How to stop your dog pulling on the lead

How to stop your dog pulling on the lead

One of the biggest complaints many dog owners have and one of the main reasons people decide to take their dog to training classes is their dog pulling on the leads during walks. This may lead to the owner no longer wanting to walk their dog or resorting devices that "claim" to stop dogs pulling on the lead.

Care must be taken when using "head halter" devices as they can cause injury if not used properly. When a dog is pulling on the lead, our natural reaction may be to pull sharply on the lead and the dog gets their heads snapped back. Apart from this being a sure fire way to cause the dog injury, you may also succeed in pulling the dog out of their collar and risk them being able to run off.

Rather that using a potentially damaging method of teaching the dog to walk without pulling, the best this you can do as a responsible dog owner is to teach your dog loose lead walking and encourage them to use proper leash manners. You can use the dog’s natural desire for interesting things and attention to encourage the manners you want. This is a method that can be attempted regardless of the breed or or age of the dog. Whether or not you can teach your dog to stop pulling on the lead is down to your successfulness in teaching the dog.

How do I start training my dog to stop pulling on the lead?

To start with, get a twelve to fifteen foot lead (not the type of retractable one that you may use when allowing your dog some freedom whilst out walking as this type of retractable lead has no control, the cord can cut your hands, and you want something that remains loose). I have found that a "lunge lead" used when training horses works well and you can purchase them from your local farm supplies and country supplies shop. For the duration of this article we will refer to this as the "training lead".

Next, get a lot of treats that the dog cannot resist and use them ONLY for training. Find out what their absolute favourite treat is and use that as they will not be able to resist them!

Then, go to an area with very limited distractions. If you are lucky enough to have a large garden use that, otherwise try the local park out of "peak" times or a remote field. The more things going on, the less interesting you will be. A dog faced with a field full of other people or dogs is far more likely to find one of them more interesting that walking nicely on the lead! Working in an area with too many things going on can often lead to you becoming frustrated and making you over zealous with correcting the dog. The less going on when first starting to train any new behavior or desired manners, the better for the dog and ultimately the better for you. Your dog will be more likely to focus on you and not the game of football going on across the field or the playful looking Spaniel on the other side of the field.

Once at your chosen location, put the dog on the training lead and start walking with the words "Let's go", in a happy, cheery voice. If the dog goes in one direction, you walk in the opposite direction and SAY NOTHING. You are walking the dog, the dog is not walking you!.If you follow the dog this puts him in charge of the walk and in charge of you. Whilst walking, when you feel the lead go taught, stop and walk towards the dog. If he starts to walk away, go in another direction without saying anything. When you come up to the dog or the dog decides to follow you and gets right where you want him, pay attention to him, give some treats and change direction. If the dog follows you, again pay attention to him. The moment he starts to walk away, "turn off" and get boring. If the dog walks up to you or even accidentally hits the spot you want him in (like he is just walking past you), give treats, talk to him in a happy voice and get fun. When he turns away, turn off. If he walks away from you, change direction. If you feel the lead get taught, turn and walk towards the dog. What you are doing is teaching the dog that something fun happens when they are walking next to you. They get treats and you talk to them is a happy voice. When he walks away, you get boring. You don't give him treats and you don't chat happily to him. The dog has the length of the taaining lead to decide to walk away or return to you before it gets tight (he self-corrects when he makes the wring decision, your turning towards him give him a chance to make a decision that will get him something good). Don't yank on the lead, don't drag them in your direction, don't shout at the dog and don't use a collar that gives them a gentle shock. You are not trying to correct the dog into walking with you on a loose lead but giving him the incentive to learn proper lead manners.

When the dog is good at this with limited distractions, gradually increase the distractions. Remember, the more distractions, the harder you have to work to be more interesting than the rest of the world. Don't go from a field with no distractions to one with 20 dogs running about having a good time. Increase the distractions slowly.

You are teaching the dog that when he is near you, good things happen (he gets treats and attention from you). When he is away, you shut off. No punishing, he just gets nothing, no treats and no attention. Most dogs love attention (I know mine do!) and will do what they need to in order to get it. Practice this on long leads and your regular lead (regardless of the lead length, the concept is the same). If your dog starts pulling, turn off, walk in the other direction and turn on only when he is where you want him. The more you practice, the better the dog SHOULD become. Do several short sessions a day (you don't want the dog to become bored) and even when out and doing fun walk, use these techniques (even if it means your whole walk is spent going in circles, if you do not teach that proper manners apply at ALL walks, the dog will not learn good leash manners). I have left the house many times and must have looked like a complete idiot as I change direction and walk backwards and forwards in front of the house until the dog walks where I want him to walk).

Once your dog starts to behave better on the lead

Now what about those treats you are giving out? You don't want your fit trim dog turning into a little rotund one. When the dog begins to spend more and more time next to you, gradually decrease the amount of times you treat. The dog will stay with you because he knows this will get him fun stuff, talking and maybe even food. He will be more likely to stay with you if he now gets the rewards at random times: sort of like fruit machines and humans. Fruit machines are addictive because we know that if we put a coin in the slot, we will win money. We just do not know when and how much it will be. If you stop rewarding totally, the desired behavior will die off. Just like if the fruit machine stops paying out completely we will stop feeding it with coins. If you reward too much once the desired behavior is figured out, the dog will try to do less work because he knows that reward will come anyway.

Final advice

If you practice regularly during general walks and formal training sessions, you will develop a dog that walks happily on a loose lead. So, next time your dog starts to pull on his lead, shut up and walk away!

Finally, one last piece of advice. If you have more than one dog, carry out your training sessions with one at a time. If you are trying to train more than one dog at a time it will become very confusing for both you and the dogs.

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