Leash Training - How to Train Your Dog to Walk on a Leash
86Leash Training Your Dog
One of the first challenges faced by most dog owners is how to potty train their new dog. The second big challenge is how to leash train their hyper dog without incurring any bodily injury whenever a squirrel decides to dash up a tree.
Even though walking a dog is often portrayed as a Zen moment that is both peaceful and enjoyable, the reality of the situation is often not quite so perfect. In fact, leash training a dog is probably one of the more challenging dog training tasks.
When a dog is out on a walk, he is exposed to a lot new stimuli including new sights, new sounds, and new smells. Everything will be very exciting, even leaves flying in the wind and our new dog will want to chase, smell, and see all of it at top speed. That is part of the joy of spending time with a dog; sharing that excitement, joy, and wonder.
However, all that excited energy can also cause crazy pulling, barking, jumping on people, and sometimes aggression.
Here, we consider some of the key leash training ingredients that will help make dog walking into a fun, relaxing, and enjoyable experience.
Leash Training - Putting on a Collar
Most dogs, especially new dogs who are unfamiliar with collars, are going to be a bit apprehensive about having something new around their necks. My Shiba Inu was very sensitive about having wearing collars initially. When we tried to put one on him on the first day, he tried to bite us, as well as the breeder's husband.
From the dog's point of view, having some unknown person put a strange object on a vulnerable part of his body must seem extremely dangerous.
One of the best ways to start the leash training experience right, is to slowly desensitize your dog to the collar. Help him learn that the collar is a positive thing that gets put on before a fun outing.
First, I get some food that my dog really likes. Then I ask him for a Sit, show him the collar and reward. I keep repeating this until he gets comfortable and is looking forward to seeing the collar.
Next, I briefly touch my dog with the collar and treat him for staying calm. Repeat until he is comfortable with it.
Then I drape the collar on his neck and reward. I continue doing a little more each time so that the collar becomes more and more familiar, in a positive way. If I observe any kind of stress from my dog, I back off, and go back to the previous step. This ensures that collar training sessions are always fun and rewarding.
Note that the snap sound made when fastening a collar can sometimes
startle a dog. A useful added step, is to have some snap sessions. First I snap the
collar without it being on my dog's neck, treat, and so on. Later when I
snap the collar around his neck, he will already be
comfortable with the sound.
In the collar desensitization process, make sure to always go slowly and not overtax your dog. Remember that the main idea is to get your dog comfortable with the collar and help him associate it with something positive. Do not force the collar on because he will start to associate it with a negative experience, and will likely fight you every time he sees the collar.
Some dogs may also be uncomfortable with the feel and weight of a leash on the collar. When I first got my dog, I would fasten a light leash onto his collar and let him run around with the leash on. If you want to do this, make sure you are around to supervise and ensure that the leash does not get caught on any furniture or fixtures. Make sure to only do this with a flat collar and not a training collar such as a choke chain or a prong collar.
Leash Training - Dog Walking Speed
Most dogs, especially larger dogs naturally walk faster than we do. In leash training we want to get our dogs to reduce their natural walking speed so that their much slower two-legged companions can keep up.
An effective way to get a dog to slow down is to teach him the following -
The fastest way to get to where he wants to go is by slowing down and walking with you.
When my dog starts to pull, and the leash gets taut, I non-mark (Ack, Ack) and stop walking. Initially, Shiba Sephy continued to pull and even tried to pull harder to get forward. However, I just calmly ignored him and stood still.
As soon as Sephy stopped pulling, I start moving forward. In this way, the dog learns the following lesson -
pulling = we stop moving,
not-pulling = we get to where we want to go.
For this method to work, it is important to be very consistent with your starts and stops. Do not let your dog pull sometimes, but not at other times. Make sure to stop as soon as the leash gets taut and start again once the leash is loose.
At the start of my leash training sessions with Shiba Sephy I had to stop very often and did not get very far from my front door. But I kept at it and made sure that I consistently stopped every time there was any pulling. Sephy quickly learned that it is in his best interest to slow down and walk with me because if he does, he gets more freedom, he gets to choose his favorite smell spots, and he also gets to stop to smell the roses.
