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Leash Training?? I have never leash trained before!
- Thread starter Spirit2010
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yep, she has wanted to do everything Hershey is doing. lol She likes copying him! Its quite funny. I carried her on walks, but she wanted to walk, so I put her down. I have no problem with her walking on her leash though (wanting to anyways) But the pulling, I have a problem with, but I will use that method, and let her calm down before she gets to walk.
Hey, see if you can find one of those Sporn harnesses online or at Petsmart (they carry them there)...they are the best thing EVER for dogs that pull on a conventional collar and leash. I'm a fan of harnesses, really, over collars and leashes, although that's just my preference.
However, if you want to do traditional leash and collar training, the first thing you want to do is just hook Whisper up to her leash, and let her drag it around. Once she seems okay with that, then you can move on to walking her a bit indoors on a lead. Once she's okay with that, then you can start to take very short walks outdoors, given that she's been vaccinated, and the vaccines have kicked in to prevent disease.
Good luck!
However, if you want to do traditional leash and collar training, the first thing you want to do is just hook Whisper up to her leash, and let her drag it around. Once she seems okay with that, then you can move on to walking her a bit indoors on a lead. Once she's okay with that, then you can start to take very short walks outdoors, given that she's been vaccinated, and the vaccines have kicked in to prevent disease.
Good luck!
Loose leash walking is very easy to correct, esp. in a puppy stage.
Loose Leash Walking is defined: (by my terms,lol), you walking your dog/puppy with a 4 foot to 6 foot leash. The leash should be slack while walking, if the dog extends the leash, you become...a TREE. Take the handle of the leash and pull it between your breasts (yes, with guys too), stand there, not responding, ignoring the dog. 99.9% of the time, your dog will pull for a few seconds, and then LOOK BACK AT YOU, at that point, still stand your ground, or tree stance, let THEM walk a few paces back to you...(they should do this on instinct), then say, "let's go," and walk again. When they extend the leash, repeat. This is something that should lead into the "heel" command.
Amy
Loose Leash Walking is defined: (by my terms,lol), you walking your dog/puppy with a 4 foot to 6 foot leash. The leash should be slack while walking, if the dog extends the leash, you become...a TREE. Take the handle of the leash and pull it between your breasts (yes, with guys too), stand there, not responding, ignoring the dog. 99.9% of the time, your dog will pull for a few seconds, and then LOOK BACK AT YOU, at that point, still stand your ground, or tree stance, let THEM walk a few paces back to you...(they should do this on instinct), then say, "let's go," and walk again. When they extend the leash, repeat. This is something that should lead into the "heel" command.
Amy
bubbatd: You KNOW we all love you here... But I do have to disagree, I believe a puppy should be shown how to walk on a leash as soon as possible.
Now, I do know about the smaller breeds, and designer breeds coming out. There are also 50 million (lol) harness, collars and halters out on the market. I believe 99.9 % work when put on properly.
I have done so much training, besides the entertainment stuff... that I have learned how to use the new "fangled" collars, harnesses, gentle leads, etc..., I have also started doing some "friends" training with small dogs... dogs that never had any training with a leash before. Bad mistake....
In my own opinion, as soon as the dog can walk, and walk well, start leash training. Yes, start in your home or yard, but start it early. My pup was walking on a leash at 8 weeks, no pulling, no yelling, just encouragment.
Remember: a collar is for i.d. purposes, a leash is for safety. What you do with the 2 and your dog, reflects on you.
Amy
Now, I do know about the smaller breeds, and designer breeds coming out. There are also 50 million (lol) harness, collars and halters out on the market. I believe 99.9 % work when put on properly.
I have done so much training, besides the entertainment stuff... that I have learned how to use the new "fangled" collars, harnesses, gentle leads, etc..., I have also started doing some "friends" training with small dogs... dogs that never had any training with a leash before. Bad mistake....
In my own opinion, as soon as the dog can walk, and walk well, start leash training. Yes, start in your home or yard, but start it early. My pup was walking on a leash at 8 weeks, no pulling, no yelling, just encouragment.
Remember: a collar is for i.d. purposes, a leash is for safety. What you do with the 2 and your dog, reflects on you.
