Lead Pulling

[Karen Wilson]

I have an 18mth old Shep cross from Pet Rescue. She's a lovely well behaved dog, but pulls terribly on the lead. How do I teach her to walk beside me at my pace?

[KOPsarah]

Hi karen, thanks for your post.

You may like to try the 'random walking technique' from the secrets to dog training manual:

Take your dog to an open space, with as few distractions as possible. Random walking is done in all sorts of places with great success - a
quiet cul-de-sac, a front yard, a playing field, the local park. The main
requirement is that the space is open - you're going to be leading your
dog in all sorts of directions, so you don't want to be constricted by a
narrow walkway or anything like that. Make sure she's on the leash (and that you've set a good precedent for calmness when attaching it). The leash should be short: you want her to be right by your side, with no slack to go rushing off in a different direction.

Keeping the leash short, start walking. Take a few steps (maybe five or ten) and then change direction without warning. Make a complete about-face, or just head off to one side - it doesn't matter. Take a few more steps in this direction, and then change direction at random again. Take another couple of steps before making another random direction change.

Essentially, you're pacing back and forth, always in a different direction, and varying the number of steps you're taking. You want to keep your dog guessing. Because your dog's on a short leash, there's nowhere else for her to go but where YOU want her to. You're really making her think now,
because she has to look to you for directions, rather than assuming she knows where to go.

Feel free to jazz it up a bit: you might want to weave in and out of trees at random, or alternate between walking and jogging, or stop and start a few times. Keep this up for a good 10 or 15 minutes. Because this is pretty mentally taxing stuff for a dog (especially one that's not accustomed to having you dictate the direction or length of time spent in that direction), most can't go for much longer than this on their first random walk.

As your dog gradually learns to accept your leadership (after you've taken her random walking at least a couple of times, for slowly-increasing allotments of time), you'll find that you can walk for longer and longer periods of time in one direction. Don't fall into the trap of doing this too often or too early, though - the whole idea is that your dog doesn't know where you're heading next, and has to look to you for leadership.

Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any further questions.

[Idan Kashi]

Originally Posted by KOPsarah

Don't fall into the trap of doing this too often or too early, though - the whole idea is that your dog doesn't know where you're heading next, and has to look to you for leadership.

Let's say i get back home and my dog already knows the direction, he'll ignore and walk towards the house without following my heel. It doesn't help if I stop at my place, as soon as I keep walking he'll go again.

What shall I do?

[Karen Wilson]

Thanks for the info Sarah - will give it a go

Originally Posted by KOPsarah

Hi karen, thanks for your post.

You may like to try the 'random walking technique' from the secrets to dog training manual:

Take your dog to an open space, with as few distractions as possible. Random walking is done in all sorts of places with great success - a
quiet cul-de-sac, a front yard, a playing field, the local park. The main
requirement is that the space is open - you're going to be leading your
dog in all sorts of directions, so you don't want to be constricted by a
narrow walkway or anything like that. Make sure she's on the leash (and that you've set a good precedent for calmness when attaching it). The leash should be short: you want her to be right by your side, with no slack to go rushing off in a different direction.

Keeping the leash short, start walking. Take a few steps (maybe five or ten) and then change direction without warning. Make a complete about-face, or just head off to one side - it doesn't matter. Take a few more steps in this direction, and then change direction at random again. Take another couple of steps before making another random direction change.

Essentially, you're pacing back and forth, always in a different direction, and varying the number of steps you're taking. You want to keep your dog guessing. Because your dog's on a short leash, there's nowhere else for her to go but where YOU want her to. You're really making her think now,
because she has to look to you for directions, rather than assuming she knows where to go.

Feel free to jazz it up a bit: you might want to weave in and out of trees at random, or alternate between walking and jogging, or stop and start a few times. Keep this up for a good 10 or 15 minutes. Because this is pretty mentally taxing stuff for a dog (especially one that's not accustomed to having you dictate the direction or length of time spent in that direction), most can't go for much longer than this on their first random walk.

As your dog gradually learns to accept your leadership (after you've taken her random walking at least a couple of times, for slowly-increasing allotments of time), you'll find that you can walk for longer and longer periods of time in one direction. Don't fall into the trap of doing this too often or too early, though - the whole idea is that your dog doesn't know where you're heading next, and has to look to you for leadership.

Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any further questions.