Leash Training - Greeting People & Dogs
Another challenging part of leash training is what to do when your dog gets over-excited because he sees new people, new dogs, or a squirrel running up a tree. How excited a dog gets and how much he pulls will depend on the dog's temperament and prey drive.
Dogs with high prey drive will frequently go rear-brain when they spot any nearby prey, especially if the prey is moving. Once this occurs, the dog is operating purely based on instinct and is no longer able to listen to commands, or redirect on food or toys. The best way to resolve the situation at this point is simply to remove the dog from the stimulus, i.e., prey.
Remember that distance is your friend. Once I move my dog a certain distance away from the prey, he starts to calm down.
Similarly, some dogs are people-focused or dog-focused. People focused dogs get very excited when meeting people and will often run around and jump on people. Dog focused dogs may lunge or pull whenever they see other dogs.
Again, remember that distance is your friend. My Siberian Husky gets very excited when people give her any kind of attention, including just eye contact. Usually I just cross the street and move on. When this is not possible, I move into a driveway and engage her in doing simple commands. This creates space between my Sibe and the passing people and ensures that she does not invade other people's space unless invited to.
Some other effective ways to deal with meeting people and other dogs include -
- Slowly desensitize your dog to people and other dogs.
- Be vigilant and engage your dog in alternate activities (e.g. obedience exercises) before he gets over-excited and goes read-brain,
- Always be calm and confident so that your dog will also learn to be calm and look to you for direction.
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Leash Training Supplies
When people think of dog walking supplies, they usually think about the collar and lead. My favorite collar is the no-slip Premier martingale collar, which I use together with a nice leather leash.
Leather leashes may be a bit more expensive but they are easy on the hands, durable, and are secure even under heavy pulling. Make sure the metal clasp on the leash is high quality and well-built. Most nylon leashes I have gotten tend to have small clasps that break open whenever there is any serious pulling.
In addition to collar and leash, here are some other important leash training supplies -
- Make sure to bring enough water. A dog water bottle is great because it contains a bottle of water as well as a fitted bowl for easy drinking.
- Bring some treats or rewards with you so that you can practice obedience exercises outside and during walks.
- Always have several poop bags available and scoop up after your dog. Leaving poop on the sidewalk and on other people's lawns dirties the neighborhood, makes walking unpleasant, encourages dog poop eating, as well as gets people angry at all dogs and dog owners. Ultimately, it may even lower property prices. Therefore, it pays to take care of our neighborhood by picking up after our dog.
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Hi, I have a 9 week old husky pup and she is having some trouble walking. She does not pull much but she freezes and won't move further away from our house. If we take her away she will walk all the way home. Is there any way to curb her fear of walking away from the house?
Hello Hannah,
I usually start recall training with my dogs in the backyard where it is more quiet and there are fewer distractions. I start by playing with puppy, then I run away and call to puppy. When she comes, I praise her well, and reward her with another fun play session.
Once I get consistent recall in the backyard, then I move to a quiet enclosed field, and so on. When I start in an unenclosed area, I first use a long-lead so that it is safe.
Here is a very complete list of recall training techniques from the ASPCA-
hello..i have 3 chihuahuas..all of which are very different in personalities.
The third one a boy, and is 7 months old. I take them all for walks together and the two older girls are great off the lead. They both come back to me. I have gotten the youngest used to the lead. However, when i let him off he doesn't run away as such but he does not listen to me whatsoever. He will just follow one of my girl dogs that he is friends with. When i call his name he does not look at me, flinch, move his ears, nothing. He will run right past me without even acknowledging me. The will only follow my other chihuahua, which is probably the only reason I haven't lost him. How can i rectify this, as i do get quite worried as he is the smallest and would prefer if he listened to me even a little bit. Thanks
Hello Jamie,
With my dogs, I started leash training in my backyard first, where there are few distractions. Then I moved on to quiet areas in the neighborhood, or walked really early in the morning when there are few people about. During leash training, it helps to start small, and then very slowly increase the level of distraction.
For large dogs that pull, some people use the head-halti to prevent pulling. Here are some of my experiences with the head-halti-
http://shibashake.com/dog/walking-with-a-3-legged-
Incorrect use of the head-halti may cause damage to the dog, therefore it is important to follow all the instructions carefully. I only use the head-halti with a regular 6-foot leash and *not* a flexi-leash.