Amy
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I agree. All of my dogs are walked on harnesses and leashes. All of their collars are tight, but loose enough for comfort and that means they can slip out of them.
A young pup should be conditioned to the leash, slowly, in the yard or inside the home. Once they are comfortable, it can go outside in the open. But I would still walk on a harness, but that's just my personal preference, puppy or not.
A young pup should be conditioned to the leash, slowly, in the yard or inside the home. Once they are comfortable, it can go outside in the open. But I would still walk on a harness, but that's just my personal preference, puppy or not.
I find that method in the link to be too abrupt and setting the dog up to fail because there is no gradual getting use to the leash. She's advocating putting the leash on a puppy while it's squirming and lunging and basically, just fighting the puppy who hasn't learned anything yet. You don't want your pup to pair having a rotten time with you.
Here, I'll share with you something I wrote. It is part of something else, so may not be all you're looking for. It doesn't include everything. That comes afterwards in following chapters.
If you condition your pup part of the way, to walk with you without the leash, you'll get a jump start. As with everything, practice in very low distraction areas first and gradually add them in. If your dog pulls because he's in a hurry, stop or turn the other way, encouraging him to come along. Reinforce VERY frequently at first, every couple steps that he is close to you. All fun and games, no yanking, scolding....just a game where he gets rewarded for what you want and nothing happens much when he doesn't, other than the forward movement stops if he pulls. Keeping sessions very short is key. I didn't write it that way, but I think Bubbadt's idea of a harness for starting out is just fine. If a puppy does yank around, his little trachea or neck can be injured. Once he is walking relatively nicely, you can switch back and forth. Practice out in the yard, using both. By using this conditioning method...getting the puppy comfortable with the leash more gradually, giving the puppy the idea of walking with you before getting him out into the world, he is less apt to yank, pull, back out of his collar. He already IS walking fairly nicely because he's learned to do it without the leash first and the leash then, is not so objectionable to him because he hasn't had a lot of jerking, lunging, backing, flailing around with it. Again, don't rush getting him out into huge distractions until he's practiced in quieter areas.
LEASH TRAINING 101
Your puppy may have had a light weight ribbon on his neck from the breeder. But he most likely has never worn a heavier collar or a leash. These things will be foreign to him. New things always have the potential to be scary, so as dog owners, we need to make sure to turn the scary thing into a good thing. We have our tricks and in a few days or weeks, our puppy will be happy to having his collar and leash put on.
Start in the house with no collar or leash on puppy. Encourage him to come along with you down the hall, through the living room and back again. Make it a fun game and entice him with a happy voice, a squeaky toy, patting your thigh and drop a few treat tidbits every couple steps. Do that several times a day. He will come to enjoy walking alongside you where ever you go.
What a lot of new puppy owners do, is make the mistake of putting on the leash, using force and dragging their fearful puppy across the floor or down the street for what is suppose to be a fun walk! The puppy may be terrified of this thing wrapped around his neck or simply uncomfortable. Dragging and forcing is most certainly not going to make the puppy learn that doing things with his owner is fun. And it will make him fear the leash. We also want to avoid associating tension on the dog’s neck with moving forward. As he matures and learns to walk nicely on the leash, without pulling, we want to have a history of motion without tension. When there is a pulling sensation against the neck, the dog’s opposition reflex will kick in and he’ll automatically pull against it. We don’t want that to become part of his repertoire. Prevention of bad habits, from day one will tremendously improve the effectiveness of future training.
After a little conditioning to coming along with you with no collar or leash, sit down with him and put on his collar in a friendly manner and give him a small treat. Play with him for a little while with a toy or ball. Then snap on the leash. Let him drag it around while you go with him. Never leave a collar or leash on a puppy when unattended. They can get it caught on a piece of furniture and strangle. Give him tiny treats frequently, as he walks around the house. He may struggle a little bit but don’t make a fuss. Try encouraging him to come along with you through the house with the leash trailing behind, just as you did without the leash, dropping little treat tidbits along the way. Praise him often and after about five minutes, remove the collar and leash. Be careful not to remove the leash if he’s throwing a fit. Wait for a lull. You don’t want him to learn that by raising cane, he gets his way. Do this several times a day, just five minutes at a time for a few days, always associating it with a pleasant time. If you need to use a leash to take him outside to go potty, you’ll just have to do the best you can if he is uncomfortable, but don’t drag or force him. Encourage him.
