Dog Training: Walking on a Leash, Part 1

Let's Go for a Walk!

If you have trouble getting your dog not to pull ahead when walking on the leash, this article may help!

Equipment: A 6’ leash, preferably latigo leather, or if you have a puppy who might chew his leash when you’re not looking, use a sturdy nylon leash. (Cheaper than buying gallons of BitterApple or a new leather leash every other week.)

A flat, buckle-style collar, as wide as possible. Make sure the leash is tight enough to that the pup’s head can’t slip through it, but not so tight that there’s no “play” at all. Do not use a choke collar, prong collar, or Martingale collar. And under no circumstances should you use a head halter like the Gentle Leader. With young, large breed puppies you may want to use a harness to prevent the pup from putting all his weight against his throat. Just be advised that harnesses were designed for pulling. So that will be a bit of a disadvantage. And the harness should be temporary. Once the pup learns to stop pulling, use a flat collar. (There is a type of harness that prevents almost all dogs from pulling, it's called the Freedom, No-Pull Harness.) You’ll also need either a vest with a large, open pocket, or a bait bag from a dog training supply company, or a nail bag from the hardware store. Pre-Game Show: Always let your puppy do his business before a training session. The first thing to remember is that until your dog is trained to walk next to you without pulling ahead or lagging behind, every walk is going to be a training walk. There’s no, “I’ll take my puppy to the dry cleaners,” or “I need something from the convenience store; I bet my puppy would like to come.” Yes, he’d probably like to come, but you can’t train a dog and carry groceries or dry cleaning at the same time. On the other hand, once the dog is trained to walk next to you, you’ll be able to take him everywhere. Have some tasty treats readily available in a large pocket or “bait bag.” By readily available (notice the bold letters) I mean that you should be able to grab a handful of treats instantly. I prefer to use cubed bits of cheddar cheese; they’re easy to handle, the puppy doesn’t have to chew them, and they’re generally not a problem for doggies with digestive issues. I often use Nature's Variety freeze-dried raw treats, though they can be expensive. I also use Merrick, Texas Hold 'Em lamb lungs. Use what your puppy likes, but keep those three criteria in mind. Hold the 6’ leash in your right hand, putting your right thumb through the permanent loop, but make a temporary loop by “choking up” and holding that part of the leash in the palm of your right hand. Let me repeat: right thumb through the permanent loop, the temporary loop in the palm of your right hand. This gives you much more control over the dog’s movements than if you put your wrist through the permanent loop and wrap it around your arm or wind it around your fist. The temporary loop should give you the same distance between your hand and the dog’s collar as if you were walking him on a 4’ leash. That temporary loop is important, so don’t use a 4’ leash! While you’re walking the leash should fall naturally across or in front of your hips. If the puppy moves ahead to sniff something or say hello to another doggie, you can let out some slack so that he doesn’t feel any pressure on his collar. Pressure is the enemy. That’s why we use a 6’ leash. Whenever a dog feels pressure on his collar he’ll automatically pull forward. This is an unconscious behavior called the opposition reflex. So your primary goal is to walk him in such a way that there’s as little tension on his collar as possible. Your left hand should not touch the leash, except when you need to choke up to make that temporary loop. The dog should always be on your left side while walking, and the optimal position (the “heel” position) is with the dog next to you, in “the pocket,” close to your left leg, with his head and shoulders about even with your left knee. If the dog moves out of the pocket, make a kissing sound to get him to focus on you, then reward him with a treat when he does. Here are the 2 ways a dog will move out of the pocket: He’ll stay on your left but his head and shoulders will move forward past your left knee. He’ll lag, then try to come around behind you, veering to the right, sometimes wrapping the leash around the backs of your knees. Training Environment: Once your dog has finished doing his business, find an open, distraction-free environment to do your leash training. If you live in an urban area you may have to improvise. That’s okay, just find the best possible spot you can. Starting the Leash Training: Start each session by having your dog jump up on command. (See my article “How to Train a Dog Not to Jump Up.”) Do that a few times, then get your dog to sit next to you in the heel position. It’s probably a good idea to motivate the dog to sit by showing him a treat. This will not only get him to sit, it will also make him realize that you’ve got a pocketful of treats with you. Once the dog is sitting, say “Ready?” then, “Okay, let’s walk!” and begin walking, praising the dog as you go. Praise is not used as a reward here. You simply praise him to keep him in a group mood. Since dogs and humans walk at different paces, and have different agenda, he’ll slip out of his group mood pretty easily. Praise is one tool that can help sustain that mood a bit longer than normal. Pay attention to