Does your dog walk nicely on the lead ? If so what did you do to teach ?

[LardLizard]

?

[Girlintheframe]

In our training class we started with having a treat in your hand and using the command 'close' to get puppy to walk by your side. This has progressed to having a loose lead on him and using food in my hand getting him to walk by my side.

He is quite good at it but being only 4 and half months old it's a work in progress and he struggles at it when there are other distractions. We do one 20 min walk a day on loose lead

[FeckingEjit]

Tied both puppies to the pram and went on a walk. They learnt pretty much instantly that they had to stay at each side and walk at my pace. I had a newborn and 2 puppies, absolutely no time for training classes. They just had to learn (and quickly).

[adaline]

Mine is a nightmare for pulling. He's fine in places he knows or on streets but if he's in a new place with lots of smells he just pulls and pulls. He's a beagle so I think it's a combination of excitement, new smells and just wanting to go!

After a while he'll calm down. Like a PP we were taught to have a treat in our hand to get him to walk close. He will do it sometimes (when there aren't many distractions) but sometimes other things are just too exciting!

I think pretty much all dogs pull as puppies, it's just excitement and them wanting to get where they want to go as quickly as possible! Mine was really good for a while but he's now going through his teenage phase where all training seems to have gone out of the window!

[PottyPotterer]

There's a downloadable PDF on here on loose leash walking, some decent videos on YouTube as well.
www.apdt.co.uk/dog-owners/puppy-dog-training-tips

[LizzieBennettDarcy]

If I've got a tennis ball in my hand or a squeaky toy, mine walks like an angel. But he then won't leave your side and have a walk.... which is the point of going out. Obsessive isn't the word.

Or he will walk perfectly on a figure of 8 lead. But he really doesn't like it.

Without, he pulls like a train even on a harness and I've had to have physio on my shoulder.

[Judashascomeintosomemoney]

My rescue Labrador boy pulled like a steam train when we first got him and as he is very big and tall and more than capable of pulling me over I had to do something quick. I tried the stopping until he stopped pulling and the tension in the lead relaxed but turns out he was more stubborn than me . So I turned to the method of moving forward at pace and the second he pulled ahead I immediately turn and go back the way we came. And repeat. Ad Infinitum . I must have looked like a complete nutter. Luckily he’s a smart boy and very quickly realised that something weird was happening and that in turn led to him focusing his attention on me to see what I was going to do next. Stopped the pulling very quickly and only needed repeating a handful of times after when excitement got the better of him.

[adaline]

Judashascomeintosomemoney how long did that method take you, just out of curiosity? My beagle ignores the stopping method so I'd be interested to try the turning back one!

[Judashascomeintosomemoney]

Honestly? A matter of minutes until he worked out something odd was happening and he started to focus his attention on me. That doesn’t mean he was perfect from day one of course, he’d forgot and start again ten minutes later but he would quickly snap out of it once I started the back and forth again. I couldn’t say he doesn’t occasionally pull forward if something terribly exciting is happening up ahead but it does mean walking is pleasurable 99% of the time. BUT he is super quick (Collie quick) to learn stuff and of course different breeds might be better at it than others so I wouldn’t lay claim to being an expert.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

I’ve tried the turning round routine with my Lab but it doesn’t really work. As soon as I spin round he’s all anxious and walking perfectly to heel because he wants to go the other way. As soon as I turn back he’s pulling ahead again. I’ve done it till I’m blue in the face, it just doesn’t work with him. He’s a stubborn git.

[adaline]

I suppose different things work for different dogs! Mine walks well in a halti collar but he absolutely hates wearing it so I'd rather find another solution than put up with him trying to push it off every 20 seconds and refusing to walk!

[Frustratedmum78]

We use a canny lead on our big poodle, he used to pull so hard, now it’s like walking a chihuahua! Even the kids can walk him.

[RadioDorothy]

My dog is a vicious, aggressive gobshite (mainly due to back pain and poor temperament), but she does walk very nicely on the lead.

When she was 9 weeks old I put a little cat collar on her with a light nylon lead trailing, and let her move around freely with it indoors. I'd leave it on her for increasing periods of time so she could get used to it - couple of minutes, 5 mins, 10 mins etc. Once she could cope with the collar and lead for 10 mins, we practiced indoors with me holding the end of the lead so she got used to being restrained by it.

Once she was handling that happily, we advanced out into the garden and did a couple of minutes walking around together. I was taught to simply walk at a normal pace with the dog, ignoring all the leaping and pulling and puppy antics, until she settled and walked normally for a few moments - then reward and end the session.

By the time she'd had her jabs and we'd done a few sessions like that in the garden, she was walking nicely on a harness, no trouble.

Now, 11 years later, if anyone can give me a foolproof method for stopping her attacking anything that moves that would be great thanks.

[Judashascomeintosomemoney]

I suppose different things work for different dogs
And I think that nails it tbh ! Seriously, if anyone saw me with my boy they’d be giving me a series to rival the Dog Whisperer. The stuff we’ve taught him, basics like not pulling, waiting and sitting at roads, waiting til I say before he eats, gets on the sofa etc but also cool stuff like BGT style dancing, agility, and brain games. But then, if they’d ever seen me with my (late) girl Labrador (the most adorable golden barrel that ever walked the earth), they’d think I was the worst dog owner in the world, because she just couldn’t give a toss about what I said, she did her own thing - god she was adorable though!

[AgathaF]

We used the method Girlintheframe describes. It's working really well for us (puppy is 6 months) and he's now really good at staying close even when we take him to busy areas.

[JustBeingJobless]

Yes my girl walks nicely on the lead. I’m disabled, and either walk with a stick or use a scooter, so cannot be doing with pulling. I used the stop and change direction method. Took a while, but if she starts to lean on the lead now, all I have to do is stop and she’s back to heel again.

[Lucisky]

Mine started pulling as a puppy. Every time she pulled I just stopped, said 'no pulling' and waited till she had relaxed the tension. Then we would set off again. She soon realised that if she pulled we would stand still. Fortunately she is a quick learner, and after a few days of very slow progress down our road, she clicked as to what I wanted. She will always just walk on a lose lead now. She is small though, and only weighs about 12 lbs, so I was never in danger of being pulled over.

[mando12345]

My lab walks beautifully on the lead. Learnt straight away really, if she pulled, I stopped and said heel in an authoritive tone. No treats at all, just an expectation she'd walk nicely with a loose lead.

[doingwhatican]

Ours never quite got it during puppy training class (and I quit because the teacher was AWFUL). I tried to stop if she pulled to no avail. But just this week I tried using the command ‘close’ and a treat and now she walks beautifully! Something just clicked. She looks up at me as she walks by my side. 11 month old mini poodle. Clever little thing.

[adaline]

Just popping back on to say that your technique works @Judashascomeintosomemoney! He's obviously not perfect after two walks but he's a lot better already!