How to stop your dog pulling on the lead

Most of the dogs who are brought in to the sanctuary haven’t been trained to walk on the lead – they pull and have no concept of heel, sit or stay.  Walking them is not a good experience.   Is this why they have been dumped?     Yet it’s relatively simple to train a dog to walk at your side, of course they should have learned this basic lesson as a youngster.   You can teach an old dog new tricks though (all it take is time and patience) – it’s never too late to show them how it’s done.   Forget the choke chains and the personal trainer, you know your dog and you are the best person around.

The first thing you need to do is pick a word that says ‘walk at my side’ – it can be ‘heel’ or ‘walk’ or whatever, just so long as it isn’t a command he will mix up with anything else.   You must be consistent and always use the same word.   You could start training first thing in the morning or when your dog has had a siesta and is raring to go, but why not let him run some energy off first?     Before lead training begins, your dog should have an energetic playtime, chasing a ball, free running, catching a frisbee and just letting off some steam.   Then you can start lessons.    In a fenced off area is best because you are going to teach him to walk by your side while he is off the lead.    Yes, I know this sounds odd but just think about it for a moment – walking on the lead is a bizarre concept for a dog.  His natural inclination is to roam around, sniffing and chasing, coming back to you and going off again.   Why do these crazy people want to keep me on a leash? We don’t train dogs by bullying them or hauling them around, we prefer dogs to like what they do and learn to understand us.   If you are tugging at his neck, he’s pulling back, your legs are very close and he’s worried about you stepping on him.   Where are we going with this?   It’s not a good experience for either of you.

So let’s try and make it better.   Communication and lots of treats are the easy way to teach him and this is an exercise to do when he is hungry.    With a titbit in your hand, call him to you and give him the command.   Walk!   Move forward a step.   He’ll follow you because he wants another treat.    Good boy and a titbit is next.   Make a production over giving him the treat – lets have some drama – rustle the bag and get out a tiny bit of ….. dried meat, chicken, bacon piece and break it up, make him want more.    Walk!    Good boy.   Walk!    Try for two steps by your side, then five, then ten.    You are teaching your dog to stay by your side, reinforcing the command and praising and rewarding him.   This may take a while but he will soon get the hang of being close to you and watching for the titbits and associating the word – Walk.   All food comes from the pack leader – that’s you!

When you’ve taught him to follow you around the house, the yard, the garden (might take a few days) the next step is to put the lead on him while you are going through the routine.   No big deal, even drape it across his back and practise the Walk around the same locations but with the lead in place.    You can pick it up from time to time, holding it loosely and always reinforcing Walk and good boy and a reward.  Stop from time to time and then Walk good boy again.    It’s a gradual progression to holding the lead all the time, going out of the gate and for a proper walk.    If he starts to pull, rustle the titbit bag, if he still pulls, turn and go straight back home and do some more yard work.   Always, if he forgets himself and starts to pull, turn around and go another way.

If a young dog is hand fed and fully bonded with you, he will be watching you all the time and wanting to see what you have for him ‘Liver?   Sausage?   Cheese?   Tuna sandwich? and what you are both going to do next.    An older dog might take a bit longer to get to this stage, it all depends on how much time you have to teach him what you want.    Training sessions should be short, no more than 15 minutes at a time.   Praise and food and communication are all it takes.