Shut up and walk away: The art of loose
leash walking.
Karen Peak
6/03 DRAFT for CV and Pet Prospects.
One of the biggest complaints many dog owners have is
their dog pulling during walks. This may lead to the owner no longer walking
the dog or resorting to prong collars and other devices that supposedly stop
pulling. However, even the most humane head halter can cause injury if not used
properly. I have seen more than my share of dogs lunge and get their heads
snapped back or even manage to get out of the halter and run off. I like to use
a method of teaching loose lead walking that gives the dog a chance to decide
what proper leash manners are. I use the dog’s natural desire for interesting
things and attention to encourage the manners I want. This can be done
regardless of the breed, cross or age of the dog. The determining factor in the
technique’s successfulness is the owner.
First, get a twelve to fifteen foot lead (not a
retractable one, they have no control, the cord can cut your hands if you have
to manually get the dog back to you in an emergency and you want something that
remains loose). You can even use a light piece of cording for toy breeds.
Second, get a lot of treats that the dog cannot resist and use them ONLY for
training. Third, go to an area with very limited distractions. The more things
going on, the less interesting you will be and the more likely the dog will be
to lunge. Working in an area with too many things going on often leads to human
frustration and too many corrections. The less going on when first starting to
train any new behavior or desired manners, the better for the dog. He will be
more likely to focus on you and not the ball game going on across the field or
the joggers or the bikers, etc.
Leash up the dog and give a happy “Let’s Go!” and start
walking. If the dog goes in one direction, you walk in the opposite direction
and SAY NOTHING. You need to TURN OFF. You do not want to follow the dog as
this puts him in charge of the walk and in charge of you. When you feel the
lead go taught, stop and walk towards the dog. If he starts to walk away,
silently go in another direction. When you come up to the dog or the dog
decides to follow you and gets right where you want him TURN ON, pay attention
to him, give some treats and change direction. If the dog follows you, pay
attention to him. The moment he starts to walk away, turn off and get boring.
If the dog walks up to you or even accidentally hits the spot you want him in
(like he is just walking past you), turn on, give treats, talk to him happily
and get fun. When he turns away, turn off. If he walks away from you, change
direction. If you feel the lead get taught, turn and walk towards the dog.
What you are doing is using the dog’s natural desire for fun things to teach him
fun and good happens when he is walking next to you. When he walks away, things
get boring. He has the length of the lead to decide to walk away or return to
you before it gets tight (he self-corrects when he makes the wring decision,
your turning towards him give him a chance to make a decision that will get him
something good). There is no leash yanking, dragging, yelling, no prong
collars, etc., this can be done on a flat buckle collar or martingale
(“greyhound collar) and should be as you are not trying to correct the dog into
walking with you on a loose lead but giving him incentive to learn proper leash
manners.
When he is good at this with limited distractions,
gradually increase the distractions. Remember, the more distractions, the
harder you have to work to be more interesting than the rest of the world. You
are allowing the dog to learn leash manners without punitive methods. The dog
learns that when he is near you, good things happen. When he is away, you shut
off. No punishing, he just gets nothing.
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Most dogs love attention and will do what
they need to in order to get it. Practice this on long leads
and your regular lead (regardless of the leash length, the concept
is the same). If your dog starts pulling, turn off, walk in
the other direction and turn on only when he is where you want him. |
The more you practice, the better the
dog will become. Do several short sessions a day and even when out and
doing fun walk, use these techniques (even if it means your whole walk is spent
going in circles, if you do not teach that proper manners apply at all walks,
the dog will not learn good leash manners). Again, you are using the dog’s
natural desire for fun and attention as a reward (or punishment when you turn
off and grow instantly boring) in order to teach that loose leashes are FUN!
Now what about those treats you are doling out? When
the dog begins to spend more and more time next to you, gradually decrease the
amount of times you treat. The dog will stay with you because he knows this will
get him fun stuff, talking and maybe even food. He will be more likely to stay
with you if he now gets the rewards at random times: sort of like slot machines
and humans. Slots are so addicting because we know that is we do X behavior, we
will get Y reward: we just do not know when and how much it will be. If you
stop rewarding totally, the desired behavior will die off. If you reward too
much once the desired behavior is figured out, the dog will try to do less work
because he knows that reward will come anyhow.
If you practice regularly during general walks and
formal training sessions, you will develop a dog that walks happily on a loose
leash.
So, next time your dog starts to pull on his leash, shut
up and walk away!
