Loose Lead Walking

Guide to Having a Dog Who Walks Nicely On a Lead

Dog’s pulling on lead is such a common struggle. I struggled with Ava for quite a while, before I got into dog training, actually that was how I got into it as I was searching around the internet for some help! In this blog I will share the things I have learnt and what helped us – and so what I share with my clients too. It nicely summarises most of what I have talked about over the last few weeks all in one place.

I try and think of the pulling on lead struggle in a different way and flip it around and think of it not as “I don’t want my dog to pull” but “I want my dog to stay nearer to me”. This then makes it more obvious that proximity is the first concept to work on. Proximity is about your dog being close to you. If your dog knows the value and best deal is to be close to you they are more likely to choose to be nearer you and therefore not pulling on the lead. The great thing with concept training is by working on proximity for loose lead walking, it is going to help your recall as well, as your dog will be more keen to return to you. Also their reactivity to other dogs or people as they realise that those things approaching from a distance are nothing to worry about or none of their business. They just want to be near you.

There are several things to consider when looking at how to help your dog walk nicer on the lead. Some or all of these may apply to you and your dog depending on the root cause of the pulling.

Why does your dog pull?

There are many reasons why your dog may pull, and it may be one of more of these. If you have a think about why your dog is pulling and work out the root cause this will make improving it easier.

Does your dog start pulling from the second they start the walk to the end?

Does your dog just pull and lunge when they see another dog, cat, person…<insert your dog’s nemesis!>!

Is your dog predicting they are about to get to the park and play ball and they drag you to the gate?

Keep reading and see what strategies would help with your puller!

Does your dog value being close to you?

If your dog values being close to you and near to you then they are less likely to pull ahead on the lead. They may be marching ahead because it is more interesting seeing what is around the corner than being closer to you. Put effort in, at home first, for them valuing being near you. Play with tug toys (and not throwing a ball miles away from you for them to fetch!!), teach them some tricks that involve them being close – Middle or spins are great. Have lots of fun at home, in the garden, rewarding them lots for being close. Then see if this makes a difference on the walk.

Excitement level at home

Does your dog get really excited when you get the lead out, when you put your walking shoes on, or get your special walking jacket out? As you are walking to the car or the front gate is your dog jumping about and trying to get ahead already? If this is the case then this is the first place to start. Get their lead out at random times, when you aren’t going anywhere and put it away again. Put their harness on and just leave it on for a while round the house. Do other things that are part of your walking routine without actually going for a walk. Dogs are always trying to predict things, if they can’t predict when you are actually going out they will be calmer when you do.

Can they sit calmly at the door or gate on the way out? If they are already struggling to listen at the door then it is unlikely they are going to listen to you once you start the walk. Practice getting them to sit at the door, opening it and closing the door again, going nowhere.

Do they know where they are going?

Do they get really excited when getting close to the park? Dragging you to the gate? This was the worse problem with Ava, we got to a point we could walk nicely for most the walk and then the last 5 minutes when she knew we were heading to the park she would drag me there. Again, be unpredictable, go a different route, get close but turn around and go back on yourself. Only go part way to the park and go home. Don’t go to the park! Or if you really want your dog to go to the park then drive to the park so you don’t have to have them on lead for long (this is what we did with Ava!).

Do you take treats on a walk?

I am surprised when I work with a client who struggles with their dogs lead walking and they say they don’t take treats on a walk with them. I pretty much always have treats on me. I don’t necessarily use them a lot, it depends who I am taking for a walk and where I am walking. But I like to know I have them in case I need to use them. It may be because your dog will not take treats on a walk. Now if this is the case then they are too over excited or worried about the situation so you need to break it down into steps. Can they take treats inside? By the door? By the car or gate? Try different deliveries, maybe rolling the food across the floor will get them interested or having them catch a piece. Try higher value food. Or try a toy or ball.

Have a treat pouch or pocket full of food so you can easily access it quickly. Also make sure you treat your dogs on the side you want them to walk on. Some people do have treats with them but have the lead on the side the dog is walking (say the right hand side) and treats in the left hand, then they have a dog that always walks across them! 

Is taking your dog for a walk stressful?

Then consider ditching the walks. If the lead pulling is really frustrating for you, and you regularly come back from a walk more stressed than when you went out it is likely your dog didn’t enjoy it either!

The more a dog does something the more they are likely to do it, so if they are pulling on a walk and getting to where they want to go, then they will pull again next time. This is unlikely to change without you changing something!