After he’s gotten a chance to experience the leash hanging off of him and dragging it around, sometimes making a little tension on his neck by momentarily catching on something, you can pick up the other end of the leash. A few gentle tugs on the leash from catching on furniture or when you turn and he doesn’t will help him to not fear that sensation. Some tugs and pulls are inevitable and will be a part of life but we don’t want a lot of that as a functional part of his training. Follow him around a little and encourage him to come along with you while holding the other end. Keep lessons short and fun, five minutes at a time is plenty. Little by little, he’ll become confident wearing his new collar and leash.
With toy breeds, I prefer to use a harness. With a collar, their tiny necks and tracheas can be so easily injured with any struggle. With a large breed puppy, pulling is very common and as he gets bigger and stronger, while he’s in training, you may find a no-pull harness helpful for management on walks. These do not train the dog, but enable you to take the dog for a walk without getting your arms pulled out of their sockets or having you dragged under a car. These harnesses attach from the front and prevent pulling. You will still want to train your puppy to walk nicely with a flat buckle collar and leash in low distraction areas to start. More on that later. By practicing these conditioning exercises, your puppy will be ready for graduation from kindergarten leash training 101 and ready for junior high school leash walking.
Here, I'll share with you something I wrote. It is part of something else, so may not be all you're looking for. It doesn't include everything. That comes afterwards in following chapters.
If you condition your pup part of the way, to walk with you without the leash, you'll get a jump start. As with everything, practice in very low distraction areas first and gradually add them in. If your dog pulls because he's in a hurry, stop or turn the other way, encouraging him to come along. Reinforce VERY frequently at first, every couple steps that he is close to you. All fun and games, no yanking, scolding....just a game where he gets rewarded for what you want and nothing happens much when he doesn't, other than the forward movement stops if he pulls. Keeping sessions very short is key. I didn't write it that way, but I think Bubbadt's idea of a harness for starting out is just fine. If a puppy does yank around, his little trachea or neck can be injured. Once he is walking relatively nicely, you can switch back and forth. Practice out in the yard, using both. By using this conditioning method...getting the puppy comfortable with the leash more gradually, giving the puppy the idea of walking with you before getting him out into the world, he is less apt to yank, pull, back out of his collar. He already IS walking fairly nicely because he's learned to do it without the leash first and the leash then, is not so objectionable to him because he hasn't had a lot of jerking, lunging, backing, flailing around with it. Again, don't rush getting him out into huge distractions until he's practiced in quieter areas.
LEASH TRAINING 101
Your puppy may have had a light weight ribbon on his neck from the breeder. But he most likely has never worn a heavier collar or a leash. These things will be foreign to him. New things always have the potential to be scary, so as dog owners, we need to make sure to turn the scary thing into a good thing. We have our tricks and in a few days or weeks, our puppy will be happy to having his collar and leash put on.
Start in the house with no collar or leash on puppy. Encourage him to come along with you down the hall, through the living room and back again. Make it a fun game and entice him with a happy voice, a squeaky toy, patting your thigh and drop a few treat tidbits every couple steps. Do that several times a day. He will come to enjoy walking alongside you where ever you go.
What a lot of new puppy owners do, is make the mistake of putting on the leash, using force and dragging their fearful puppy across the floor or down the street for what is suppose to be a fun walk! The puppy may be terrified of this thing wrapped around his neck or simply uncomfortable. Dragging and forcing is most certainly not going to make the puppy learn that doing things with his owner is fun. And it will make him fear the leash. We also want to avoid associating tension on the dog’s neck with moving forward. As he matures and learns to walk nicely on the leash, without pulling, we want to have a history of motion without tension. When there is a pulling sensation against the neck, the dog’s opposition reflex will kick in and he’ll automatically pull against it. We don’t want that to become part of his repertoire. Prevention of bad habits, from day one will tremendously improve the effectiveness of future training.
