# How old when polite leash walking was accomplished?



## coaraujo (Nov 2, 2012)

I know this is one of the tougher things to train. We have good days and bad days, but are still far from having a loose leash walk 100% of the time. I'm not sure if we've ever even had one complete walk without at least one pull. I was wondering how long/how old your Golden was when you finally got loose leash walking down *(on a flat collar)*. Feel free to list what training strategies led to this accomplishment!

ETA: I just wanted to highlight on a flat collar because some days it feels like trying to train polite leash walking is just not feasible without the aid of harness/halti's :bowl:


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

For me, the clicker worked really well on regular walks, but Molly still pulled very badly whenever we are walking towards the lake for her to go swimming. Every time she pulled, I would say "eh eh" and walk the other way. She learned quickly that if she pulls we will never get to the lake.


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## Gwen_Dandridge (Jul 14, 2012)

It so depends on what you mean by loose leash. Maddie could pass a test early on walking on a loose leash. But on long walks (real walks) she wanted to pull. She heeled beautifully off-leash when I specifically asked, so I didn't fuss. And normally on our walks it was in places where she could roam so initially I didn't worry about this.

I went for a walk with a trainer and 'All the other dogs' walked beautifully on a loose leash. That's when Maddie got trained on that. It was around her year old birthday, but I don't remember exactly when.


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## coaraujo (Nov 2, 2012)

Gwen_Dandridge said:


> It so depends on what you mean by loose leash. Maddie could pass a test early on walking on a loose leash. But on long walks (real walks) she wanted to pull. She heeled beautifully off-leash when I specifically asked, so I didn't fuss. And normally on our walks it was in places where she could roam so initially I didn't worry about this.
> 
> I went for a walk with a trainer and 'All the other dogs' walked beautifully on a loose leash. That's when Maddie got trained on that. It was around her year old birthday, but I don't remember exactly when.


When I say loose leash I mean no tension on the leash (the so-called j - shape leash) in any given situation, even areas of excitement. Not a heel. I can walk my boys with minimal pulling in places they're used to, but in new areas and areas of excitement they revert back to squirreling all over the place. Today it took us about 20 minutes to get into my parent's house because of the pulling. They'd forge and we'd back up, over and over and over. 

How long did it take for you to get Maddie's loose leash walking down from start to finish?

ETA: I feel like I must be doing something wrong, unintentionally rewarding their behavior. They pick up on most everything else so quickly, but this...we've been working on for a long time and progress is very slow.


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## Gwen_Dandridge (Jul 14, 2012)

coaraujo said:


> How long did it take for you to get Maddie's loose leash walking down from start to finish?


Gosh, in any situation? We're not there yet then. :uhoh:

Mostly, she's exceptionally good. But I don't have her on leash enough to be consistent. We walk twice a day, off leash--with some heeling practice during that time and frisbee chasing as a reward. 

When I'm at a "normal" situations with her, say going to the bookstore or at the market where I grocery shop. She walks on a loose leash nicely. And there, she is put on a downstay (not tied) and I walk away doing my thing.

On the other hand, when we went to a new place recently, at night when there were bright lights and baseball bats clinking and noises that she didn't know, she was seriously awful. She pulled, dragged, whined and cried. I wouldn't consider that good.

I use the same method as vhuynh2


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## Lilliam (Apr 28, 2010)

coaraujo said:


> When I say loose leash I mean no tension on the leash (the so-called j - shape leash) in any given situation, even areas of excitement. Not a heel. I can walk my boys with minimal pulling in places they're used to, but in new areas and areas of excitement they revert back to squirreling all over the place. Today it took us about 20 minutes to get into my parent's house because of the pulling. They'd forge and we'd back up, over and over and over.
> 
> How long did it take for you to get Maddie's loose leash walking down from start to finish?
> 
> ETA: I feel like I must be doing something wrong, unintentionally rewarding their behavior. They pick up on most everything else so quickly, but this...we've been working on for a long time and progress is very slow.


Max finally achieved loose leash walking 90% of the time. He's now 3. BUT if he sees water he pulls. Now, he only sees water when we go to my ex's place and he knows he's going to get in the water or when we go to the river and he knows we have our "launching" spot that's quiet and has a nice rocky ledge for him to wade around in. 

