling is it’s not only bad for your dog’s joints especial in young dogs but it can also affect your joints and you may start to feel muscle pain when walking your dog, When your puppy or dog walks their nails natural wear down to a suitable length if they are pulling on the lead it makes them walk unevenly so it doesn’t wear their nails down effectively resulting in overgrown nails or unevenly worn nails. Pulling can put pressure on sensitive areas like their neck which can be quite dangerous and cause injury. A dog pulling on the lead no matter what type of lead, collar or harness you use can cause issues whether is putting pressure on their neck or chest it can cause issues, some harness restrict movement and can cause rubbing and saws if not fitted correctly. And type of anti-pulling tool you may use like a nose halti doesn’t teach them not to pull it’s just prevents them from pulling by turning their head which is uncomfortable and can cause injury if too much pressure is applied. It’s much more comfortable and pleasurable for both you and the dog to teach the dog how to walk on the lead without pulling rather than restricting their movement. A top tip is to have a set length lead this will prevent confusion on the puppy’s part and help massively with loose lead training, think about it from puppies point of view if they could walk a certain distance in front one minute but then couldn’t the next and a couple minutes later could go off in front again they will keep trying the lead to see what distance they can go resulting in lead pulling. Having a set length lead will prevent confusion, this is why consistency is key.
How I introduced this training.
I started by getting the puppy to follow me at my side, choosing one side and sticking to it otherwise the puppy kept weaving from side to side in confusion. I did this by using a lure which as mentioned in previous training posts is a high smelling and tasty treat to grab their attention, holding the treat at your side at a hight your puppy can reach, and move forward a couple of steps holding the lure in place at your side and the puppy will follow it as you can see in the video, walk a few steps and give the lure for the reward. It is easier to do physicality for you if you have a larger breed as you don’t have to bend down as far, trying to walk when your couched over is awkward as you can see in the video it’s hard to keep your balance. You will see as you read on why this training is better to do when they are young and preferably before they can even go out into the outside word.
Start this training by walk up and down your garden or in your home, anywhere with enough room but has little distractions. As they take a few steps following you reward BUT only give the reward when all four paws are touching the floor this not only reinforces not jumping up but following you as well, after a couple of runs up and down start to add your cue so when you’re walking and they are at your side say your cue and then reward. If they are persistently jumping up try walking a bit slower and think about the position of your lure if the lure is to high, they will try to jump up to get it only give the lure as a reward when all their feet are on the ground and the jumping will slowly dissolve out on its own as you can see in the video. The only vocalization you should be doing is the cue and the rewarding don’t discipline any wondering off or jumping up just adjust your lure to keep them interested, keeping sessions short will help to keep your pup interested too long of a session and they will lose interests they can only focus for short periods of a time when they are young.
If your puppy is constantly following the lure at your side, you can start holding the lure higher up or adjust your hand so they can’t get to the lure, take a few steps with the lure out of reach if they follow you (not jumping) say your cue and reward, this will depend on your puppy is may take a few sessions before you get to this stage especially if they are a persistent jumper, they may pick it up on first session it all depends on your puppy and how prompt you are at rewarding (Timing is key). Build up how many steps you do before rewarding and keep building up distance you walk and slowly lifting the lure up higher so eventually you are walking up right not crouched over. Once you are at this stage keep practising it, it’s far from being fail proof. You can then start to add the lead to mix doing the exact same method but you puppy is on the lead. For a young puppy you ideally need to have introduced them to the lead prior to doing this training for it to run smoothly other wise you risk stressing your puppy which can take you back a step in their training. This is simply just having the lead attached trailing the puppy so they are used to its presences and are not frightened by it , this is usually done from day one of bringing puppy home. So, after a good lot of training sessions, you puppy will just about have the gist of it.
Until you try it in the outside world that is. I started this training well before she was allowed to go out, she was just 9 weeks old when I first introduced this training, I have done a lot of preparing her before she was fully vaccinated and could go out. Preparing her to know how to react when on the lead before taking her out in to a world full of distractions and new smells. Preparation is key it prevents disappointment, stress and most importantly you from getting annoyed with your puppy because it wouldn’t walk in the direction you needed to go in.
For their first couple of walks you do need to allow your puppy to sniff they need to explore their new environment, but not on a tense lead, keeping the lead loose and follow them the best you can you don’t need to follow them all around the park if you need to go in a certain direction use recall or a lure to move them don’t pull the lead to make them move.
“Tense lead tense dog making them anxious, loose lead relaxed dog happy dog.”
Remember this is just for their first couple of walks building their confidence in the new world.
Why does the lead need to be loose?
Giving an example, A puppy on the lead has court scent of something a head and is excited by the smell and they want to go check it out so they start pulling toward the smell this makes owner move in the direction they are pulling, puppy learns pulling on the lead makes owner move to where puppy wants to go, So pulling on the lead is rewarding for them so the puppy is going to do it again, a reward isn’t always a treat you give them it can be given inadvertently with out you knowing. If the actions or behaviour of the puppy gets its desired result its self-rewarding.
An example of self-rewarding, puppy is jumping up at you for attention, so you give it attention even if it’s a “no or get down’ it’s still attention from you so its rewarded. So back to lead pulling in order to not reward the pulling we just stand still not moving until the lead is loose only moving when the lead is loose better still if pup puts them self in the heel position reward and walk forward every time the lead goes tense stop walking and I mean every time consistency is key. If they persist with pulling even when your stood still take a few steps away from the direction they want to go in, changing direction can sometimes distract them from what they was focused on.
After the first initial outings you can then start to use the ‘heel’ cue again the reason we didn’t on their first outings is to not over load them, as it’s a lot for them to take in without us giving out commands with expectations to them. but the reason we pretrained it was so when they are in a situation where they don’t know how to react or what to do, they are more likely to resort to the behaviour that has had positive reassuring results previously. Training an alternative behaviour to display because sometimes when a puppy or dog doesn’t know how to react or what to do, they may display behaviours we don’t want which could be barking, lunging and pulling on the lead and even trying to run away or bolt.
Lead training is a daily training exercise as your puppy or dog no matter the breed needs daily exercise outside their home to prevent pent up energy which can result in multiple other behaviour issues. You started the training in your home you now need to continue it outside doing training sessions at the park, start of by going when its quieter so there is less distraction and build up to busier environments. Doing training sessions out doors and in different environments teaches your puppy that it’s not just at home they need to behave and listens to cues from the owner, this is the same for any training putting their training into practical use. There is a whole other side of socialization involved that I haven’t covered when it comes to puppy’s first outings but I am mainly focusing on lead training for this post. This training is suitable for any age of dog but it’s harder to do on older dogs as older dog have a previous history of self-rewarded pulling on a lead which will take a lot more training and pertinence and consistency to train out but it can be done.
Watching the video, you can see the process I went through to teach the basics giving you an idea on how to put this to practise on your own puppy or dog.
thanks for reading & watching
Deborah Batty at Deborahs Dog Grooming
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