Here are some leash training techniques I used on my dogs-
I have a 2 yr old great dane/lab mix. He is about 120 lbs. He pulls very bad on a leash and when he wants to run he overpowers me and I usually go to the ground. Recently, I was hurt pretty bad. How can I keep him from doing that. I have tried treats and once he starts to pull and I correct him, he tries harder to pull next time. I would really like some advice because I really would like to take him places and enjoy him.
LOL! He sounds adorable!
When it comes to jumping, dogs do it because part of their meeting ritual involves smelling and licking our mouth. In addition, dogs quickly learn that when they jump, they get attention and affection from people.
To get our dog to be calm and Sit during greetings, we want to teach them the following -
1. Jumping = Get ignored
2. Calmly Sitting = Get attention
Here are a couple of articles on my experiences with jumping-
Hi, I have a 7 month old Great Dane that weighs about 80 pound. When I take him for walks and he meets people that I stop to talk to, he gets very excited and rushes towards them and starts jumping and shoving himself against them. Not really actually jumping on them but he hops into them, and most people want to pet him because he's very friendly but it is stressful trying to calm him for the first 5 mins, I try to make him sit which he's usually very good at but its no good when he's too excited. If there's anything I can do different, I don't want to avoid people because I would like for him to be able to calming sit there. Thanks.
Hello Kaleigh Andrews,
Congratulations on your new Shiba puppy!
"he gets really spastic excited and jumps away playfully instead of coming to the treat in my hand"
Haha, yeah Sephy was like that as well. He still is like that sometimes. When Sephy was a puppy, the thing he wanted to do most was play, especially chasing games. Therefore instead of rewarding him with food, I would often reward him with a fun game.
Here are some of the games that I play with my dogs-
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-play-fun-games-to-pl
"how long could this take with him walking around with it on, before I can pick up the leash and try to walk with him?"
That is probably very dependent on the individual dog. It took several weeks for Sephy to get comfortable with the "putting on collar" ritual. He didn't really have any issues with the lead.
In general, I try to go slow, so that Sephy can be successful and the experience is positive.
Some things that may help-
1. If puppy is working on interactive food toys, he may be distracted from the lead and focus on the toys instead. This will also help puppy associate having the lead on with something positive.
2. Playing a fun game can also help to distract puppy, and make the experience positive.
I only use the drag-lead with a flat collar, and I cut off the loop on the lead so that it does not catch on anything. I only use the drag-lead when I am around to supervise.
"if I get a head muzzle lead thingy and do the "pulling gets you nowhere" method do you think it will work"
I have tried the head-halti on my Siberian Husky and it is very effective at preventing pulling, especially for larger, powerful dogs. I used it initially when we went hiking at the park because there are usually many interesting things around and Shania would go a bit nuts wanting to get to everything at top speed.
However, Shania really did not like wearing the head halti. In particular, she did not like the straps on her face, which I imagine, could be somewhat chafing.
The thing with the head halti is that once Shania was not wearing it, she started to pull again. Therefore, I only used the head halti for high stimulus outings at the park. Otherwise, I continued with regular leash training - first shorter sessions, then I slowly lengthened the time as Shania performed better. For us, the head-halti was useful as a temporary measure to help Shania get enough exercise at the park.
Use of the head-halti will depend to some extent on the dog. Some dogs are more tolerant of it, while others are less so. Also, it is important to fit the head-halti properly, and to only use it with a regular 6 foot leash (~not~ a flexi-leash). Improper use can cause damage to the dog.
In terms of ~training~ the dog not to pull, it did not really do that in my experience. As soon as I took off the head-halti, and used a regular collar, Shania would start to pull again. It prevented pulling because it redirects the dog's head, but with Shania, it did not retrain the behavior.
Hugs to your Staffy. Let us know how it goes.
I have a 3 month old shiba inu puppy, his name is Akuma, he's having a little bit of trouble grasping the "come" command and he gets really spastic excited and jumps away playfully instead of coming to the treat in my hand. He also gets extremely terrified when a leash is put on, he would walk for a little while then freak out and try to pull out of his collar. how do I get him to be comfortable with the leash and how long could this take with him walking around with it on, before I can pick up the leash and try to walk with him? Thank you for your time in reading this and look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Kaleigh Andrews
hello, I have a staffy that was given to me at 2 years old. I dont think his old owners walked him much as he pulls alot and when I try your method we dont get very far from the front door. Its good that I have patience for him but Im wondering if I get a head muzzle lead thingy and do the "pulling gets you nowhere" method do you think it will work, Thanks for any advice you do give me and Im looking forward to seeing you comment.
