Correct way to walk a dog?

[snowonthedistanthills]

So, I'm not an experienced dog owner but I have spent quite a lot of time trying to get my dog to stop pulling me down the road and to walk by my side. Having said that, everywhere I go I see people being dragged along by pulling dogs and they don't seem to be bothered by it or do anything to stop the dog from pulling.

It's taken so so long to try to get my dog to walk nicely by my side and every time DH or other family members take DDog out my training goes out of the window because they never spend any time on reinforcing DDogs training. Am I wrong here? What is the correct way to walk your dog?

I also see many dogs being allowed to run over and jump all over people or freely running around and approaching other dogs and my ddog hates being approached by other dogs and will go for them!

Am I wrong to try to ask my dog to walk nicely? Tbh I find it quite stressful going and out being dragged along and constantly having to reinforce training. I just don't enjoy our walks which I really need for my mental health due to experiencing ongoing anxiety and depression.

I walk 3 of mine together. All walk on the left on a loose lead...
The husky mm well she needs reminding to stay left but that because dh lets her walk up front.
Watching a relative for years battle a banshee on the end of a rope ensured I never looked like that!!

The early days!

Am I wrong to try to ask my dog to walk nicely?

You're absolutely not wrong, but as you know from your own experience, it can take ages for dogs to "get" loose-lead walking and dogs still need to be walked in the meantime. I remember when my dog pulled me all over the place - I found it embarrassing and stressful but he still needed a walk while he was being trained.

My dog was probably 2.5-3 years old before it "clicked" and even now he still pulls when he catches a nice scent (or sees his pals over the road).

I also see many dogs being allowed to run over and jump all over people or freely running around and approaching other dogs and my ddog hates being approached by other dogs and will go for them!

^^ that is a different issue altogether, IMO. A dog that pulls generally doesn't impact anyone else but the behaviour you describe here is wrong and obviously not acceptable.

I will look like one of those people but I am training my pup! I tend to not get too close to others though.

My oh doesn't train while talking it really winds me up because he's strong enough to manage dog whereas I really need dog to behave!

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

Am I wrong to try to ask my dog to walk nicely?

You're absolutely not wrong, but as you know from your own experience, it can take ages for dogs to "get" loose-lead walking and dogs still need to be walked in the meantime. I remember when my dog pulled me all over the place - I found it embarrassing and stressful but he still needed a walk while he was being trained.

My dog was probably 2.5-3 years old before it "clicked" and even now he still pulls when he catches a nice scent (or sees his pals over the road).

I also see many dogs being allowed to run over and jump all over people or freely running around and approaching other dogs and my ddog hates being approached by other dogs and will go for them!

^^ that is a different issue altogether, IMO. A dog that pulls generally doesn't impact anyone else but the behaviour you describe here is wrong and obviously not acceptable.

I agree with every word of this!

Loose lead walking is important but neglected by a lot of dog owners, particularly smaller breeds who can be held back relatively easily. I've always had large breeds and it is a necessity to train them as they have the strength to pull me over if they dart. My current trainee is a 55kg Labrador who is currently on a head halter whilst training and gets this taken off after the first 2 miles of a walk but put back on again if he pulls. It's a decreasing regime alongside wavy walking and tracking me. I'm hoping he'll be loose leading in a couple of months.

I gave a spaniel - totally led by his nose so loose lead walking was hard to crack. He's pretty good now but I only expect him to do it when necessary - walking on pavements to the park, walking alongside roads or walking through the carpark to the woods etc.

The most enjoyable part of a walk for him is sniffing, so an hour on the lead walking nicely to heel doesn't really meet his needs. He'd actually be better with 20 minutes with his head in a bush or following a scent trail round the back garden.

We do practice walking to heel and I think it's an important skill when you need your dog to stay close, but I think the walk also needs to give them mental stimulation.

A lot depends on the dog. Old collie I could walk on a piece of cotton and he'd not dream of pulling it taut.
New collie is fear aggressive, so it can be a challenge.

I don't think there is a single correct way to walk a dog. For me, loose lead walking is important and we work on it from the beginning, starting in the house and then the garden (and without a lead at all at first). The best piece of advice I have ever received was to train loose lead walking every day. Even a single day without training can set you back. I always train dogs to walk on either side of me because there are situations when it makes more sense for them to be on the right. They don't have to walk perfectly to heel, just no pulling on the lead. I also give them opportunities to sniff.

My current pup is now 9 months old. He has been very good at loose lead walking on pavements for quite a while now. Very recently he has had a bit of a breakthrough and has walked beautifully by my side even in exciting environments (woods, fields, beach). He's still young and things can change of course, but I hope he will continue to walk well.

I find this puzzling too
I take my dog for a walk for him not really for me. I don't have a goal of trying to get to a particular place usually so I am happy for him to sniff and pee up stuff and trot along not necessarily right my my side. I would prefer not to get dragged about but I don't require his full on attention at all times.
I want him to be able to loose lead walk where required ideally but if that means that every walk is just parading up and down a street stopping when he gets ahead of me for many months until he learns then it doesn't seem worthwhile.

