Loose Leash Walking

In dog training, teaching some behaviours are relatively simple while others take considerably more time, patience and practice.

Loose leash walking is one of those behaviours that takes a ton of patience, practice and consistency to really solidify as a behaviour in your dog's repertoire.

What makes loose leash walking so challenging?

Loose leash walking doesn't come naturally to your dog. Being tethered to a human is totally not a normal experience for them!

Competing reinforcers - The environment has ALL KINDS of reinforcers; interesting smells, small animals to chase, people, other dogs, things to explore etc… When your dog successfully drags you over to their favourite tree to smell whose recently been in the area, getting to sniff reinforces the pulling. It can be really difficult to convince your dog that staying with you and walking on a loose leash is the right choice when the stale cookies you have to offer them as a reward is no where near as interesting to them as all the things in the environment that they'd like to investigate.

Consistency - A lot of people really struggle staying consistent with loose leash walking. Sometimes their dog is expected to remain in a loose leash walk and other times, their dog is allowed to drag them around the neighbourhood. Your dog never really knows what the right answer is when you allow such a variance in behaviour.

Here are a few tips for nailing your loose leash walking with your pup:

Start small - Don't head out onto your dog's favourite trail and expect him to be able to walk nicely on a loose leash. Start in an environment with as few distractions as possible and gradually work up to more and more distracting environments. This might look like starting in your living room and gradually working your way outdoors.

Practice, practice, practice - Practice makes progress. The more you practice, the quicker you'll see results.

Be patient - Remember, this is a complex skill you’re asking your pup to learn. Don't get frustrated when you notice him struggling. He's not stubborn, he's not being a jerk - He is just struggling to learn a complex skill. Go back a step or two and stay there for a bit and then try progressing again. You'd never get mad at a 5 year old for not knowing how to do calculus.

Be consistent - If you allow pulling sometimes, expect your dog to always want to pull. If you notice your dog pulling a lot, you may need to go back a step or go back to practicing in a less distracting environment.

Let your dog know when it's okay to go sniff and explore - Sniffing and exploring is an important part of your dog's life. Give your dog a separate verbal cue to let them know when it's okay to leave their loose leash walk position and go sniff and explore. Just remember, giving them more leash length does not give them the okay to start dragging you around. . . . . . #practicemakesprogress #dogtrainer #foundation #idealcanine #bcdogs #dogsofbc #doglover #petdog #dog #dogtraining #dogs #daytraining #doglife #pettraining #engagement #balanceddogtraining