Hello Suhail,
Dogs may sometimes get aggressive on-leash because-
1. They are prevented from getting to another dog, squirrel, etc. and therefore get frustrated.
2. They feel trapped and unable to move away from a perceived threat. As a result, they may feel they have no choice but to use aggression.
My three legged dog Shania is wary of other dogs because she feels more vulnerable. Usually we stay away from other dogs during walks. Sometimes, Shania will want to meet a calm and well-behaved dog. In these cases, I give her a lot of space (i.e., I don't crowd her), and we move away after a short greeting so that she does not get overwhelmed.
We only meet dogs that are under good control, and whom Shania wants to meet.
Here is a bit more on my experiences with dog-to-dog reactivity -
Hello JasNaz,
With my puppy Lara I started by first getting her used to the leash. I use a flat collar (not a training collar) and leave a drag lead on her so that she can get used to the weight and feel of wearing a leash. I make sure to cut the loop on the leash so that it doesn't get caught on anything.
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training
Then I just let puppy be for a while and figure things out on her own. I am still there to supervise but am not directly interacting with puppy. I only leave a drag-lead on puppy when I am home to supervise.
After she is comfortable with that, I did leash training in the backyard first.
Congratulations on your new puppy. Let us know how it goes.
I just wanted to let you know that I keep revisiting your hub as now I am beginning to take my 10 months old Kuvasz boy deeper and deeper into the wilderness surrounding my suburban home. Your hub is very helpful indeed :-)
I have one question. He never used to be aggressive even though other dogs bullied him. If he is off leash in a dog park, he avoids confrontation no matter how aggressive the other dog(s) are. But when he is on leash and I am holding it near me, he responds in kind with such a furiousness that his big size really scares other people, although I tend to think he is bluffing. Why is it that his behaviour changes with leash on?
Hello Marie,
Yeah, Sibes are bred to pull so it is more challenging to leash train them. With my Sibe puppy Lara, what seems to work well with her is the Red-Light-Green-Light technique, combined with the 180-turn-around technique.
Hi,
I have new Havanese puppy 10 weeks old. We dont take him out much because he gets cold and doesnt have all vaccines yet. The vet says we need to get him used to the leash so we can begin walking him outside and have him otty trained utside during walks rather than on the wewe pad at home. Our last dog was a german shepard, who loved outside even as a puppy.
But our new puppy the one or two times we took him outside just sat there and wouldnt look at me. I tried to coax him with treats to play a little but he would not move (usually he runs to me the moment i say come or treat. And when I put the leash on him in the house to get him used to it, he just sits there and wont move. He wont come for a treat or ball or anything. Is he too young for leash or for outside? The Vet says we can take him outside but just not around other dogs. But he seems o afraid outdoors so ill stand for a long time and then give up and bring him back in. I then try to atleast have him get used to the leash for when he is less afraid to be outside, but even indoors he does the same thing and just sits there. What should i do?
My husky is 6 months old and no matter what i try she just keeps pulling it is really starting to get to me because i got her for my daughter but she cannot walk her as it knocks her over. she is a great dog other wise and learned everything else so quickly but i just cant seem to manage this.
Marie :(
Hello Jan,
Congratulations on your new puppy! Golden Retrievers are very beautiful dogs.
As for the sniffing, my puppy did that as well when I first started walking her outside (only do this after puppy is fully vaccinated). I let her sniff as much as she wants, as long as she does not pull to get to a sniffing spot. If she pulls, I just stop and stand still or turn around and walk in the opposite direction.
Also, I have noticed that once my puppy got accustomed and familiar with an area, then she is less hyper about exploration. It is only when things are really new that her attention is totally captured.
Here is more on my experiences with leash training-
http://shibashake.com/dog/leash-training-your-dog
Big hugs to your puppy!
