# training a pup to walk on leash



## Zoe093014 (Jan 27, 2015)

Hi,
I am having trouble trying to get my 4 mo. old puppy to follow me on a leash.
She will only follow if I have a treat but I really don't want to constantly fill her with treats. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks!

Linda


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Zoe093014 said:


> Hi,
> I am having trouble trying to get my 4 mo. old puppy to follow me on a leash.
> She will only follow if I have a treat but I really don't want to constantly fill her with treats. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks!
> 
> Linda


Are you taking a puppy kindergarten class with her? If not, you should. One of the things you'll work on is loose leash walking. In the mean time, here is a video to get you started: 




Good loose leash walking is definitely a learned behavior. Puppies don't come knowing how to do it. It takes time and patience to teach them.


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## Zoe093014 (Jan 27, 2015)

Thank you, Karen.
I will try some of those techniques. Also I will look into a puppy kindergarten in my area. 

Linda


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## Naturelover (Nov 30, 2013)

krandall said:


> In the mean time, here is a video to get you started:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Love this video. There are lots of different techniques to teach loose leash walking (I love what I see here), and to be honest, I'm still working on it with Archer! Karen, at what age did Kodi "get it"? Archer usually is awesome at it after half of his first walk of the day. He is just too nuts before that, but once he gets his excitement out, he slips into a wonderful walking mode with great focus.


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## Naturelover (Nov 30, 2013)

Zoe093014 said:


> Hi,
> She will only follow if I have a treat but I really don't want to constantly fill her with treats.
> 
> Linda


I hear you about not wanting to use treats all the time, but I think it's important to understand that we can't really 
phase out" the treats unless we have the behaviour pretty reliable. I spend most of Archer's daily treat budget on loose leash walking and grooming. We do fun tricks and classes but right now those two things are so important that I'm focusing mainly on them. There will be plenty of time for more fun stuff later.

That being said, there are some options for you. Does she eat kibble? If so, use her dinner kibble to dispense on a walk or while you are doing this training. The other option is using nutritionally balanced treats such as the Stella & Chewy's patties (I really should get a commission from them, I recommend it so often!) That way I don't feel so guilty feeding frequent rewards to my dog- it's just part of his daily food allotment, but it's different so HE thinks it is a treat.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Naturelover said:


> Love this video. There are lots of different techniques to teach loose leash walking (I love what I see here), and to be honest, I'm still working on it with Archer! Karen, at what age did Kodi "get it"? Archer usually is awesome at it after half of his first walk of the day. He is just too nuts before that, but once he gets his excitement out, he slips into a wonderful walking mode with great focus.


It was totally dependent on setting and level of excitement. He was the star of his puppy obedience classes or in the back yard. On a real walk? All bets were off for a LONG time!!!  Because regular harnesses tend to encourage pulling, for walks, I put him in a front-attaching no-pull harness as soon as he was big enough. That REALLY helped! You can still "teach" them to pull on those harnesses if you don't use them right (no forward movement if the dog is pulling) But it's much harder for them to play "sled dog" in one! 

I am NOT a stickler for the dog being at my side on a casual walk. My criteria are, no pulling in any direction and no tripping me.  When he could maintain those two criteria, I pretty much let him be in any position he wanted. If he was being a crazy man, and I didn't have time to stand in one place over and over, (sometimes you DO just need to get home!  ) I shortened the leash and kept him right by my side, using what we call in riding, "half halts", where you gently squeeze on the rein (or in the case the leash) and immediately release the pressure to see if the animal will stay there. If you maintain a steady pressure, as you know, you are just teaching them to lean against the leash and pull. I would test him with a bit more leash from time to time, and if he'd keep it loose, I'd give him more freedom. I know it's not an ENTIRELY "positive" training method, but sometimes, in real-world settings, you have to worry about safety first and training methods second as long as they are not unkind. In my mind, it was like MAKING my pre-school aged kids hold my hand in the parking lot. Maybe they didn't like it, but I didn't hurt them, and I was keeping them safe! 

I think he was probably close to two before he NEVER pulled on casual walks if something exciting was going on. (which is funny, because he was doing pretty reliable off-lead heeling at trials at that age, which shows how little loose leash walking and formal heeling have in common!) It's so funny to think back on it, because he is the easiest dog in the world to walk now. He likes to walk out ahead of us, and as I said, I don't have a problem with that, as long as he doesn't pull. He never does&#8230; he just wants to lead the way, and I LOVE seeing that plume of a tail sashaying down the sidewalk ahead of me!