Take a break from the walks. Use that time to do some training games, and some stimulating sniffing exercises. Try some fitness training with your dog, it is great for still exercising them, without leaving the house. Teach them some tricks, these are great for bonding with your dog and increasing their confidence (they like learning new things) and it is fun.  You can then use these when back out on a walk to keep yor dog focused.

Consider buying a new “outfit” for your dog. Perhaps if you use a collar why not try a harness. I do generally recommend the use of harnesses over collars but it does depend on your dog. Some dog’s shape and size are better suited to a collar or a particular type of harness. But generally I find a Y shaped harness with a front and back clip the best type to have. If you also have a lead with a clip at each end this allows you to connect to the harness in two places. If you change what your dog wears for a walk this will help reduce the predictability for a time and give you chance to get them used to the new outfit while you aren’t actually going on walks.

Reintroduce the walks slowly, go for short walks, just 5 or 10 minutes, playing some games on the route and go home while still going well!

Games

As well as consider the points above play some games! This can start with just playing games in the house. If you teach them the skills inside with no distractions it will help them remember when you go somewhere with more interesting things around that their focus should still be on you.

My favourite games to help with loose lead walking.

Magic Hand

You will need your dog to be able catch food for this game. And it is a good test of your own mechanics with how you release the treats one by one! A great game to keep your dog focused on you (And your hand!) which means they won’t be pulling on lead.

This game worked brilliantly for Ava, she loves to catch and loves her food so it was a great combination!

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  1. To start playing you can do it with your dog off lead and in the house. Have a handful of treats in one hand and your dog by your side. Have your hand above your dog’s head and drop one treat from it (roll it from in between your fingers). It doesn’t actually matter if your dog doesn’t catch it at this stage, they are still getting value from knowing it is coming from you.
  2. Once they can catch the food from your hand when stationary see if you can start taking a step forward, your dog should follow you and be focused on your hand, waiting for the next treat.
  3. See if you can walk smoothly around and change direction. Change the speed that you release the treats, walk quicker and slower, change direction, mix it up a bit.
  4. Try it on lead in the house.
  5. Then take it into the garden, with more distractions they may find it harder to focus on you so make it easier for a while until they get used to it.
  6. Try it out on a walk and see if they stay close to you.
  7. By increasing the time between the drops of food you can keep your dog’s focus for longer.

To level up:

  • Try magic hand with a few bowls of food or toys in different places on the floor and see if your dog can stay with you while walking by them. This is imitating the distractions out on a walk (maybe a bit of rubbish on the ground). Do this on lead at first so you can stop your dog going for the goodies on the floor.

Troubleshooting

  • If your dog goes into a sit when you want them to catch on the move then get them moving first, throw a few pieces of food away from you, as they come back in towards you quickly drop a piece of food. Don’t drop food if they are in a sit.
  • If your dog will pay attention while there is food coming but as soon as you stop they start to pull again play around with different speeds of dropping the food. Do a few in a row really quickly then do one after a few seconds, then a few quickly again. Keep them guessing.

Rewind

This game makes your dog realise they need to keep an eye on you as you may change direction at any time. And they will get rewarded for following you.

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  1. I would start with this game on lead but you can do it off lead as well if in a low distraction environment. Have treats in your hand and walk forward with your dog for a few steps, then quite quickly and deliberately start moving backwards. At first you may need to lure your dog a little or call their name to get them to follow you, as they follow give them several treats as you walk backwards.
  2. Repeat, after a few goes see if they will follow just from the cue of you moving backwards and with no other help.
  3. Try on and off lead and in different environments.

To level up:

  • Do it at a time when they aren’t expecting it, you are just walking round the house and they are near you, do they still follow you backwards.
  • Or off lead on a walk!

Troubleshooting

  • If your dog does not come backwards don’t reward on the going forwards, then lure them with food in your hand to get them to come follow you backwards and reward lots on the backwards movement. Make sure you start it in a low distraction environment inside and on lead so they have less choice to do something else!

Give in to lead pressure (GILP)

This game is teaching your dog that actually pulling on the lead doesn’t get them where they want to go, and actually turning back to you is a much better deal.

This game is useful to teach as a bit of a back up plan. Ideally the other tools will work and therefore your dog doesn’t pull on the lead. This is a bit of a reactive tool than a proactive one. This is best played with your dog wearing a harness to reduce any neck pressure of a collar.

