How to stop your dog from pulling on the lead

My American friends call them leashes. I don't mind what you call them but if you want to stop dogs pulling your arms out their sockets, and even my dogs have needed help with this, then here’s what to do…

Loose lead in real life training. Look how good my students are!

Call  a dog trainer/behaviourist!

But Katie, we can't afford to / don't have time / can do it ourselves / have watched youtube videos / read all the books / my friends' neighbours' auntie 3 times removed game me advice...

Trust me, in 15 years working with dogs and animals I have heard all the excuses and all the reasons why not getting expert help and doing it yourself is preferable. But the truth is this - there are so many reasons dogs pull on the lead and it might not be all down to training.

Just like horses napping or fidgeting with their bits or while you ride them might not be simply because they are being naughty or going sour, it might be because their saddle is not fitting right anymore, or they have early stage arthritis, or kissing spine or any number of reasons. Similarly, your dog might be telling you their harness or collar is causing discomfort, or they are unsure what you trying to teach them and are acting up because it gets them where they are going anyway, right?

Your pup might be worried by the environment he finds himself in, or feels dizzy that day, or simply is not being rewarded when he does get it right because we are fixated on when he is getting wrong!

Yes, I know, Pandora's Box has been opened. Bad Katie.

Ren’s lead couldn’t be any looser!

Here are a number of ways of teaching your dog that I have both tried and taught over the years:

1/ Tight lead, stop. Soft lead, go.

2/ 300 peck - get one step loose, change direction and aim for 2 steps loose and work your way up to 300. This video is a nice example click HERE to view it.

3/ Rewarding for and in position, reducing rewards to random, free shaping.

4/ Stroking the lead to slow down the dog.

5/ Using a long lead (not a retractable one, the long material type like lunge leads) and allowing the dog freedom when they get it right and reducing freedom when they don't.

6/ Stopping for a game of tuggy, or play with puppy friends after a few nice steps of loose lead

7/ Swapping equipment e.g. harness for not training, collar for training, or using a front clip harness and double ended lead and clipping to the front when training and on the back when not

8/ Go home method - dog pulls before you leave the house boundary, you go home

9/ Pulling dog back to your side (yes, I have tried this, way back when I didn't know any better) and saying heel

10/ Station to station - Use a visual station such as a tree truck or bucket pre laced with goodies for the dog to discover when he gets there on a loose lead

11/ Sniffy walks - encouraging nose down by throwing treats on the ground as you're walking

12/ Magic hand - Cleverly thrown treats expertly caught in the gob while walking

13/ Catch me up (no lead on) - piles of food on the floor appears when dog is by your side, walk or jog away while dog eats the pile, dog catches up and another pile appears...gradually reintroduce the lead.

14/ Sausage legs - threading treats between your legs so dog weaves in and out of them slowing them down

15/ Back to front - Starting in reverse so dog focuses on you, then turn take a few loose steps then reverse yourself and so on...

16/ Tubes of cream cheese/liver paste/baby food pouches/yogurt squeezes/chosen squeezy as your walking

17/ Teaching them to 'go slow', match my 'pace' or 'speed up' to their level of trot

18/ Go running with them and let them pull you uphill if they are physically sound

19/ Get more dogs. No honestly, when I had just 2 Bull Terriers, Koda and Cassini, they would vie for the front position, got a 3rd Bull Terrier, Jellybean Lollipop and that stopped almost immediately! OK so this isn't an actual bona fide method but I do love this story.

20/ Act silly, be distracting and interesting so they pay me attention so we can reward them for it

21/ Teach 'look at that, look at me' or “What’s this?” (I’ll write about this in another blog)

Actually there's more but I'll run out of time and this a tip not a dissertation! You can see there are so many ways to teach a loose lead and they all work BUT I have found sometimes it depends on the dog on the day, on the human on the day and the environment on the day, and the age and developmental stage your dog is in, his physiological state at the time and if he's just been adopted by you, his emotional state among other criteria.

Pulling can be a signal of a frustration or other emotional undercurrent

A dog pulling might have any number of factors involved so call a trainer and get the right advice for you and your dog. If you simply stop when the lead goes tight, especially in puppies, you run the risk of accidentally creating frustration and emotional conflict. If you try to make a newly adopted dog in their fear period walk along a heavily trafficked road, he may balk and that single event of a bus going by while he feels worried can make him pull more in future, or be worried by buses for a long time afterwards as he tries to escape the feeling and anticipation of the feeling by pulling to get away or stopping until he feels better or gets moved on by his owner.

And you know the biggest lesson that dogs taught me about walking on a loose lead?

It's their walk, not yours. Cut them some slack once in a while, let them explore their surroundings especially if they are worried like Russel here or take them somewhere quiet and interesting, and if you need better exercise go for a run after or whatever your chosen endorphin rush is.

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