Hi, I recently got a 3 month old Golden Retriever pup. I have already desensitized him to the collar and he is comfortable wearing it. I have also let him drag the leash around at home to make him comfortable with it. He doesn't seem to mind it at all, but when I take him up to the terrace to teach him how to walk on a leash (I live in an apartment and I want him to learn this first before I take him outside for walk) all he wants to do is stiff around and eat dirt. I can barely get him to look up whenever we are out! This is my first time raising a dog. Please help :)
Thanks!
Nice, original article & photos & great information! Voted up and interesting! :)
Hello Zoe,
Here are a few other ways to deal with leash pulling -
http://shibashake.com/dog/leash-training-your-dog
"He also lays down whenever he sees another dog A.d refuses to move on till the dog has passed."
Yeah my Siberian Husky Shania is like that as well. I think she wants to make sure that the other dog is not a threat to her.
Doing desensitization exercises has helped Shania some with this.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression#de
The article deals more with dog-to-dog aggression, but desensitization also works with non-aggressive dogs, like my Sibe Shania, who is just concerned about her own safety.
We've recently got a 8 month old male staffy x. He's a lovely dog with a lovely temper. The only problem is he weighs about 19kg and is very pulley on the lead. He also lays down whenever he sees another dog A.d refuses to move on till the dog has passed.
Hello Katrina,
It will likely take some time for her to get used to the leash since she now has less freedom. She also may not know what is expected of her on the leash.
My Siberian Husky, Shania, also likes to stop and lie down a lot. I think she just likes smelling the wind and seeing cars and people pass by.
I also play the Find-It game with her when we are outside to get her interested in moving on.
http://shibashake.com/dog/train-your-dog-to-stop-b
Sometimes I also make the walk more interesting by doing footwork commands with her, running with her (changing speed), and letting her pick which areas she wants to explore.
Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes. :)
Hi, I was wondering if it's to late to train my dog. She's a Elkhound and she's 4 years old. Right now we live on a farm so she gets to roam free. But in 3 weeks we will be moving close to town and it looks like i'm going to need to take her for walks to keep her activity up. She doesn't mind having a collar on but she trys going her own way or she just stops and lies down or just sits there. She doesn't look pleased at all.
What can I do to make it more fun for both her and I?
"We use a choker chain as he is incredibly strong and even with that when he sees another dog it is hard to restrain him."
In general, choke chains are used to give stronger collar corrections (also called leash corrections and leash jerks).
http://shibashake.hubpages.com/hub/Cesar-Milan-Dog
Very early on I used collar corrections on my Shiba Inu but it did not work out well for either of us.
Here are some other leash training techniques I used with my dogs -
http://shibashake.com/dog/leash-training-your-dog
Head-haltis can be useful for controlling a large dog. They are a bit difficult to put on, and I had to do a fair amount of work in terms of getting my dog associate it with something positive.
My Shiba Inu also used to be very reactive to other dogs and he also has a dominant personality. When in the company of other dogs he would get overly excited and "lose his mind". He was also starting to learn a lot of bad habits from the other dogs at the park.
Finally, I decided to stop taking him to enclosed dog parks. The environment there was too unstructured for him. Instead, I took him to play with single dogs at a nearby SPCA. The sessions were supervised and we also did desensitization training with other dogs to help with his reactivity.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression#de
Here is a bit more on our dog park experiences -
http://shibashake.com/dog/enclosed-dog-parks-good-
I also invited friendly neighborhood dogs over to have one-on-one play sessions with my Shiba. Smaller and well-supervised play groups seem to work best with him.
hi, I have a two year old male dalmation and I was wondering if you have any tips on how to walk/run with him on a leash or in the park? We have tried making him 'heel' and giving him treats if he walks next to us but he only does it occaisionally. We use a choker chain as he is incredibly strong and even with that when he sees another dog it is hard to restrain him. On top of that, our local park is an off-leash area but our dog (cooper) tries to be dominant and either jumpon, growl, play or bite almost everydog... your comments would be much appreciated as I am begginning to hate taking him out for walks
Hello Riley,
Congratulations on your new puppy!
She sounds similar to my Sibe puppy Lara. When I stop, Lara would also walk around and sniff things.
What works with Lara is to shorten the lead significantly. When I stop, I bring Lara back to me and get her to Sit next to me. I shorten the lead so that she can't go anywhere else.