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  1. With your dog on lead, throw a treat just out of their reach, as they pull towards it stay still so the tension stays on the lead, wait (without saying anything) until your dog looks at you or releases the tension, then say “yes” and give them a treat. Be patient! Don’t let them get the treat you threw on the floor. You can use this again for the repeat try or pick it up and throw again.
  2. You are teaching your dog that when they feel tension on the lead they should return back to you.
  3. Try this in a no distraction environment at first.

To level up:

  • Go outside and you can use the distractions in the environment by throwing a treat towards them and standing your ground. See if your dog still chooses to turn back to you.
  • Use a very high value treat to throw away from you.
  • Only do a few repetitions of this in a single session as your dog is likely to catch on pretty quick and then not go for the treat. This is great progress if they do but then try a different environment and change it up a bit to really work in real life.

Troubleshooting

  • If your dog will not give up on the treat then use lower value treats and try it in an easier environment. If your dog gives up too easily and isn’t bothered about the treat use a high value treat!
  • Don’t do this game straight away in a tough environment while your reactive dog is approaching another dog, it will not work!! You have to practice this lots in easy places first 😊

Walk On By (A bowl game)

This game is teaching your dog some self control and disengagement. If they can walk nicely around a bowl of food then they can transfer that skill to the real world and show self control when walking towards to park.

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  1. Have a food bowl on the floor. Have your dog on a lead, restrain them gently (so they can’t get the food). Throw (or place if your aim isn’t that good!) some food in the bowl (start with not very high value food!).
  2. Now walk with your dog towards the bowl, the idea is they have to walk with a loose lead to the bowl then they get to have the food in the bowl. If they pull, you can either do a bit of GILP (See above) or turn around and walk away and then try again.
  3. At first, to help them, you could do some magic hand to keep their focus on you while walking to the bowl. Then you can repeat but rewarding less from your hand. Eventually, they  should be able to walk to the bowl without pulling or treats in your hand.
  4. Extend the distance you have to walk with your dog to the bowl.

To level up:

  • Put very high value treats in the bowl.
  • Or try and walk a circle around the bowl and then slowly spiral towards it. Walk to the bowl and away from it again.

Troubleshooting

  • If your dog pulls towards the bowl and does not give up, try lower value treats and only try and get your dog to do a step or two toward the bowl. Keep it easy so they can get a few wins in. Once they can manage that try a larger distance or higher value treats.

Training Plan

From all of the games and techniques described above pick the 3 or 4 games or things that you think will make the most difference to you dog. Think of it as a three week plan. Then try those games for 3 or 4 minutes, once or twice a day at home. As well as doing the other things like picking up their lead, getting to sit at the door when not going for a walk, ditching the walks. 

See how they improve. Look for the small wins initially. Are they walking a bit calmer, looking at you more? Can you reward less? Take it outside in the garden or just outside the front door or on a terrace. Are they finding it harder? Make the game a little easier as you make the environment harder. Then you can try it when on a walk, can you keep their attention, are they listening to you? Can you “magic hand” them past a dog on the other side of the road? Can you use GILP when they spot a cat in the distance?

Keep a diary of what training you do over the three weeks and then record how your walks go. Are they getting better? Are there more phases of nice walking? Are you getting frustrated any less?

Remember, progress is not linear. You may have one good walk one day and think you have sussed it and then head out the next day and you have a dreadful walk. This is ok, and very normal. Dog’s can have a bad day, just try again and keep up with the training. Even now, Ava walks very well on lead most the time. But it isn’t perfect (after 2 years of training!!). I still practice the games at home and out on walks. I love the bond it gives us and her focus and trust in me as well as the fact it continues to help on lead and in other areas too.

Calmness

One last aspect to consider for your dog and their loose lead walking (and pretty much any struggles they may have) is how much rest your dog gets. Puppies should get around 20 hours sleep/rest a day and even adult dog should be getting 16-18 hours. This is a lot! In your training diary keep a record for a couple of days of how much rest and stillness your dog gets. This may not be fully asleep but they might be chewing on a long last chew or bone? Or just chilling out on their bed at your feet. The calmer your dog is day to day the more likely your walks are going to be successful.

Give it a try

Come up with a three week plan and give it a try. You can always get in touch with me for any more tips or help with these games. Or even for a one to one lesson, so I can go through the games in more detail, and show you some others that I think can help with your dog. Our group dog classes ae a great opportunity to put some of these games into practice.

Good luck and most of all have fun with it.

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