where his focus is. And once he slips out of his group mood—he moves his head and shoulders ahead of you or loses focus—make a kissing sound. With some dogs you may have to do it a few times before they respond. Don’t worry, just keeping doing it. When the dog does respond, immediately pop the treat into his mouth, but only while he’s in the pocket. You’re also going to have to train yourself to reach for the treat (or have it ready), do the kissing sound, and let the slack out of the leash all at the same time. It takes a little time to learn this but it’s important to always keep a slack leash. If you’re too late with your timing, and the dog veers across your path in front of you, or off to your right, that’s okay. Just make the kissing sound, then make an easy, gentle about right turn, maneuvering your body so that the dog ends up back on your left again. Keep making the kissing sound and showing him the treat until he’s walking next to you in the pocket, then give him the treat. He should only be treated while he’s either already in or moving into the pocket. You’ll now be walking in the opposite direction, so if you want to continue going the same direction you were originally headed, just continue making the about right turn until you’re headed back in the previous direction. If the dog decides he wants to veer to the right behind your legs, do an about left turn so he’s back on your left. Then make the kissing sound, lure him into the pocket with a treat, keep circling to the left until you’re going the original direction. It may be a bit more difficult to get the hang of this maneuver. But once you realize that that, you can take a little extra time and thought to teach yourself how to do it. As you make these gentle “corrections,” followed by a treat while the dog is either in or moving into the pocket, you’ll find that he’ll start to almost prefer to walk next to you. He may even start looking for a treat without hearing the kissing sound first. When he does he should immediately get a treat then as well. (Yes, that’s a lot of treats, but until your dog is trained to walk next to you, every walk is going to be a training walk.) Time Frame: Keep the sessions short: no more than 5 minutes at a time. Don’t worry that you won’t be making progress quickly enough. The slower you go the faster you’ll get there. Just trust that when you do this properly, without stressing the dog, she’ll begin to automatically gravitate to a spot next to you on her walks. Each session should end with a rousing game of tug or fetch. Remember, the dog feels like she’s on a hunting expedition. Walking next to you feels unnatural, so her hunting instincts need to get some sort of payoff at the back end. Also, be on the lookout for any signs that the dog is bored, anxious, stressed, or losing interest. If so you can either take a break for some nice, easy massage. Or if the dog seems really stressed—panting, unable to focus on you—try stroking her very firmly down the topline, from the base of the skull to the tail, as if you’re pushing excess nervous energy out of the spinal column, releasing it through her tail (but don’t massage her tail). Do this three or four times and the dog will usually either yawn or shake herself. You could also do some gentle massaging of her shoulders and haunches. After three or four days you should see some definite progress. But remember: this always needs to be done as a training session, not as part of a trip to the bank or to do errands, etc. And always keep your sessions short. You'll make more progress by taking things slowly than by trying to get too much done too soon. Variations: After three or four days you can add some variations. One is what I call the “kiss-n-tug” where you give a tiny, almost imperceptible tug on the collar, followed by the kissing sound, which is then followed by a treat. You can also do a “kiss-n-walk” where the kissing sound is followed by the words, “Let's walk!” Then you can start doing both of these exercises together. Pretty soon the tiny tug on the collar is a signal to the dog that walking next to you, and focusing on you, is a pleasant experience. (This is not a real, obedience-level “heel” by the way; it’s just one way of keeping the dog walking next to you, in the pocket.)

Another variation is what I call double-time/half-time. This is where you start walking very fast, perhaps even running for about 10 yards or so, luring the dog along with a treat. Then, you start walking very, very slowly. And I don't mean at a slightly slower than normal pace. I mean deathly slow, almost a crawl. Think of this in terms of a driving analogy. Double time means you're going 70 miles per hour, half time means you slow down to about 10. Praise: I also talk to and praise the dog continuously while walking (at least in the beginning). Remember that the dog’s agenda is different from yours. He wants to move ahead, toward some release of his prey drive. Praise will bring him back into a group mood and make him feel that his hunting needs will be satisfied soon enough (by playing fetch and tug either during the training session or when it’s over). And if the dog stops to sniff something, I let him. If he keeps sniffing and I want to keep moving, I’ll say, “Oooh! Is that a good smell? Oh, you like that smell! What a good doggie! You’re such a good smeller!” Then I change my tone slightly, and say, “Okay...” and he’ll immediately start walking with me again. Happy leash training!