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“How do I stop my dog from pulling on walks?"
“How do I stop my dog from pulling on walks?"
This is one of the most common dog training questions I get asked. And I know you’ve either faced this concern yourself or know someone who has.
It’s not fun, especially when you’ve already put in so much time, effort (and even funds) towards giving your pooch the best life possible. But yet, here we are, and Rupert is pulling more, and herder by the day. So, what can we do to not only manage this leash-pulling concern but also prevent it altogether?
To teach your dog how to walk nicely outside we'll need patience above all patience, especially if this is a behaviour that your has been repeating for a while now. The more a behaviour is repeated, the more it forms a habit, whether it’s desired or not.
We also need to consider the best times to walk your dog, especially when they’re just learning and training with you, regardless of their age. The next important thing you will need is to practice rewarding and reinforcing any and all good choices your dog makes, especially early on.
Lastly, the tools you use when walking are also important. And although they are just tools and not the solution itself, I recommend them above all for safety and comfort purposes. Your and your dog’s safety is #1! Check out my blog posts on my favourite walking harness and the training leash I like to use the most to learn more.
Now, let's focus on the lesson at hand: Walking without leash-pulling!
The very first dog training exercise (great not only to help with leash training but also keep an eye on your dog *wink-wink to the trouble-makers*) I suggest that all pet parents practice, whether they have a 10-week-old puppy or a 10-year-old dog, is the umbilical cord exercise.
This particular exercise consists of having your dog walk with you indoors for short periods of time daily. You can do this while you’re tackling household chores, on a phone call, or just by going from one room to the next, with your dog’s leash clipped to your waist.
You won’t need to do this for more than 8-10 minutes at a time, but as you walk from one corner of your home to another, you can use your voice, your affection and small treats or kibble to let your dog know that you enjoy them choosing to walk with you. Praise especially when they’re choosing to look up at you as you walk. This is a great exercise even if you have a dog that naturally follows you around your home (typically an indicator that they want to do things with you, anyway).
Why are we starting with this exercise? For a few reasons. The main one is that the common denominator with leash-pulling is that dogs are choosing to focus on everything else when on walks, but you. Especially when there are different distractions around. Anything from smells to sights and sounds. It can be a lot to ask for our dog to not pull and give us their attention, especially when young. And so, this quick but simple exercise will tackle exactly that, by letting your dog know that there is nothing more enjoyable than giving you their attention.
Oh and one more thing, I recommend only talking to your dog, as you do this exercise, only when praising. You want to preserve the value of your voice and associate as much as possible to a good feeling, and as something to look forward to. And so as you walk inside your home with your dog and go from one room to the next, practice not saying any verbal cues and letting your dog show you that he’s with you, by his/her own will. That way you also know that they’re paying close attention to you and your body language.
The next step is where the fun really begins!
As you walk around your home with your dog and you feel like if you walk left, your dog walks left, and when you turn right, your dog does the same, take things to the next level by moving the doorknob or lock of the front or back door, and keep on walking inside. You might see there and then that your dog has a little “Oh! We’re going out!” moment which disengages their focus from you.
It’s at this time that your dog will either continue walking on with you (a perfect opportunity for you to reward and praise) despite that minor distraction or perhaps you might see some indicators that this was too much of a distraction for them. Each dog will react differently, but most are able to recover quickly from that level of distraction and keep on walking with you.
The next level would be to turn the doorknob and keep walking. And eventually, begin opening the door ever slightly and continue walking inside. But if at any point, you find that your dog is having a really difficult time recovering and returning their attention to you as before, it may indicate that they need a break and/or you need to go back a few baby steps.
Each dog’s reaction to an impulse control exercise like this one will vary, and it’s up to you to adjust accordingly. But as you practice, you will only see your dog learn to give you more and more of their attention, to the point where you will start finding yourself wanting to take steps outside sooner and sooner (but take your time!).
Having skipped these simple but powerful little exercises, and also having potentially rushed into the real, distracting world, with a young and inexperienced dog is what lies at the root of most leash-pulling issues. Here’s a video where I demonstrate how I go about walking out of my home with a young dog while helping and rewarding him for choosing to focus his attention on me.
Watch carefully and you’ll notice both the leash and harness that I recommend!
And if while you're practicing this exercise, or while you're on your walks, your dog starts to have a tough time remaining calm, really the best thing you can do is help your dog walk away. With time, you will get more and more familiar with the quick little nuances that lets you know that your dog's focus is wavering, and become the moment when you then help your dog to walk away and take space with you, thus preventing the escalation, but then slowly coming back towards the trigger and repeating.
It's super important for you and your dog to learn the following:
When in doubt, don't act out. Instead, help each other walk it out! And you can also click here, to access my mobile application, where I share videos touching on this topic and more.
A great advantage of this exercise is that it makes for a great mental challenge for your dog. And it's super important for us to provide our dogs with daily mental enrichment activities that will not only help keep their brain feeling mellow and relaxed, but also help them develop their thinking skills, and I can't stress how important that is, especially when it comes to social settings.
So make sure that you don't fall behind on your dog's physical, mental and social enrichment needs. You can start here, with a list of 100 DIY enrichment ideas I've put together for you to try out.
Enrichment Shorts
Enrichment Shorts
Mocha takes on food puzzle #25 🧩
00:44
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“Can I get some help here please?” 🛎️
00:39
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Quality time results in better listening skills!
01:00
Play Video
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