🐾 Walking On A Leash 🐾
One of the biggest issues people have is with walking their dog on a leash.
Whether it be that your dog is just waling way too fast and pulling on the leash, or if your dog is actually leash reactive, it’s a problem.
Leash reactivity occurs because your dog is placed into a situation where they feel scared or threatened and can’t get away because they are on the leash.
With a leash reactive dog, you really want to learn your dogs body language and keep them away from their stressors.
With a dog who is pulling on the leash, they are super excited! Getting outside and seeing and smelling all the wonderful things out there really gets your dog super happy and overly excited sometimes.
It isn’t natural for a dog to walk at our pace. They naturally walk much faster. So how do we get them to slow down and walk on a loose leash?
We need to give them incentive to do so!
If your dog is pulling on the leash, stop where you are and wait for your dogs leash to go loose (meaning they’ve stopped moving forward).
If this takes too long, you can say “Let’s Go!” in a happy up-beat tone and turn in another direction. – The opposite direction from what your dog was after.
We are teaching them that running ahead of us doesn’t get them what they want.
To keep your dog closer to you, walking beside you, have some small training treats on hand. Every once in a while ask your dog for a look and when they look up at you, give them a treat right next to you. This will teach them that being by your side has it’s perks!
For really stubborn (or strong) pullers, you can also use a front clip harness, like this one: https://amzn.to/2rYAIGp
When you clip your leash to the front of the harness and your dog pulls, it will turn them around facing you instead of what they were pulling to get towards. Again, reinforcing that pulling doesn’t get them what they want.
Have questions about walking with your dog? Let me know in the comments!
