Look out your window on any given day. How many dogs do you see out taking their owners for a walk? Leash pulling is perhaps the number one problem I’m asked to fix. Teaching your dog to walk nicely on a leash and not pull you down the street isn’t that hard, but most people fail to accomplish this. This is partly because the problem generally starts in puppyhood when it is easy to ignore and by the time the dog is full grown, pulling has been inadvertently reinforced so many times it has taken root and become a habit for the dog. Each time your dog pulls on the leash and drags you along to sniff and explore something, greet another dog or person, he learns that pulling is the way to get what he wants. Some people simply give up and stop walking their dogs entirely, while many people resort to no-pull harnesses, head halters, or other training tools to manage their dogs, but that is all they are doing – managing and masking the problem without solving it. The dog still doesn’t realize he isn’t supposed to pull.
Train your dog not to pull, ever, and you will both enjoy your daily walks. The method I use to teach loose leash walking, in a nutshell, consists of three basic components: teaching the dog the value of staying close to you; teaching him to yield to leash pressure, not pull against it; and showing him that pulling won’t get him what he wants.
First establish the value of proximity. You want to show your dog that following you and staying close is the most exciting and rewarding place to be. Start off working indoors or in an enclosed area outside with few distractions. I like to start off-leash, since the object of this exercise is to reward the dog for making the choice to stay close to you. Walk around ignoring your dog at first. Then call him to your side and reward when he comes. Encourage him to move along with you for a few steps by giving him lots of treats and praise, then cue a release (“take a break,” “go play”) and walk away from him, ignoring him. The call him again, running through the same steps as before. Repeat this, gradually adding more steps. Your dog will soon choose to return to you or stick close to you without being cued. Reward that! Now you can introduce the leash. Encourage your dog to stay next to or slightly behind you by placing a treat next to and slightly behind your left foot as you move forward. Timing is important here – don’t let your dog get in front of you. You are teaching him that next to or behind you is the place to be.
Teaching your dog to yield to leash pressure will enable you to communicate with your dog through the leash. Very gentle upward pressure will cue him to sit, downward pressure will cue him to lie down, and applying gentle pressure in a straight line back towards his tail will teach him to back up. You accomplish this by applying gentle, steady pressure, and actively releasing when the dog stops resisting. There is no tugging or yanking, ever. Start with your dog in front of you and apply gentle pressure on the leash. He will likely lean backward against it at first, but will soon realize that isn’t working and will give. The instant your dog relaxes and shows the intention of moving toward you, actively release all pressure and reward him. Once he learns to yield, you can apply this as mentioned above.
Now that you’ve taught your dog the value of following you and staying close in a non-distracting environment and how to yield to leash pressure, it’s time to put the two together.
Next is to take it outside and show your dog that pulling never works. If you have a dog that is used to pulling, your neighbors may begin to snigger when you start this process – you’ll be changing direction frequently and not making much headway on your walk. But it will all pay off. Your dog now knows to yield to leash pressure. The instant your dog pulls on the leash, stop moving forward, cue him “let’s go” and move off in a different direction as he turns toward you. Reward your dog as he catches up to you. Repeat this each time your dog pulls. You’ll gradually be able to increase the number of steps you take without your dog pulling as he learns that pulling isn’t getting him where he wants to go and the only way to move forward is by keeping the leash loose. And you’ll be on your way toward enjoyable walks with your dog.