At a very young age it is extremely important to teach your dog proper leash-walking, regardless of its breed or size. Proper leash-walking means that your dog walks at a leisurely pace behind you on a loose leash, in sync with your pace, leaving you to decide where to go. Proper leash-walking is your dog walking calmly behind you oblivious to the cat darting in front of it, or the friendly dog up ahead pulling and yapping to greet it. Good leash manners make walks an extremely pleasurable time for both the owner and the dog.
How often and how long one should walk their dog is entirely dependent on the dog's age, health and breed requirements, but even the smallest breeds also need to be walked on leash. Too little walking has its own suite of behavioral issues as does too much walking. So always pay attention to your dog's posture and demeanor when walking your dog, a dog who pulls frantically at the leash or is extremely reactive to sounds is just as exhausted or stressed out as dog who shuffles along with their head held down.
Walking your dog is more than just exercise, it is a special time to bond with your dog, it is the time when your dog understands that you are in control, that as long as you are with your dog it is safe and that you will protect it, not it protecting you. It is frequently the case that when people walk their dogs, the dogs are pulling ahead of their owner, these dogs are stressed out because instead of enjoying their walk, they are burdened by a sense of responsibility to protect their owner. The relationship between an owner and dog is mirrored in leash-walking.
Whether it is a puppy or an older dog that you are retraining to walk properly on leash, the same principles apply.
1) Use a harness: Collars, pinch collars or choke collars make walking extremely unpleasant for a dog. It is the time to build calmness and restraint so the walk is enjoyable to the dog. How do we expect a dog to feel calm when there is something around their neck choking it. We might see desired result of the dog not pulling, but a dog fearful of getting their air supply cut off will never associate walking with a pleasant experience and stress will constantly build-up. Harnesses allow the dog during the training period to pull, but not experience extremely negative associations with leash-walking, that could manifest as, but is not limited to, lunging and leash aggression.
2) A calm exit is the start of a calm walk: If your dog sees the harness and leash and starts jumping excitedly, then know that your dog will most probably continue the walk excitedly. I recommend especially with older dogs that are being retrained to keep the harness on during the day and not limit putting it on just during the walk. I also recommend taking out the leash frequently in front of these dogs and not putting on, in addition to putting the leash on but taking the dog for a walk around the house, then unleashing it and doing another indoor activity that is not high energy, like for instance asking it to lie down and stay and of course rewarding it.
3) Build focus both indoors and outdoors: Building focus is your way of always being able to get your dog's attention regardless of the distraction. Whether it is a pack of stray dogs or people taunting and teasing your dog as you walk it. Building focus is a simple exercise that you should start indoors with your dog in a calm setting with no distractions. Call your dog or make a sound and when your dog makes eye contact with you reward it. Once your dog has mastered this indoors you can slowly start using it outdoors. Be extremely alert and cognizant of your surroundings and when you suspect a situation that your dog is likely to react to, call its name or make a sound before it has the opportunity to react, once it makes eye contact with you reward it and continue walking. If you feel it will be hard for your dog to ignore the distraction ask your dog to sit and stay and then reward it. Eventually if you are successful your dog will automatically look at you when faced with any distraction, make sure you either reward it with a treat or praise.
4) No pulling: No pulling is a rule that applies to both you and your dog. Never pull your dog or jerk it during a walk. Always keep a loose leash. If your dog learns to walk on a tight leash, then it starts thinking that the acceptable way to walk is on a tight leash and will always seek the tightness in the leash either by pulling or behaving in a way that will make you pull. To avoid leash pulling pay attention to your dog, if it starts walking ahead of you, stop and stand still before your dog starts to pull. If it does start to pull make sure you stand still but do not pull against your dog's pulling, also make sure you never speak to it, tell it NO or STOP, it is important to remain silent . If your dog is too excited, it is sometimes beneficial to walk in the opposite direction they are pulling in. Finally, if your dog is lingering behind and is refusing to walk because they are too interested in something else, patiently face the direction you want to walk in and not the direction of your dog, wait patiently, calling your dog or making a sound. If your dog does not respond, I recommend walking using a leash at half-length and when your dog lingers and ignores your calls to extend the leash to full length and take a few steps in the direction you want to walk in.
5) Use your body language: Dogs respond to visual cues more than auditory cues, so make sure that you are always walking facing the direction you want your dog to walk in.
6) Stay calm: Always stay calm regardless of the situation you and your dog maybe confronted with during your walk. A dog can sense your nervousness from small subtle actions like holding the leash tighter. The value of good leash-walking is not just limited to enjoyable walks and bonding, it can also seriously protect you and your dog. During one of our walks Loza and I stumbled into the territory of a pack stray nursing mother dogs, immediately these dogs surrounded us, circling us while barking and snapping at us. I reacted very calmly to this situation and called Loza and despite her fear she made eye contact with me and I rewarded her. We walked calmly through this pack of dogs that could have easily hurt both of us had either of us reacted fearfully.
Happy leash-walking!!!