After a little conditioning to coming along with you with no collar or leash, sit down with him and put on his collar in a friendly manner and give him a small treat. Play with him for a little while with a toy or ball. Then snap on the leash. Let him drag it around while you go with him. Never leave a collar or leash on a puppy when unattended. They can get it caught on a piece of furniture and strangle. Give him tiny treats frequently, as he walks around the house. He may struggle a little bit but don’t make a fuss. Try encouraging him to come along with you through the house with the leash trailing behind, just as you did without the leash, dropping little treat tidbits along the way. Praise him often and after about five minutes, remove the collar and leash. Be careful not to remove the leash if he’s throwing a fit. Wait for a lull. You don’t want him to learn that by raising cane, he gets his way. Do this several times a day, just five minutes at a time for a few days, always associating it with a pleasant time. If you need to use a leash to take him outside to go potty, you’ll just have to do the best you can if he is uncomfortable, but don’t drag or force him. Encourage him.
After he’s gotten a chance to experience the leash hanging off of him and dragging it around, sometimes making a little tension on his neck by momentarily catching on something, you can pick up the other end of the leash. A few gentle tugs on the leash from catching on furniture or when you turn and he doesn’t will help him to not fear that sensation. Some tugs and pulls are inevitable and will be a part of life but we don’t want a lot of that as a functional part of his training. Follow him around a little and encourage him to come along with you while holding the other end. Keep lessons short and fun, five minutes at a time is plenty. Little by little, he’ll become confident wearing his new collar and leash.
With toy breeds, I prefer to use a harness. With a collar, their tiny necks and tracheas can be so easily injured with any struggle. With a large breed puppy, pulling is very common and as he gets bigger and stronger, while he’s in training, you may find a no-pull harness helpful for management on walks. These do not train the dog, but enable you to take the dog for a walk without getting your arms pulled out of their sockets or having you dragged under a car. These harnesses attach from the front and prevent pulling. You will still want to train your puppy to walk nicely with a flat buckle collar and leash in low distraction areas to start. More on that later. By practicing these conditioning exercises, your puppy will be ready for graduation from kindergarten leash training 101 and ready for junior high school leash walking.
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Welcome Grammy.
I know that some of my ideas appear to be painfully slow and gradual. When someone wants to get out on a walk with their puppy without gradually desensatizing him to that natural puppy fear, want to slap on the leash and force him along, it actually can take longer because they're fighting every step of the way for a while. So, by taking the time in the beginning....going rather slowly, it actually ends up going much smoother and faster. I find that the dog is much, much more engaged with his owner if he's not struggling with something new. And that sets the stage for learning other new things. And those go quicker. The dog is more trusting and willing to try new things. So Spirit....take your time getting puppy to associate what you're doing with a wonderfully fun time, lots of tiny, but yummy treats, lots of praise and let him experience each of the baby steps fully and in a fun way. Break things down into parts with whatever you're teaching.
I know that some of my ideas appear to be painfully slow and gradual. When someone wants to get out on a walk with their puppy without gradually desensatizing him to that natural puppy fear, want to slap on the leash and force him along, it actually can take longer because they're fighting every step of the way for a while. So, by taking the time in the beginning....going rather slowly, it actually ends up going much smoother and faster. I find that the dog is much, much more engaged with his owner if he's not struggling with something new. And that sets the stage for learning other new things. And those go quicker. The dog is more trusting and willing to try new things. So Spirit....take your time getting puppy to associate what you're doing with a wonderfully fun time, lots of tiny, but yummy treats, lots of praise and let him experience each of the baby steps fully and in a fun way. Break things down into parts with whatever you're teaching.
I love the idea of a puppy or older dog to learn how to walk without the leash first. I train that...
My pup is doing that now.
But as for a collar and leash.... they are not used for above, not really, if you are a trainer.
A colllar is only used for id purposes only, i.d. tags, rabies tags, etc, a leash is for safety. If used correctly, they both come in handy. If used correctly, you can incorporate behavior modification and teach the dog/puppy to walk without pulling, and make it enjoyable for the both of you.
My pup is doing that now.
But as for a collar and leash.... they are not used for above, not really, if you are a trainer.
A colllar is only used for id purposes only, i.d. tags, rabies tags, etc, a leash is for safety. If used correctly, they both come in handy. If used correctly, you can incorporate behavior modification and teach the dog/puppy to walk without pulling, and make it enjoyable for the both of you.