Leash Training a Dog

A dog's sense of smell is very powerful, in fact, it is 1,000 to 10,000 times more sensitive than the human nose.

The scent left behind by other dogs, cats, or other small animals, and her need to investigate these scents is a natural reaction. This is what causes the pulling, and this is what your dog thinks about when out for a walk.

When leash training a dog to walk loose leash, or should I say beside you or behind you, you need to be in control from the start.

Before you grab the leash, and before you open the door.

You need to understand that you will be the one in charge, the leader, and not the follower. Your dog will try to dominate you at the get go, but you must be the stronger one, and show her who's boss.

Now, before you think about going out for a walk with your dog to start leash training, be mentally prepared. With this, I mean you should be calm and show no excitement or be in a hurried state.

A dog can sense these things coming from you, and most likely she will be excited too, so try to stay calm, and think like a leader. Grab your coat, or put on your shoes, by now your dog is watching every move you make. Ask her to come to you and give her the command, Sit.

If she doesn't have a collar on yet, put one on her. Now attach the leash, if she gets up from the sit position, have her sit and give her the command, "Stay".

Now open the door, you will want to be the first one out the door, not your dog, remember you are the leader. Once you are out, say, "Come", or "Let's go".

You should always keep your dog to the left of you, hold the other end of the leash in your right hand, and grab the leash with your left hand so your dog stays to your left and the leash crosses in front of your body.

A 6 ft. leash is recommended when you are leash training a dog.

Take a few steps, if your dog starts pulling, just stop, your dog will have no other choice but to stop too. When she stops, then take a few more steps, if she keeps pulling then stop again. Repeat this a few times, taking more steps, stopping every time she starts pulling.

If she keeps on pulling, you can change the direction by turning around and going back the other way. The idea here is, to not let her go where she wants, especially if she's pulling.

Once she starts pulling you to the spot that she wants to go to, and you let her, then you will be the follower, and she the leader. This only teaches her that if she pulls hard enough, she will win, and she will do it all the time.

Now after a few pulling and stopping, she should start to get the message that pulling will do no good, and if she wants to get anywhere, then it's your way or no way.

This is a pretty simple technique, even if you are taking only two steps after every stop, just do it. Don't get impatient or angry, some dogs learn right away, and some need a little more time.

When leash training a dog for the first time, a good 30 minutes should be sufficient even if you had no success. There is always tomorrow.

After the 30 minutes, stop, ask her to sit, give her praise, some hugs, maybe a few treats, and some water.

Put in a little playtime, and then relax.

Go out for a walk everyday, you can practice turning left, right, or walking in a circle, always keeping her to your left until she learns not to pull.

You can let her sniff around and let her do her thing when nature calls or if she wants to mark her spot, but don't let her sniff around the entire walk. Give a little now and then just to satisfy her natural needs.

You will know when your leash training is a success when you go for a walk and she doesn't pull, the leash is loose, she stays to your left, and she stops when you stop. She will actually look at you, and wait for your next move.

By understanding what your dog is thinking, and training her to be in sync with you, the leader, while out on a walk, it will make the outing a more pleasant one.

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