So.....aside from those two situations, he does fine. Counting those situations, I don't think he will ever be completely loose leash walking proof.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

I try really hard not to allow any pulling ever. Mystic was rewarded at heel position, following the seam of my jeans to get the position exactly the same every day.We played choose to heel alot, and when I couldnt concentrate on a reward schedule, he was off leash. Now as he has grown up without the habit of pulling, he walks well on a leash wherever. Same with Tally. My dog who grew up when I trained more with the whole Monks Of New Skete collar correction method needs to be told heel or he might pull. I think building up heel position as a reward zone is magically effective.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

LJilly, I grew up with a Monks of New Skete-type training philosophy as well. Interestingly, this is also how Kea "learned" to heel, and we are now re-training 'choose to heel'. It turns out Kea learned that I communicate with her through the collar and leash, so she tunes out my voice (according to our trainer, Kea thinks, "I don't have to listen to my mom because she'll tug on my leash when she wants to tell me something"). We have made more progress on heeling in two private lessons than I ever have with any of my dogs. Ever. That's for formal competition heeling, but for loose leash walking, it's taken a few weeks of make like a tree, wait for her to turn and circle back, then keep walking for her to figure out that pulling doesn't work. The most important part of that was to have my husband on board so Kea learns that pulling doesn't work with ANYONE, not just me. Once we were being consistent in our leash-manners expectations, we started to see big improvements.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Day 1...go figure. After 3 dogs that pulled, my Yogi waled loose lead from day 1.

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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

I checked the 5 and over but was torn between that and never.

Loose leash was something she just never would submit to. After age 5, she got better but only because she'd get over her initial excitement at going walking. About half way thru the walk she'd be worn down enough to walk without pulling.

But even on her next to the last day, she pulled like a Mac truck to get to our campground hostess, who she loved.

I'm doing a lot of homework to have a better outcome, sooner.


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## coaraujo (Nov 2, 2012)

KeaColorado said:


> That's for formal competition heeling, but for loose leash walking, it's taken a few weeks of make like a tree, wait for her to turn and circle back, then keep walking for her to figure out that pulling doesn't work. The most important part of that was to have my husband on board so Kea learns that pulling doesn't work with ANYONE, not just me. Once we were being consistent in our leash-manners expectations, we started to see big improvements.


This is the kind of training we've been doing. Making like a tree or turning and walking in the opposite direction. It's helped, but isn't getting the job done 100%. Our biggest issue is bolting upon release. We always sit and wait before walking through doors, going down stairs, crossing the street, etc. When released the head goes down and they charge forward. So we turn around and try again. Because they bolt sometimes they'll get a foot or so in the direction they want (then we backtrack and try again), I feel like this is why we can't get loose leash down - their pulling sometimes works. Just the other day Oliver pulled me so hard I had to grab on to a tree to get us to stop .


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## coaraujo (Nov 2, 2012)

Penny's Mom said:


> I'm doing a lot of homework to have a better outcome, sooner.


I feel like this is the best way to get loose leash walking down. I really wish we had started from day one, but we didn't start until they were both already 70 lbs. It's a lot harder to teach them that they can't pull when they're waaaaay stronger than you :doh:


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

Check out this thread.

Really great videos on page 1

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...py-up-1-year/238561-teaching-loose-leash.html


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Ljilly28 said:


> I try really hard not to allow any pulling ever. Mystic was rewarded at heel position, following the seam of my jeans to get the position exactly the same every day.We played choose to heel alot, and when I couldnt concentrate on a reward schedule, he was off leash. Now as he has grown up without the habit of pulling, he walks well on a leash wherever. Same with Tally. My dog who grew up when I trained more with the whole Monks Of New Skete collar correction method needs to be told heel or he might pull. I think building up heel position as a reward zone is magically effective.


I so agree with this. I've noticed that people tend to take the loose leash for granted when it's happening and don't realize what a high reward frequency is necessary in the early stages to really get it to "click" with the dog that the zone is making the rewards happen.

