Loose Leash Walking Basics
Dog Training Tip-July 2023
Summer is upon us, and our community comes to life once again! Our pathways are bustling as we enjoy a stroll with our favorite walking partner!
Let’s brush up on our leash skills together to ensure an enjoyable experience with minimal stress!
Your equipment is important! Take the time to choose a well fitted front clip harness. This will help you feel in control and set you up for walking success along with a basic standard 6–8-foot leash.
· Blue 9 Balance Harness
· 2 Hounds Freedom No Pull Harness
· Pet Safe Easy Walk Harness
The front clip harness works against their oppositional reflex to pull and allows pain free learning, encouraging your dog to check in for frequent attention and respect the end of their leash while out on walks.
As walkers, we also need to be aware of what type of tension WE are adding to our dogs. Remember to hold the leash always near your waist, this will help your arms from being ripped off if a rabbit goes by and allows you to quickly lead your dog away from any exciting encounters, using your environment to get enough space or visual barrier so they can take food and work through that distraction.
Practice stepping on your leash while holding the other end securely to anchor you and your dog. This will ensure that we add nothing, and we can then help them settle, feel secure and work on offering attention.
Always first, practice your handling skills. Pair your calm touch initially with treats and always read their body language for consent. Take your time when you are introducing new equipment and tools, so they can be active participants. You want your hands to always mean good things.
You cannot start teaching your new dog to walk on a leash outside where it is new and exciting or even possibly frightening. You do not want the outdoors to be more rewarding than you or for them to develop any bad associations or experiences.
You need to first build success in your home, then moving to the backyard or taking them to other lower distraction locations! You may not want to start here, but your dog needs to learn these foundational skills first with nothing around them. Then you will begin to add low level distractions at their pace and build on their learning!
Play Choose to Heel
This is such fun powerful game that teaches your dog to walk nicely beside you. You can build this into your busy day and even use their food or kibble. It is also great for new puppies to bond with us and develop confidence too.
Pack both your hands full of treats without them being aware. And just move about your house at a normal pace. They are just simply rewarded for being near you, they have the choice to walk away and do whatever they want. You’re just a pez dispenser!
As you progress, you can move it out to your backyard as well as find a nice outdoor setting or park that will provide you a little safe space to practice with a long line. You can rent a private off leash park for more enrichment and improve further on their skills and reliability.
Go Sniff
This is the fun cue to start out with. It is where your dog gets to be a dog. They get the full leash length to freely go and sniff about, check out all the peeMAIL and we are not too concerned about some mild pulling. We generally try to go along at their pace.
Make sure you reward for ALL offered attention. We want our dogs to look at us frequently and be able to disengage as well.
Let’s Go
Lock your leash at the appropriate length at your waist with the opposite hand and keep your treat pouch on the same side as your dog. Keep your hand still by your side and have the treats ready to place your lure in front of their nose. Start encouraging their movement by your side. Don’t worry! You will be able to remove the lure quite quickly once your dog catches on to this skill. They love to work for cheap!
When your dog pulls ahead. You simply stop and anchor yourself! We do not reward pulling with movement. Wait it out for that offered attention. They look, we say yes! When the dog comes to retrieve the treat, we use it as a lure to bring them back at our side and ONLY deliver the treat while we are BOTH moving. This will prevent the yo-yo effect.
If your dog is having a hard time coming back to you. Do not use their name rather, drag your foot or make kissy noises, they look, yes and we offer big rewards!
KEEP IT SHORT & HAVE FUN
We can also reward our dog for keeping close to us by allowing time at their favorite “go sniffs” spots and meeting others too. Use your life rewards and keep building on their positive experiences within our world and community.
Always remember to keep rewarding for that offered attention, learn to read your dog and give them lots of space on walks when they are struggling to focus, and you will quickly become a pro!
