Leash Training

by | Jul 27, 2018 | General training, Sport Training

Every dog needs to learn to walk on a leash. Even if your dog just lives in the house with you, it needs to learn to be on a leash. Learning to walk on a leash allows the dog to be able to be taken to the Veterinarian by anyone. If the dog gets out of your home and lost it can be caught before it gets hurt.

At a glance;

  • Have lots of high-value treats
  • Click and treat for any movement with/towards you
  • Use a happy “high pitched” voice
  • Were not teaching heeling, we’re getting the dog used to the leash
  • This needs to be fun and rewarding for the dog.
  • Be patient

Like with all my training I want this to be fun. A clicker is great for this beginning phase of training. Use of the clicker to get your dog used to the leash is the first step. The dog’s natural reaction to being restrained on the leash will be to pull away and struggle. By using the click/treat and a happy voice you can quickly overcome any issue. In the below video we are introducing the leash for the first time. We are not teaching her to heel yet. As you will be able to see in my video I used a lot of treats and praise when taking Lola for her first time on a leash.

 

You can see at the beginning when she was put on the leash she was not a happy camper, but by staying calm and showing her the reward she can earn she began to work. I also let her retreat to the relative safety of the table before coaxing her out. By giving her that 1-2 feet to retreat she was able to get her to be interested in the bate, then begin the training. This was a very long lesson for such a young puppy. There was a couple of breaks in the session tho. Whenever she would stop or try and pull away you will notice that I never “Drag” her, I just stop and encourage her to follow me. This is all positive training. Let her learn what gets her rewarded. In the video, you will also notice I do a lot of luring. As she gets the idea of what I am asking I lure less and less. It is not uncommon to start a lesson by luring the dog into what you want, then phase the luring out.