Lara usually walks nicely after that. Still, I am always adjusting lead length based on her behavior. If she is walking nicely, I give her more lead, and vice versa.
"She guesses where I'm running to and runs ahead waiting."
Yeah Lara did that as well. She thinks it is a fun game. The key to this is not to reward the "running ahead behavior" with attention.
Usually I will ignore Lara and just keep walking. If she is in the way, she gets displaced a bit to the side. I don't actively push her, I just keep walking and walk right into her space.
I make sure not to step on her but I also do not give her any eye contact or talk to her. It is no fun being ignored so she has stopped playing that "game".
"The final thing that makes it difficult to train her is that she's completely unmotivated by even her favorite treats when she's outside."
Yeah outside is a lot more interesting and there are a lot more distractions.
What does puppy enjoy doing when she is outside? Also what breed is puppy? If you can identify some of the key things she is most motivated by, then you can try and use that to train her.
Also, is puppy fully vaccinated? If not, be very careful of poop left by other animals. Puppies can get sick from sniffing or eating poop from a sick animal.
After puppy Lara was fully vaccinated, I took her out about 3 times a day for about 15-20 minutes each time. Taking her out more frequently gave us both more leash-training practice. I kept the walks short so that I would be fresh and not overly frustrated. :)
Once Lara learned to walk without a lot of pulling I increased the walk time and decreased frequency. Now we only go out once a day, but for about 1.5 hours. Length of walk will depend on age, breed, energy level, size, etc.
Hi! Love your blog.
I have a leash problem that I need help with.
My 17 wk old puppy walks faster than me, and when I try to stop every time she goes ahead, she doesn't care. She takes that opportunity to smell around her and/or stare at everything going by. She has really no desire to move forward, and is therefore completely unmotivated by the start, stop training.
Another thing to note is that she likes to follow me around the house, but not at my heel. She guesses where I'm running to and runs ahead waiting. There's sort of the same thing on a leash. She likes to guess where I'm heading to and go first, despite my leash training efforts.
The final thing that makes it difficult to train her is that she's completely unmotivated by even her favorite treats when she's outside. Clicker training her outside is then really difficult.
I started with basic leash training inside, then moved to a hallway without distractions. However, now that she's outside, she doesn't care for anything but doing her own thing.
It sounds like I don't take her outside and she's therefore too bombarded with sights and sounds to listen, but I take her on a 15 min walk every day. Any tips? Should I let her explore the world first on leash before I try training? I need help.
Hello Dee,
My Sibe puppy was like that when I first got her. She was afraid of loud noises so going out was somewhat stressful for her.
Initially, I just desensitized my pup to the leash by putting it on her and letting her drag it around while we are in the house. Only do this with a flat collar (not a training collar) and only under supervision.
Once my Sibe puppy was comfortable with a drag-lead I first practiced walking her in my backyard. In this way, she feels safe and she gets used to walking on a leash. Once she has gained some confidence and has gotten all of her vaccine shots, I started to walk her outside.
At first just around the house and then we slowly worked our way to a farther and farther distance.
Puppies are pretty vulnerable to parvo and other diseases when they are young and before they are fully vaccinated. In general, I wait until they have received all their vaccine shots before I start them on their outdoor expeditions. :)
Congratulations on your new puppy and big hugs to him.
I have a two month old blue pit and he hates to walk on a leash. He doesn't even like to leave from around the house if I put the leash on him. I've tried treats, and he follows them sometimes but other times he ignores them and still doesn't want to move. What can I do to get him used to the leash and to walk without pulling back towards home?
My Shiba Inu also used to be reactive to other dogs. Some things that helped with him -
1. Creating neutral experiences - when I walk with Shiba, I ignore all other dogs and just get him to move along. In this way he does not practice his lunging behavior and learns that other dogs = ignore.
2. Using distance to desensitize. When desensitizing my Shiba to other dogs, the most important thing is distance. I have to stay far enough away so that he is in a calm state and able to listen. Then I can slowly move forward very slowly while engaging him in focus exercises. It is also important to practice with calm dogs initially.
