How can I teach my dog to walk nicely on lead?
“My shoulder hurts because my dog is pulling so hard on lead.”
“Why won’t my dog walk beside me?”
“My dog gets so excited, what can I do to get his attention?”
“My dog get’s frightened when we’re out for a walk. How can I help him?”
I hear these questions from many of my clients. All the things mentioned above are normal ways of acting for a dog. For us, the humans at the other end of the leash, they can be frustrating, annoying or, sometimes, baffling.
A frustrated/confused/annoyed human can lead to a frustrated/confused/annoyed dog.
So how can you turn this into a win-win for both? How can you show your dog that working with you is more better than pulling every which-way?…
By training a simple exercise that teaches your dog that looking at you, giving attention to you is the action that is most rewarding and fun. It’s more rewarding, more fun, more relaxing.
In the case of an excited dog, if they learn that being with you, focusing on you is better than pulling forward or jumping around, then your dog will stay close to you.
For a dog that’s a little unsure of things, teaching this exercise gives them a point of focus that is safe and rewarding. They start to forget about “potentially scary things”. The dog becomes calmer and more confident.
What is this amazing new skill and how do I do it?
I have had the pleasure to work with a gorgeous, young, excited (pulling, jumping 🙂 ) Labrador called Buddy. Here he is, waiting to get started!
Buddy and I have created three free videos, called “On The Road With Buddy” to show you how to start this training, how to make it rewarding and fun for you and your dog, and then how to “take it on the road”.
There are 3 steps. Make sure to practice each well, practice until your dog is solid with the exercise. This will ensure that when you move to the next step, your dog clearly understands the “game” of this exercise.
TIPS: Start somewhere quiet and calm. Have a handful of treats, hands behind your back. Be generous with the treats!
Click here to be taken to 3 free videos so I can share my favourite training exercise for beautiful leash walking with your dog.
If you have questions, click here to get in touch with Jenny.