Is Your Dog Walking You? Train Your Dog to Stop Pulling the Leash

In March 5, 2014

On Blog, Training a Labrador, Uncategorized

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Train Your Dog to Stop Pulling On The Leash

Trying to walk a dog that is pulling you all over the place can be very frustrating, and can leave you with a pretty sore shoulder by the end of it… Or sore palms from trying to grip the leash! Ouch! Leash training is best trained from the beginning, as a puppy. However, some acquire their furry companions at an older age, and some are dealing with bad habits learned as a pup. If you find yourself being dragged around the block on a daily basis, this post is for you!

Morgan (Cuddles x Doc)

***Puppy Tip: The first mistake most new puppy owners make is putting the leash on their pup and immediately dragging them all over the place. And now you have completely soured them to it. Let your puppy walk around with a loose leash in a safe area so they can get used to the feeling of being on the lead. Then as you are encouraging your pup to walk with you on the leash, be sure to use lots of praise and verbal encouragement to get them to walk along side you.

Pulling on the leash is a fight for control. Fido wants to go where he wants, when he wants. He wants to go sniff that fire hydrant (or that German Shepherd’s butt), and meet that little girl over at the playground, or he feels that you are simply not keeping up with the pace he feels is sufficient for this walk.

So what do you do to show him that YOU are in fact the one in control? What do you do when he pulls on his leash?

You STOP. Stop right in your tracks. Wait for him to turn around and look at you like, “Dude what’s the hold up?” Then ask him to come sit next to you. Which he’ll do begrudgingly… After he obeys this command and sits nicely next to you for a minute, proceed with your walk. Each and EVERY time your dog pulls on the leash, repeat this. This teaches him that when he pulls on the leash, the walk stops. Which is no fun of course. This is a basic and probably obvious training technique, but many are impatient and do not follow through. Your walks may be pretty stop and go, and a bit annoying, for a little while… but if you’re patient and consistent, it WILL work.