Lead training

[Ineverdidmind]

Hi,

Our puppy is 13 weeks old now and I would like to begin training her to walk nicely on the lead. We currently have a standard lead and collar although I may look into a harness.

Can anyone please run me through what worked for you and your dog? Or link me to any good info?
My family always had dogs when I was growing up, and they all pulled terribly on the lead. So for my dog it's something I'd like to focus on to make our walks more enjoyable.

Thanks.

My 9 month old springer is still a work in progress on this and the biggest aspect to stand out for me is that polite lead walking takes TIME. Lots of time. It's just not a natural behaviour for dogs so they take lots of repetitions (months) to understand what is required. Here's what is working for me...

1. I never use the lead to pull the dog where I want him to be - I encourage him a different way. It's so tempting to use a lead to hurry him up but I didn't want to establish a history of either of us 'pulling' on the lead. I wanted the lead to be a safety line, not a tool of control.

1. If he pulls forward or to the side to sniff, I stop. I ask him to come back to me. I wait - sometimes for up to a minute. When HE slackens the lead off by moving I praise and set off at a brisk walk, either forward or towards whatever it was he wanted to sniff. I am trying to get him to understand that a loose lead is the best way to get lots of forward movement and that pulling is like applying a brake. We both come to a standstill.

1. I have lots of tasty treats in my pocket and every/many times he finds himself in the right position (by my left hand thigh with a loose lead) I praise a treat. I do that every few steps. I want him to think that walking in that position is one of the most rewarding things he can do.

1. I taught a 'heel' behaviour using a clicker. At first it was just a step or two but we have slowly lengthened it out to 20+ steps before the treat is given. This has enabled me to use the heel cue to remind him what is wanted when he doesn't seem to be naturally walking by my side very much so not getting much opportunity for reinforcement there.

At 9 months old, on a walk with just him and me we get loose lead walking 50-75% of the time and not very hard pulling the rest of the time. Walking in a group or when other dogs pass in the street is still taking some work but we'll get there...

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply, this is really helpful.
I'm under no illusion this will be quick to master - one of the reasons I want to start thinking about this from day 1, I want to be consistent right from the off!
I had thought about stopping walking whenever she pulls, but I think we'll hardly get anywhere.......in the early days did it take you ages just to get around the block?!
I'll definitely take some treats out from now on too.

Oooh meant to ask - do you have a standard lead and collar? Or something else?
My husband wants to try a halter that goes round her nose but I'm not keen.
Thanks.

In all honesty, in the early days I tried to go easy on him and focussed on just 5 mins pavement type walking then straight into a field for off lead. I don't know whether that helped or hindered me. What I have now is a dog as described on the lead but pretty brilliant off lead (certainly more so than some of his gun breed peers).

I stopped still in degrees, so at first it was only the really hard pulling I would stop for, gradually lowering my threshold to be increasingly sensitive to pulling. Even today I will 'excuse' some slight pulling without stopping, in the spirit of keeping walks fun and upbeat. In some ways, the dog enjoying his walks and having fun were the most important factor for me, more so than polite lead walking.

I always tried to take advantage of the right behaviour and would walk quickly or even trot for loose lead so we made up our time then.

He learned to slacken the lead himself when we stop very quickly. That bit was easy, so even if we have lots of stops I know he will get us walking again after a few seconds by moving back to me to loosen the lead.

Sometimes I wonder if mine pulls in groups still because they are the times I was/am less inclined to stop still - just because it disrupts the walk so much. One suggestion (that I never could get organised enough to do) is to have 2 different lead combinations...

e.g. a harness that you never expect him to loose lead walk on, allowing you to have more social walks in the early days then a collar/lead in which you work on loose lead. The idea being that as he slowly learns you use the collar combo more and more until it is your default. That way the dog has a clear signal between having fun and walking by your side.

Nothing.
Sorry!
I tried everything - stand like a tree, turn around suddenly, treats, walking backwards and I'm sorry to say leash corrections and chains and head halters also.
Excellent recall so I rarely use a lead now, she's calmed down a lot as she's got older but she doesn't walk terribly well on lead.
I had the most success with clicker training and she'll heel nicely for a few minutes...

Just saw your 2nd question re collar etc.

I use a harness for when I know he will pull (to protect his neck) which is a Perfect Fit body harness. Plus a lead/flat collar combo when it's just us because he doesn't pull so there is no pressure on his neck. I try and train with both but eventually would like just a lead/collar just because he's not that keen on the harness. Whether we get there depends on how far along we get with the loose lead.

It's worth researching the damage that can be done by a dog pulling too hard on a collar - their necks are very much like ours with all the key stuff at the front where it can get damaged.