Here are a couple of articles on my experiences with dog-to-dog reactivity -
Hello,
Thank you for the great information, it gives me hope! I have a 4 year old male Shih Tzu we rescued who lunges and barks at other dogs and cats when on leash. We worked with a behaviorist who tried to have us use treats to desensitize, but he wouldn't pay any attention to them. He does okay around other dogs when off leash, so how would you suggest we slowly desensitize him when on leash? Thanks!
Hello Jasmine,
Sounds like he is not used to the leash. One thing that worked well with my dogs is to first desensitize them to the leash. I describe how to desensitize a dog to a collar in the article above -
http://shibashake.hubpages.com/hub/Dog-Walking-Lea
A similar process will work with the leash as well.
Once my dogs are comfortable with the leash, I also clip it on and let them drag it around inside the house. This helps them get comfortable with the weight and presence of the leash. I only do this with a flat collar (*not* a training collar) and only under supervision.
Hello Kat,
In terms of playing tug with the leash (also called leash biting), I had similar issues with my Shiba Inu.
Sounds like your dogs are playful leash biters. Some things that may help -
1. Give the dog a job, e.g. carrying a stick or soft toy.
2. Play the Find-It game.
3. Make walking interesting my changing speed, direction, and doing footwork commands.
4. Do walks in interesting locations (e.g. outdoor parks).
Here is more on leash-biting -
i have a 12 week old mixed breed dog and he used to live in the country before we got him and when i take him outside to go potty he thinks he can run everywhere but he cant he will get ran over.so i put him on a leash and he went crazy and would not go potty because i was following him how do i go about trying to leash train him.
my two dogs are germen short hairs and one is 8 and one is 3 the 8 year old has a HUGE prob with pulling witch i well try your thing but the 3 year old likes to sniff witch is not bad to me but she also likes to play tug a war with the leash any tips?
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Hello Julie,
My Sibe Shania is similar. I also tried the head halti, but she prefers not to walk rather than wear it. Sometimes she would walk a bit, lie down, and refuse to move. I used to put a harness on her and used that to lift her up when she does that.
However, what has worked best for us are the start-stop and the 180 turn around techniques. When Shania pulls too much, I also put my hand on her chest to give her more balance and stop her from choking herself.
I am also using both these techniques with my new Sibe puppy Lara (she is now about 7 months old). So far, it is going pretty well. Consistency is probably the most important thing - every time Lara pulls I stop and wait until she stops pulling. She usually sits after a while. If she pulls too much, I turn around and walk in the other direction.
"How much should she be walking a day at her age anyway?"
After Lara got all of her shots, I only took her on very short walks, maybe about 20 mins. However, I have 2 other dogs including another Siberian so she plays with them a lot and expends her energy that way.
We are now up to about a 1.5 hour daily walk. I also walk my other adult Sibe for about 1.5 hours, but longer on weekends.
What I did with my first dog is have really short walks - 15-20 mins, but very frequent walks (about 5 times a day). This helped to keep me sane and gave him frequent outlets for his energy. :D
Hugs to your Sibe. They really are awesome dogs.
Hi I have an adorable 3 1/2 month or Siberian husky whom I'm having trouble walking. On a regular leash she s and chokes herself so I'm trying he gentle leader leash. She doesn't/ can't pull with that but she doesn't like it so she sits down and won't get up at all except to try to run back to the house. I need to exercise her to get her energy out. How much should she be walking a day at her age anyway? Thank you so much!
Hello Joanne,
It would depend on how fearful he is of the lead.
With a dog that is extremely fearful, he may not want to do anything when he has the lead on. If that is the case, then we can start by first doing desensitization exercises with the lead similar to the collar exercises I described in the article above.
For a less fearful dog, putting on a drag lead may help. Hopefully, it will help him associate the lead with something positive that he likes to do rather than something new, restrictive, and possibly scary.
It may also help to start with a very short, light leash, and then slowly move up from there as he gets more used to the idea of wearing a leash.
After that, I have found the Find-It game to be very useful in helping my dogs associate walking on lead with something fun rather than something scary.
http://shibashake.com/dog/train-your-dog-to-stop-b
Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes.
I have a 10 yr old Border Collie who was raised on a farm. We are now living in town and I would like to take him for walks. The problem is as soon as I attach hisleash he flips out and then he hides and freezes.Do you think the dragging of it when he plays ball may help with this?
