5 Easy Steps to Loose Leash Walking

Posted on April 13, 2010 by David Couillard

Now that the warm weather has arrived, it’s a good time to brush up on leash manners! Animatch volunteer Miranda Wimbush shares her best tips. Tools required: Nylon flat leash and lots of tasty treats!

1) Start indoors where there is less distraction. With your dog on leash at your side put the treat in front of the dogs’ nose and take a step. If he walks with your say “YES” and reward. From here you can start to take a couple of steps before saying “YES” and rewarding. Always say “YES” when the dog is parallel to your leg and then reward. This way the dog will start to realize that this is the behaviour you want.

2) Head outdoors and try Step 1, but with more distractions. Progress to a couple of steps before rewarding. Eventually you will be able to walk for longer distances without rewarding, but lots of rewards are essential in the beginning to keep the dogs’ attention on you

3) Once your dog is starting to follow you, start to become unpredictable. While showing him the treat take sharp turns, go fast, go slow, run in zig-zags. The point is to keep the dog guessing where you are going next. This will teach him to follow you

4) If the dog ignores the treat and charges out ahead of you simply stop dead in your tracks and wait until there is slack on the leash. Only walk when there is slack in the leash! If you give in and walk the direction he wants to pull you in the training process will be much slower

5) Add a word to the behaviour so the dog does it predictably. This also allows you to release the dog from the behaviour if you want to let him go sniff or visit with another dog. Use a word such as “HEEL” or “SIDE”, but, be careful to only add the word when the dog truly understands the behaviour. Simply say the word while the dog is heeling and reward when he does it correctly.

Members Comments

- Kelly
- posted on April 14, 2010
Great advice, thank you!!!
- Barb Kordas
- posted on April 14, 2010
I have found that it is also best to put the dog in a calm and submissive position before exiting the house. Always walk through the door in front of the dog to establish that you are in charge of the walk, not vice versa! Treats can be used to reward and encourage calm behavior. Walking your dog is the best way to develop a strong bond with him/her and to let her know that you are the one to follow.
Never let a dog pull or run ahead of you unless in an off leash area with supervision. More than half of the people that I encounter on my walks are walking their dogs incorrectly. It may seem like an insignificant action, but it speaks volumes in the language of dogs.
Happy Dog Walking!!
- Madeleine
- posted on April 15, 2010
I have two dogs, Stewart an English Setter, and Hobbes my Animatch boy, a small Cavalier King Charles and Pekinese mix. Both are great on leash until a dog appears. Hobbes is the problem, he becomes aggressive and jumps around hysterically which gets Stewart excited and then I have two crazy dogs to manage. I must admit that Hobbes will get ahead of me on a walk but he does respond quickly when I call him back, unless there is another dog.
Is stopping and sitting while the other dog passes a good idea? It does work sometimes, but if I don’t have time to do this it’s a mess!
Off leash both dogs are friendly and social.
Also do you reward with treats?
Thanks for your help and any input is welcome.
Madeleine
- Barb Kordas
- posted on April 15, 2010
We have had similar issues with our cocker spaniel who we rescued last year, but she is improving gradually. A fabric type of slip collar ( $7.00-$10.00) found at most dog supply stores is best, worn high on the neck for better control of the dog when he starts his antics. Always walk him by your side or better yet slightly behind you. Try to be aware of changes in his behavior as a dog is approaching to correct him before his craziness escalates. Snap the leash sideways to correct and put him in a sit position facing away from the approaching dog. If he continues then just flip him onto his side and hold your hand over his neck until he calms. When he sits back up tell him what a good boy he is ( you can use a treat reward to reinforce the good behavior). It takes alot of work and consistancy
and patience. If you feel awkward about using these techniques while someone is approaching you with their dog you can simply tell them that your dog in in training and if they are willing they could come and meet/sniff your dog when he is calm. Good Luck.
- Madeleine Hall
- posted on April 15, 2010
Thanks
I just gave it a try and Hobbes showed signs of improvement. I think he knew I meant business and he loved the bits and pieces of praise.
I’ll be glad to give an update later!
Madeleine
- Miranda Wimbush
- posted on April 16, 2010
Hey Madeline, One of my dogs has some leash aggession issues, this is what worked for me. First of all have you ever tried using a head collar ( halti or gentle leader) on your dog? This would be a great tool for Hobbes to wear when you walk him. Basically it just allows you to have better control of your dogs head, and you can redirect him back to face you if he starts to become excited. The other thing I did was teach a “watch” command. The purpose of this is to teach your dog to focus on you until the dog has passed. I originally taught this command inside by saying watch while simultaneously taking a treat and pulling it from the dogs nose up to my eyes. After that I trained it outside. Then I started to add the command BEFORE my dog saw the other dog, so she didn’t have a chance to get worked up. Its a win win situation, she is now calm when passing dogs, she stays focused on me, and gets treats, which reinforces that seeing dogs on leash is a GOOD thing! Good Luck!
- Madeleine Hall
- posted on April 18, 2010
Thanks,
I think a combination of well directed handling and learning the “watch” command would be great. He has a really flat face, very “Pekinesy” , I’m not sure a halti would fit!!!
BTW Stewart is also improving and learning!
- Catherine
- posted on August 03, 2010
Walking two dogs is always an added challenge when one is like Hobbes, or in my case, Kyra, who has the same meeting other dog issues. She’s only 40 lbs, but it is all muscle, and she’s very wiry and could ultimately form part of an acrobatic team, winning gold medals! Sometimes, the ‘by me’ heel command, with the promise of a treat helps, but other times, I’ve found that, especially when walking both her and Buddy (formerly Patchy from Animatch), encouraging them both into a jog works best. I also try and take her out on her own and practice changing directions, doing the basic sit/down/up, commands, jog, fast walk, slow walk, etc. We look somewhat foolish and it takes forever to get around the neighborhood, but it does wonders. This is a neighborhood that has a one or two-dog per household every other house, so there are a lot of dogs! Still, she’s my WIP (Work in Progress).
- Madeleine Hall
- posted on August 16, 2010
Thanks for the advice. Moving into a jog is really good if I time it right,they don’t really know what is going on and then the other dog is gone! I use a slip collar now on both of them and they are improving. Both are much less animated and hysterical on their own so I try to do that more often and put them through their paces while I am at it.
I think Hobbes is a forever WIP which may be why he was a stray. He’s never leaving our family, WIP or not!