I guess the 'right' way to do it is that they also have perfect recall so they loose lead walk to a place where you can let them off so they can have fun and exercise. That way it's black and white. Lead on walk nicely, lead off run around. My dog unfortunately has very poor recall with other dogs so I have to keep him on lead all the time and as such the boundaries are blurred between walking nicely and having fun and it's often a bit of a crappy middle ground on the harness with him doing his own thing.

My dog can loose lead walk but only for short stretches and whilst being plied with multiple treats. He is cued to do this party trick by having his lead attached to his collar instead of the harness. It is not hugely useful to me or enjoyable for either of us therefore and I only make him do it in busy places where I need the control.

I have 2 labs, one walks beautifully for me , and no-one else, because we did a lot of training and it stuck. The other is a work in progress (rescue).
I have used a front fix harness (trulove brand) as that worked a treat and DH found it easier to maintain his training that way.
My dogs get plenty of sniffs, off lead walks etc, they just know ( or are learning ) that leads on mean calm walking.

The biggest issue is that people try to "train" loose lead walking when out on walks. It is way too distracting and the wrong enviroment to try to teach loose lead walking.

Loose lead walking starts at home without being on the lead and then can be proofed out on walks when the dog is ready. It is pretty simple to train but proofing can take time and effort .....

Common istakes peope make are not rewarding dog in position at their side,, most dogs are rewarded in front of the owner so the dogs move across to this position. - get the dog happily sitting at owners side to reward

Asking the dog to "heel" when they are actually pulling out in front of the owner - what does the dog think heel means either a pull on the lead is coming or being out in front of the owner.

Dogs need to learn the position first stationery
Then dogs need to learn the position when moving
Then add the lead
Then add in small distraction
Make the position a conditioned response to having the lead on
Then go out and about and proof it

@PollyRoulllson you make it sound so easy but I think you’re spot on.

Now our puppy is bigger I’ve overlooked training in the house and do this on walks. I think I need to get to basics on some walking training in the house for a bit.

I've a greyhound so my issue has been freezing so any kind of actual walking is great here ! However , this thread is interesting. He can loose lead walk on the left as obv taught this as a racer. When I first got him he didn't sniff at all and so I have tried to encourage that by dropping treats and giving him plenty of time to sniff and let him choose where he sniffs and praising when he does . This seems to be making him more relaxed on walks and so he freezes less. However when he finds a scent or interesting sniff I do get yanked to the side - should I be discouraging this ? And how do you let them sniff without getting pulled over to the sniffy area?

@stillherenow

I've a greyhound so my issue has been freezing so any kind of actual walking is great here ! However , this thread is interesting. He can loose lead walk on the left as obv taught this as a racer. When I first got him he didn't sniff at all and so I have tried to encourage that by dropping treats and giving him plenty of time to sniff and let him choose where he sniffs and praising when he does . This seems to be making him more relaxed on walks and so he freezes less. However when he finds a scent or interesting sniff I do get yanked to the side - should I be discouraging this ? And how do you let them sniff without getting pulled over to the sniffy area?

I think what you are doing is fab. Sniffing is great to help dogs relax.

However what I would do is to put it on cue.

So when you drop treats give a cue eg "go sniff" when you can see all the treats have been eaten have a finish cue "All done" or whatever you like

Then you will find he is less likely to yank to a scent. If you can watch his body language carefully you will notice a change just before he is about to lunge to the smell. If you can get your go sniff in at this stage he will begin to wait for the cue rather than just go on his own accord. Not always but more often.

Do carry on letting him sniff

Thanks @PollyRoulllson that's great I can see how that can work on pavement walks . It might not work so well on country walks where the entire walk is one big sniff !! But I'll start trying it and hopefully it will click. Will definitely let him sniff, it's such a pleasure when he clearly hadn't been allowed to as a racer, he was one terrified mess on the first few months of our walks so it's lovely seeing him happy out and about .

I think a lot of it is about your expectation of your dog.

We’ve never ‘trained’ lose lead walking, it’s just what we’ve always done. One or both dogs on a loose lead in your non dominant hand. We’ve never used extending leads. Working on recall at every opportunity from day one. Off lead time on every walk. Training shouldn’t be something you do occasionally, it should require your dog to demonstrate the required behaviour whenever they’re not having downtime.

We never ‘treated’ with god but have lots of verbal and physical praise. Lots of repositioning the dog. Using a long piece of willow or similar to hold in front of the figs nose from time to time while walking while using the heel command to stop drifting forward. Pulling dogs are turned around and walked in the other direction.

There is nothing more pleasant than walking alongside a dog that trots along beside you enjoying YOUR walk… with good training they can eventually even do this without the lead (not always appropriate though).

We’re a bit anti-‘training’ really… the most important commands are come, sit and heel in that order… anything else is just for show!