Hello Erica,
My Sibe puppy is also uncertain about loud noises when we are out on walks. The garbage truck is especially a difficult one for her.
What helped with her is to desensitize her to some of these common noises inside the house first. I downloaded some of these sounds and played it softly on my indoor stereo. During this time, I make sure to engage puppy Lara in obedience and various fun food puzzles.
Once she gets comfortable with the soft sound, I slowly increase the level - but only very slowly so that she will always associate the sound with positive experiences.
Another thing that helps distract puppy when we are walking outside is the Find-It game.
http://shibashake.com/dog/train-your-dog-to-stop-b
Using distance and walking behind barriers (e.g. parked cars) can also help when faced with a stressful stimulus.
We just recently got a new Pekegnese that is about a year and a half old. It seems like she's never been on a leash or walked before. I love walking my other Pekegnese who is 12 years old. When we got the older one she wasn't leash trained either and was able to learn quickly from the dog we had how to walk and what to do.
I have been trying to take the new dog out to get her use to sounds and walking on the leash but she is so skidish and doesn't know what to do. I want her to be able to take walks and enjoy them without being scared. Any advice?
Hello Tina,
My Shiba Inu used to do the "alligator roll" move on me as well. He does that when he wants to stay in a certain location and does not want to move along.
Your puppy sounds like he may not be used to the leash. One thing that helped with my Sibe puppy is to put a leash on her when she is in our fully enclosed backyard. I let her run around with the leash on so she gets used to it - its weight, smell, etc. I make sure to supervise closely so it does not get caught on anything. Then I pick it up sometimes and walk along with her.
Another thing that is very helpful in getting my puppy comfortable with walking on leash is to play the Find-It game.
I have a four month old blue nose brindle pitbull. He is roughly 40lbs. He wears a harness and when I try to leash him he imediatly lays on his back and rolls. What do I do to train him to walk with the leash?
Hello Sarah,
Congratulations on your new Sibe puppy!
"Does this work well with your husky as well?"
With my Sibe, what works best is the 180 turn-around technique. I have to start doing it as soon as I leave the house and I have to be very consistent. Then after a bit she responds quite well.
Of course when she spots a cat or a deer, then she will start pulling. :D At that point I remove her from the stimulus and start again.
She is not awesome on the leash, but she is a lot better than what she was before. She is also a 3 legged dog, so she has a more awkward gait.
A few weeks ago I got a new Sibe puppy, so I am starting with leash training again. The key, I think, is to do most of the training while she is young and easier to control.
Good luck with your puppy. Share some pictures with us and let us know how it goes!
Hi there!
I just stumbled upon your blog and I love it! I had a siberian husky while living with my Mom and just got my own puppy with my fiancé. I knew he would be a puller (from previous husky experience) and have started trying the technique you describe but I'm getting frustrated and impatient...guess I need to keep at it and be consistent. Does this work well with your husky as well? How long did it take to leash train him?
-Sarah:)
"I never knew that putting a collar can be such a difficult exercise for some dogs."
Heh yeah - Shiba Sephy can be pretty difficult. A big part of it was also my fault. I made many mistakes in the beginning because I did not know what was the most effective way to deal with Sephy's stubborn streak. :D
The water bottle thingy is pretty awesome. I have been using it for 4 years now. The original bottle sprung a leak (at the bottle cap), but I just replaced it with a regular plastic water bottle and it works fine.
Thanks for dropping by.
I liked the information and training tips, but I never knew that putting a collar can be such a difficult exercise for some dogs. That Handi-drink water bottle seems like a practical and really handy concept.
shibashake Hub Author 5 weeks ago
Hello Evan,
With my Sibe puppy, I started leash training her first in the backyard. In this way, she gets accustomed to walking on-leash in a safe and quiet environment. In addition, it is important not to expose our puppy to other animals (including other dogs), and not to expose her to poop from other animals, until she is fully vaccinated.
Once my puppy is comfortable with this, I start to walk her in more quiet areas around the house, or I drive her to a quite place to walk, and so on.
In general, I start small, set her up for success, and slowly help her build confidence.
I also desensitized her to loud scary noises, e.g. garbage truck noise, while we are home.
http://shibashake.hubpages.com/hub/Dog-Anxiety-Fea