Information – Leash Walking

You’re probably familiar with much of this, but hopefully you’ll find at least some of it useful. If these notes seem overwhelming simply start with the more important items that you can handle today (and what you can do will probably be enough!) and in time you’ll add more and more as you grow in the skills of dog ownership!

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Leash Walking

There are many training methods for introducing leash walking. This is one we like, which we found in Puppy Culture

— Below, “counterclockwise” and “left side” train the puppy to walk on your left. If you want to train the puppy to walk on your right, change to “clockwise” and “right”.

— Start in a safe place with your puppy or dog off-leash. Is it best for you and your dog to do this in a fenced in area?

— Walk counterclockwise. Your left side will be toward the inside of the circle. Have the puppy off-leash.

— When the puppy follows and is anywhere near your left side and is moving toward you, click & treat. From time to time the puppy will stop or go away to sniff & play, that’s ok, but reward again when he starts returning to your left side. Baby steps.

— Start to treat only after the pup has walked a full step with you, then 2 steps, then 3, etc.

— After the puppy walks with you for a few steps add a collar and continue.

— After the pup walks 10 steps with you, start using a leash, held very loosely. Older dogs might have to master more steps. Ideally, the leash is for safety rather than making the dog stay by your side.

— Avoid triggering the dog’s opposition reflex – pulling on a leash will cause a dog to pull back.

— When you think the dog is ready, start walking with a leash in a less controlled environment, such as a sidewalk with no distractions – other dogs, people, loud traffic, cats, squirrels, etc. Introduce distractions very slowly. Nothing succeeds like racking up successes daily. Failures are setbacks.

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