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

There's more to it than it looks like. It's a communication between handler and dog. I've seen Pam teach a Jack Russell to walk on a leash in 50 feet, and she had pulled for 16 years with her owners. Once the owner started walking her again, Jackie started pulling again.

We don't really worry about teaching a young puppy how to walk on a leash. I've seen Pam take more than a few dogs into the show ring for the first time, which was the first time the dog had been on a leash.

Now horses are a different story. I teach foals how to calmly lead in a stall when they are two days old, and they keep it for the rest of their life. It takes no more pressure to handle a 1,000 lb. horse than a 10 pound dog, if you know how.

Don't get discouraged, and don't discourage the dog. Never jerk or tug on the lead, both ends have to have the same pressure. The handler is the one that determines how much pressure is acceptable. Little is good, none is better. None might include a little weight of the lead.


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## Zoe093014 (Jan 27, 2015)

Thanks for all the input! Right now she's not willing to move forward. I can easily drag her (indoors, that is, smooth wood laminate flooring) but I don't want to injure her and so maybe the treats might temporarily motivate her to move forward. BTW, I too have horses so I understand and agree with your comments. I really enjoy walking with a dog so I am very anxious for her to enjoy it as well.


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

In our puppy class they had us use a wooden spoon with some peanut butter on it. By holding the spoon out in front of the dogs head while we walked it got them to move forward as they tried to get to the "treat". Every once in a while we would let them have a lick to keep them interested. Might be worth a try.


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## Zoe093014 (Jan 27, 2015)

Thanks Diane. What a great idea! BTW, my Hav looks so much like Molly!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Zoe093014 said:


> Thanks for all the input! Right now she's not willing to move forward. I can easily drag her (indoors, that is, smooth wood laminate flooring) but I don't want to injure her and so maybe the treats might temporarily motivate her to move forward. BTW, I too have horses so I understand and agree with your comments. I really enjoy walking with a dog so I am very anxious for her to enjoy it as well.


Yes, PLEASE don't drag her!!! That certainly won't make her enjoy walking with you!!!


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

Zoe,

I feel your pain. I am a big dog person, and when I got my puppy 1/2 hav Ollie, he really gave me a run for the money. Only 1 training technique worked with him to teach him to walk on a loose leash, and at a casual heel (by your side, not in front or behind you). disclaimer: I didn't watch the vid so forgive if this technique was on the vid.

If you are near a Micheal's, this tip will work for you. by a 3-4 foot skinny stick, thin enough you can skewer a small moist trick at the end. put some treats in your pocket. Then, not in your leash hand, but the other one, hold the stick, with the trick just a little in front of your pup and start to walk.

Yes, i know you don't want to continue to feed treats, but like someone mentioned, you increase the time interval, and then vary when the pup gets treats and then fade the treats. the long stick allows you and the pup to experience walking on a loose leash with the correct posture and position for both of you.

Hope that helps a little.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Zoe093014 said:


> Thanks for all the input! Right now she's not willing to move forward. I can easily drag her (indoors, that is, smooth wood laminate flooring) but I don't want to injure her and so maybe the treats might temporarily motivate her to move forward. BTW, I too have horses so I understand and agree with your comments. I really enjoy walking with a dog so I am very anxious for her to enjoy it as well.


Just as with a horse, once you have forward, you can do something with it. I wouldn't do any dragging, just fun follow games to start with.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Tom King said:


> Just as with a horse, once you have forward, you can do something with it. I wouldn't do any dragging, just fun follow games to start with.


Oh, how true THAT is, Tom!!! And balky horses can be just as frustrating (if not more) than balky puppies. (and even more likely to receive abusive treatment!)

That's one of the reasons I LOVE Gail Fisher's method (in the video I posted). Puppies are MUCH more likely to come toward you as you move away FACING them, calling "pup, pup, pup!" and tossing cookies between you, encouraging more forward movement. Once you've got forward, you can rotate in beside them. When you (inevitably) lose it, you rotate back to face them, and back away, calling them and making it a game again!


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## Zoe093014 (Jan 27, 2015)

OK ... after we got past the game "catch me if you can" it worked like a charm, just like in the video!  She loves games but there definitely has to something in it for her.

Linda


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Zoe093014 said:


> OK ... after we got past the game "catch me if you can" it worked like a charm, just like in the video!  She loves games but there definitely has to something in it for her.
> 
> Linda


And why not?  Very few humans work "for free" either!


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