I had a similar experience with the Monks method: it was certainly effective, but the dog needed more reminders not to pull and to walk politely, as opposed to learning that it was inherently rewarding.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

coaraujo said:


> I feel like this is the best way to get loose leash walking down. I really wish we had started from day one, but we didn't start until they were both already 70 lbs. It's a lot harder to teach them that they can't pull when they're waaaaay stronger than you :doh:


Yeah - this is a toughie. I know that I take for granted the fact that I'm large, so when I'm initially training a dog to walk on loose leash, it's relatively easy for me to keep him from being rewarded for pulling. If, however, the handler is smaller, the dog often gets several steps of reward for a good hard lunge, no matter how careful the handler is.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

It depends on the circumstances.... We have no pulling issues on walks. I train anything as it happens and it gets fixed on the spot. 

I use regular buckle collars on walks. Nothing special. If the dogs pull, I correct, they stop, and we have generally very relaxed walks with both boys. 

Bertie still has excitement pulling (which isn't all pulling - sometimes it's him leaping and twirling as we enter the building) when we have arrived at our class locations and are just walking in - which I've allowed because for all the money I spend on training at these locations, both dogs better be happy to go there.  As long as he quickly switches to training mode and minds his manners after we get settled in, I don't care.


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## coaraujo (Nov 2, 2012)

tippykayak said:


> Yeah - this is a toughie. I know that I take for granted the fact that I'm large, so when I'm initially training a dog to walk on loose leash, it's relatively easy for me to keep him from being rewarded for pulling. If, however, the handler is smaller, the dog often gets several steps of reward for a good hard lunge, no matter how careful the handler is.


This is exactly the issue and its beyond frustrating. I know the only way to get a good loose leash walk down is to reward correct walking and not allow any self-reinforcement for pulling. I try, but there are always times when they get away with pulling. I know for a fact I must look like a fool when I'm walking them. I'll be balancing on 1 foot, leaning backwards, both hands on the leash, trying with all my might to not let them get an inch from pulling. Or...I'll be getting pulled face first into a tree .


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## Ripley16 (Jan 26, 2012)

I had a hard time training Ripley to loose leash walk. We used a halti to curb this and she walked perfectly, then transitioned to a martingale, now she is on a buckle collar and is doing really well. She just turned 2.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

I am a minority, but I just dont get into the grey areas of loose leash with my personal dogs. For me, either you heel, you gait, or you are off leash until you are a grown up doggie. I want them to know exactly where to be. We have lots of time and space to be off leash though.


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## coaraujo (Nov 2, 2012)

Ljilly28 said:


> I am a minority, but I just dont get into the grey areas of loose leash with my personal dogs. For me, either you heel, you gait, or you are off leash until you are a grown up doggie. I want them to know exactly where to be. We have lots of time and space to be off leash though.


I know your situation differs because of your situation and space to be off leash, but do you ever go for on-leash walks for pleasure with your dogs? Or is the on leash work purely for showing and competition? I guess the question I'm getting at is, will the dog still enjoy the walk if he's in heel position the whole time and not allowed to go sniff?


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

coaraujo said:


> This is the kind of training we've been doing. Making like a tree or turning and walking in the opposite direction. It's helped, but isn't getting the job done 100%. Our biggest issue is bolting upon release. We always sit and wait before walking through doors, going down stairs, crossing the street, etc. When released the head goes down and they charge forward. So we turn around and try again. Because they bolt sometimes they'll get a foot or so in the direction they want (then we backtrack and try again), I feel like this is why we can't get loose leash down - their pulling sometimes works. Just the other day Oliver pulled me so hard I had to grab on to a tree to get us to stop .


Yes, Kea is a little 55 lb girlie princess, so that makes my job easier! She's still pretty strong though, especially when there is a squirrel involved. 

One tip our trainer gave me that has worked well is to hold the leash by the end and anchor it to my hip, or attach to my belt or whatever), and to always use a 6 ft leash. The idea is that when the dog goes to the end of the leash, he won't also get an additional 2-3 feet of your outstretched arm. He will know exactly how far he can get from you without "making" you stop dead in your tracks. Have you tried click-treat for just a few steps of not pulling? 

