How to Leash Train a Dog in 6 Steps
- Anja Boecker
- Updated: 24 January, 2023
If your dog is constantly tugging on the leash, it's bound to put a strain on your nerves and your relationship with them.
Relaxing walks can become a nightmare without proper training. For that reason, you will have to know hot to train leash a dog beforehand.
This behavior is seen more often in young puppies than in adult dogs. Puppies are more inclined to pull on the leash, as they are on a discovery tour every time they go for a walk.
▶ With consistency training, this behavior will subside after a few months. How to leash train a dog is a must to any dog owner.
You don't need any special knowledge to train your puppy to walk on a leash.
▶ As your puppy gets older, the behavior should usually improve automatically.
The situation is different with adult dogs. It's more difficult for them to improve their lack of leash manners.
Here, it takes a little more training and patience. Various reasons can be responsible for chaotic walks on a leash.
Why You Should Know How to Leash Train a Dog
1) Certain Breeds Are Too Wild
Currently, there are already almost 350 different breeds of dogs. Some of them tend to sniff relentlessly while walking. They instinctively do this.
Typical "sniffer dogs" are, for example, the following:
- German boxer
- Doberman
- Hovawart
- Giant Schnauzer
- Rottweiler
- Shepherd
2) Leash Manners
The typical leash pulling subsides as soon as your pet becomes a little more adult and calmer. But for this to happen, you need to acquire how to leash train a dog.
It is not very demanding to improve the leash handling in a puppy. A consistent and loving upbringing is usually enough.
The lack of leash leadership can be a consequence of bad education. Is this the case with your dog? Then you should quickly tackle the problem and improve leash walks.
3) Stress-Free Walks
Walks should take place without stress or any rush at all.
It's understandable that you have your daily work routine with obligations and schedules. Nevertheless, you should consider whether you would like to change something in this regard.
After all, walks between work and commitments install pressure and stress in a dog: they can feel your stress.
As a result, your pet will become stressed, too. This is not good for their health, naturally. If you are stressed, this can rub off on them. Thus, your dog will also start to feel in a rush and pull on the leash.
4) Longer Walks
Too-short walks go hand in hand with stressful walks. It can happen that you, as a dog owner, don't really feel like going for a walk.
Especially after a sleepless night or on cold days, the enthusiasm for this can quickly fade. That is also totally understandable.
However, if the majority of walks are too short, this is often the trigger of bad leash manners.
5) Walking as a Fun Activity
Of course, it's difficult to always find exciting and new places for your dog. Still, you might want to consider taking alternative routes in the future.
You should use at least three different routes. This is important so that your pet does not lose interest in walking with you. Monotonous walks, in fact, promote poor leash handling.
Don’t Ever Pull on the Leash!
A 6-Setps Guide on How to Train Leash a Dog
Step 1
Make Leash Walking Fun
Step 2
Pick Quieter Places
If you have already associated the leash positively over a few days, it's time to take the practice the first walks.
Here's what's important about this walk:
Pick a quiet place for your puppy to walk.
Too many distractions and stimuli are counterproductive to the success of an improved leash walking.
Step 3
Leash Walk Consistently
Set a slow pace and run a few laps with your dog.
If they start pulling, you consistently stop. If they don't stop, go to the opposite direction.
Don't do this suddenly! Be careful not to pull your dog too forcefully when changing directions.
Step 4
Add Cues
After making walks a daily activity, we need to apply safety measures.
It's time to add cues. If your dog starts pulling on the leash, use a cue, like 'leash' or 'stop' before stopping or shifting directions. Through this link, you will be able to better coordinate your pet in the future.
Step 5
Don't Forget About Treats!
Of course, rewards should not be overused. It's also key to attach treats to a sense of achievement. If not, it defeats the whole purpose of using treats as a positive reinforcer.
That is why treats are so important when it comes to learn how to leash train a dog: you need to use them accordingly.
Use rewards such as treats only when your pet begins to follow rules. After a while, relaxing walks on a leash will become a habit.
Then, you must reduce the rewards. You give them to your pet only if the walk was successful as a whole, or if they didn't pull once.
Step 6:
Don't Make Leash Walking Stressful
Avoiding the above mistakes is important for successful walks.
Always make sure that you don't jerkily pull on the leash repeatedly. Of course, there are going to be unexpected incidents where you really have no other option but to withdraw it. Under normal circumstances, no pulling!
Don't forsake this detail if you want to train leash your dog properly.
For this reason, it's best to avoid:
- Monotonous walks
- Too-short walks
- Stressful walks
- Inconsistency
- Aggressive training or education methods
My Conclusion
With these tips and tricks on how to leash train a dog, you can easily improve the quality of your walks! Always make sure that you train your pet without any kind of coercion or pressure.
Please avoid brash teaching methods as much as possible.
If you keep all this in mind, then nothing can go wrong! Your dog and you will soon enjoy relaxing walks while using a leash. 😊
My name is Anja Boecker and I am a dog trainer and behavior consultant (IHK certificate). With these articles I would like to help you understand your dog better and build an inseparable bond.
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Hi, should you practice leash walking with normal long or drag line?(Have a Golden Retriever mix from Corfu 1y. old ca.30Kg.)
Hello Inge, a drag leash is rather designed for dogs or training sessions where the aim is to train the recall with a dog from a further distance. A normal leash is perfectly sufficient for a leash leadership in the sense of "Beifuß" practice.