subject: Training Your Dog To Walk On A Lead [print this page] So your puppy pulls on the leash? You've taught him to the best of your ability. For the first time someone said that to me it crossed my mind, "I didn't show my puppy to struggle on the leash, he/she came to it all by himself". But then i was shown that I reinforced his struggling by advancing when the puppy pulled. His brain said "pulling works, that's how I'm meant to be on the leash".
Now that we know this, it became obvious that the most effective time to teach lead good behaviour is from the very first day. But if you've missed this early timing, it's still not too late to better your dogs behaviour, but you'll require time, patience and a slightly different angle of approach.
Young dogs don't require to be given much excersis at all, they gain enough activity time simply from their hyper personalities, and the growing process is very hard work anyway. This initial period is the time when you should get your puppy used to the leash and show your pup how to behave while on the lead. Start in your backyard with your canine on a leash and do laps of around the area. When puppy pulls, stop all motion. The learning message to your dog is pulling = stopping. If the dog looks back at you or stops pulling on the lead, praise him/her and then begin the walk once more. The process may only require one or two obedience lessons for the puppy to be consistently strolling on a free lead, then all you have to do is maintain as the puppy evolves into a mischeivious teen!
To enhance an older dog you use exactly the exact method, the one change is that an older dog still requires their daily activity. If you attempt this obedience method on your every day stroles, you probably won't make it to the top of the drive before you're ready to give up. Also, if you give your dog obedience time separetely to you walk, then let your dog to pull on the lead while on its daily walk, you're throwing away all your training methods. So every time you and your pup are in the training mentality you will need to find an alternative way to exercise your puppy. Letting him to play with another dog, chasing a ball in the garden, or travelling to a nearby puppy park for a run-around off leash are the best chioces. The theory is that it will require 2 weeks of solid obedience to change a struggling dog into a non-struggling puppy.
If this method sounds like too difficult and you don't think you'll have the patience to see it all the way, there is another alternative. A halting lead and collar were made for such a time. These devices fit over the puppy's muzzle and neck and rely on the puppy's natural instinct to not be able to move forward with their head sideways, to discourage stuggling. They work just like a head halter for horses. Be very careful not to jerk suddenly on the lead or you will injure the dog's nose and lower head. These devices are not recommended for pets that have short snouts, the strap can damage their eyes as they begin trying to struggle. I recommend that you use two leads "one on the Halting and one on the dog's collar" so the dog gets used to the sensation of a loose leash and you can still be rewarding for not pulling, then in the end bring the puppy off the Halti.
