Let’s go for a walk!
Walking is great exercise for you and your dog. Oh, you knew that? It gets them and you out of the house for a bit. Gives you some bonding time. For some dogs, a walk is their major form of exercise. Its also the biggest issue I have with dog parents. Yeah, well, read that anyway you want to!
Follow Me! I'll lead us to safety!
No one wants their dog to pull at the end of the leash. Couple of reasons. One, its not a comfortable way to walk. Yank, yank, pull, juggle purse and kids and dog food and cart, yank pull. The other is – its Embarrassing!! Everyone apologizes, “He’s just really excited…” Yeah….
Hold me back! I'm too excited to cope!!
So. If you read the dog training books, every single one of them say the same thing. Start in a low distraction environment. Give your dog the ‘lets go’ command of your choice and start walking with the leash loose. As soon as it gets tight, stop walking, stare at the sky or ceiling, start composing novels in your head, wait for the dog to come back to you and then ‘lets go’ and start walking again. Doggy will figure out that he is supposed to have the leash loose and never pull again! Well, after a couple reps.
Never? Huh? What? Tell me again?
Okay – here are my issues with that. I have OH SO MANY.
One is I can not figure out a way to say in plain enough English to Leave the Leash Loose! EVERYONE likes a tight leash. Everyone. They tighten it up and pull dog close to them and give them leash pops and make funny chicken noises when the dog pulls ahead. WHY? Oh, you know why – its because the Magic Wand Guy on tv does it that way. You don’t own a magic wand – and if it hasn’t worked for you the first hundred and fifty times you tried it, its not going to work now.
So Human has the leash tight and dog WILL pull against that tight leash. Yes, every single dog will look you in the eye and swear to you sincerely that Grandma was a sled dog. They HAVE to pull. Its in their genes! Not a Wanna do – a Gotta do!
But....but....really! She WAS!
So you are setting both of you up to fail by tightening that leash. Leave it loose. Give it some slack. You quit pulling, too!
The OTHER problem with that is: the waiting for them to come back. Some dogs will stand at the end of the leash, straining, trying to get to that squirrel or that park or that other dog or that smell for 45 minutes before they will come back to you. No one has that kind of time or patience.
Then there is the Do it One Hundred Per Cent of the Time thing. Okay….dog needs to pee and pulls ahead. So…I let him pee in the foyer instead of outside because he’s pulling? I have time for a twenty minute walk before work, and we never get out of the drive way? noooooo……
Awww, come on, just one little pull? Pretty please?
This is one of those So Good In Theory ideas. And its sure worth a try. BUT.
Has it worked successfully for you? I’m just curious.
I have no clue what you want. I just give up.
I incorporate this idea in with a few others. That I will discuss in a day or so. What is your favorite leash walking technique? (Technique – not piece of equipment – that’s another post!) Leave me a comment!