I do not live in an area where we can walk off-leash daily, unless we do it *cough* illegally (shhhh....). Even then, Kea must be leashed to walk from our front door to the field at the edge of our neighborhood. I am working on teaching her the difference between 'heel' (look at me, head up, heel position) and going out for a potty break or walk through the neighborhood (no command associated with that, just an expectation that she doesn't drag me down the street).


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

How old was your dog when he learned polite leash walking? There is always hope! Jk


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## coaraujo (Nov 2, 2012)

KeaColorado said:


> One tip our trainer gave me that has worked well is to hold the leash by the end and anchor it to my hip, or attach to my belt or whatever), and to always use a 6 ft leash. The idea is that when the dog goes to the end of the leash, he won't also get an additional 2-3 feet of your outstretched arm. He will know exactly how far he can get from you without "making" you stop dead in your tracks. Have you tried click-treat for just a few steps of not pulling?


I've never tried it with a clicker. I have tried using treats, but when they hit around 8 months I started having the issue where they'd spit out the treats because they were too excited being outside with all the smells and sounds. Occasionally they'll take treats outside, but I dont know if the treats were really all that reinforcing. :uhoh:


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## Chaya (Aug 18, 2012)

Both of my girls walk pretty well individually on leash. We still have a bit of trouble when we approach water or a favorite park, but usually it takes just a few serious looks on my part for them to calm down and walk nicely. 

Now, my problem is when I walk both of them at once. They are good 80% of the time, but I swear they plot with each other to slowly, slowly increase the tension on the leash so I don't realize they have increased the pace! I have to use the easy walker on them when I walk them together because I can't risk getting pulled by them both into the street over a piece of pizza.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

For Tito, day 1, so I guess 7-1/2 weeks old. 
Tiny and Toby, I allowed it when they were young and we fought it for a long time. I'd say probably at least 1 or 2 years old for both of them, with a flat collar on. With their prong collars on, they had instant manners.


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## egar2019 (Jan 26, 2014)

Just adopted an outside dog that it's very clear has never been on a leash..have a long ways to go.


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## Katduf (Mar 10, 2013)

I look like an idiot trying to walk Stormy, she's a nightmare walker, and at 9 months she has super strength. I take her out on her own, and the first 20 mins is the worst. She also barks at people standing near her really obnoxiously. I am working on changing direction every time she pulls, which means I take 2 steps, change direction,repeat repeat repeat. Someone yesterday asked me what was I doing. I embarrassingly answered that I was walking my dog. They laughed and said 'you've been in the same place for the last 1/2 hour'. Ummm.....yes I know....


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## sdhgolden (Aug 13, 2012)

Katduf said:


> I look like an idiot trying to walk Stormy, she's a nightmare walker, and at 9 months she has super strength. I take her out on her own, and the first 20 mins is the worst. She also barks at people standing near her really obnoxiously. I am working on changing direction every time she pulls, which means I take 2 steps, change direction,repeat repeat repeat. Someone yesterday asked me what was I doing. I embarrassingly answered that I was walking my dog. They laughed and said 'you've been in the same place for the last 1/2 hour'. Ummm.....yes I know....



This is hilarious! What a GREAT answer!! I literally laughed out loud when I read your response to the person who asked what you were doing. 


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## Katduf (Mar 10, 2013)

sdhgolden said:


> This is hilarious! What a GREAT answer!! I literally laughed out loud when I read your response to the person who asked what you were doing.
> 
> 
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yes well...this is her. Walking her feels like Groundhog Day. Just by looking at her you'd be forgiven for thinking she's ok. But man is she strong!! She 'walks' like a bucking bronco on leash, so I guess we just look like a sideshow to the casual observer...


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## sdhgolden (Aug 13, 2012)

Katduf said:


> View attachment 339514
> yes well...this is her. Walking her feels like Groundhog Day. Just by looking at her you'd be forgiven for thinking she's ok. But man is she strong!! She 'walks' like a bucking bronco on leash, so I guess we just look like a sideshow to the casual observer...



What a cutie! I can imagine we look super weird trying to teach our dogs how to walk without pulling. It doesn't help that there is a lady who walks by our house everyday with her dog who walks perfectly by her side no matter what...even when mine runs up to it and tries to play... :/


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Yogi, day 1! We were due after owning 3 pulling maniacs who thought they were concrete sled dogs.

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