# Loose Leash Walking Tips



## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

01 VeterinaryPartner Home Page - VeterinaryPartner.com - a VIN company! has a good article on loose leash walking.


----------



## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

There's a good technique that uses walking backwards and then pivoting as a way of building and maintaining attention with your dog.

Also, you may be making the common mistake of showing your dog the food and making him follow it. What you want to do is use a high frequency of rewards at first, but don't show the dog the food or keep it in front of his nose.

I wrote an article on this recently if you want to try what I'm talking about.


----------



## murphysmum (Oct 6, 2013)

golden_732 said:


> Cooper and I have been working with loose leash walking for a couple months now.I feel like progress has been extremely slow and now I think we have hit a plateau. I would really appreciate some tips on this…
> 
> I first started with stopping (like a tree) whenever he pulled. It took a couple weeks but he finally has started to back up and make the leash loose when I stop. But then as soon as I start walking, he lunges forward. Again I stop and he backs up….this usually repeats for our walk.
> 
> ...


Hi, my pup Murphy is 5 months old and he was an absolute nightmare pulling on the lead so much so it lead to me hurting my hip with his lunging (he is 50.3lb already)!!!!

We tried the Halter and he managed to get out of it twice but we have now found a new way of leash training and within 2 weeks the transformation is amazing and it's so simple to do!!!!

When he starts to pull I say 'turnaround' to him and we walk back in the direction we've just come for a few steps maybe 4 or 5 then I say 'turnaround' and we turn and start walking where we were heading. You have to have heaps of patience as it takes a while and can be frustrating but well worth it.

Murphy does pull from time to time still when he's excited about being in the big wide world but I just say 'turnaround' and he knows exactly what it means and turns and then carries on walking nicely. 

I really hope this made sense and it works for you, dog walking is now a pleasure : ) 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Teeny thought here, but you may be handicapping your ability to enjoy walk time with your dog bud, if expecting a J slack in the leash and perfect position and focus with a dog while out walking. 

When I am training with my dog with the idea of either obedience competition OR just being able to walk into a petstore and up and down crowded aisles with perfect heel position and focus - I ask a lot more of my dog.... and get it. 

When out walking with my dogs, my expectations are a lot different. And just work with me here, but asking a dog to look at you is not the same as really praising and rewarding a dog who looks at you on his own. 

When I'm walking with my dogs, I never ask them to look up at me or drop back into heel position. When they do, it specifically is their choice and they get rewarded (generally huggles and kisses from me since I don't carry food around). 

The other thing is the pulling is a pain, but sometimes is indicative of a dog who is under exercised. If you are no longer walking every day with your dog, then he has a lot of pent of energy that needs to be burned off. Even if it means gritting your teeth and muscling up for a little pulling at the start of the walk, you take it if it means the way back you will have ample opportunities to make a big deal about a more relaxed walker next to you. 

Training in the yard is very helpful as far as teaching behaviors you want if walking in the store or somewhere where you need to have a dog completely under control during a relatively short period of time. <- I absolutely suggest you keep up with that daily training in addition to the regular walks. 

And good luck!

If it makes you feel any better, one of our first goldens was the dog that nobody wanted to walk, because he would pull your arm out of joint because he was in such a hurry to get over the hill to see what was on the other side.... every single hill on a very hilly and curvy walk.... this dog got his CGC when he was barely 2 years old and was basically ready for show (basically meaning he knew everything and would have easily qualified if he decided to be good), at a time when people STILL hated taking him out for walks. 

My sister started taking him for 2 walks a day, and gradually he learned his manners as far as walking on the leash. Overtime, he became that dog that little kids and old people could walk. 

Should add too - the way we were trained is you do not put training collars on your dogs for just walks. Our dogs learn to "flat walk" on regular buckle collars.


----------



## golden_732 (Aug 26, 2013)

> There's a good technique that uses walking backwards and then pivoting as a way of building and maintaining attention with your dog.


This is exactly what I have been doing now when I started from "scratch" so to speak. He has been great with the pivot and walking along side me on the driveway. But when it comes to more distracting areas, its a bit tough. Great article though! I think I first found a video tutorial somewhere on the forum for this method (the video uses a GSD). I think on there it uses cones as stop points. I never did that. Maybe I should go back and use a physical stop point to let Cooper know that there is a "reward" coming? 



> When I'm walking with my dogs, I never ask them to look up at me or drop back into heel position. When they do, it specifically is their choice and they get rewarded (generally huggles and kisses from me since I don't carry food around)


When walking with me in the neighborhood, I don't want Cooper to be in a formal heel. I want the walk to be fun for both of us, I would just rather not have my arm pulled off.  

He lack of walking is quite recent, maybe a week. Until then, I did the tree and turnaround thing while walking. We also have a pretty big yard so I use the chuck it with him multiple times a day. Usually after our chuck-it rounds, he's pretty wiped out. In fact, he seems to get more exercise with the chuck-it…because during our walks, we stop so much due to pulling. And you're right, I would much rather train on a regular flat collar. I don't want to teach to behave only when a training collar on. I want him to be able to be good on a leash regardless of the kind of collar. I was looking into a gentle leader a while back, when the pulling was really bad, but decided against it. 

I think part of me just wants to get this loose leash walking thing down so I can take him out and about to places without getting my arm ripped off.


----------



## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

golden_732 said:


> This is exactly what I have been doing now when I started from "scratch" so to speak. He has been great with the pivot and walking along side me on the driveway. But when it comes to more distracting areas, its a bit tough. Great article though! I think I first found a video tutorial somewhere on the forum for this method (the video uses a GSD). I think on there it uses cones as stop points. I never did that. Maybe I should go back and use a physical stop point to let Cooper know that there is a "reward" coming?


Can you escalate distractions more slowly? Dogs are bad at generalizing, so a game that you play in the driveway doesn't always translate to a high distraction area. Is there a middle ground where you can practice where he's more distracted (or at least less familiar with his surroundings) but it's not as distracting as the walk area where he tries to dislocate your shoulders?

I also find that training the dog to take an interruption is a key to helping behaviors make the transition from home to the big wide world. Is there a phrase or sound you use when you change direction and back up with him? Like "let's go!" or something? You can often condition the dog to be interrupted by the sound and motion of "let's go" and a direction change, and that can break through the distractions better than his name if he's used to hearing his name said to him while he's ignoring you.


----------



## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

How about throwing in some in the commands Cooper knows like sit and down and a trick or two at your left side? Try to keep his attention on you, and gradually increase the duration of how far he can walk in a straight line before succumbing to distractions. You can keep a very high value treat but give it less often. You want to cultivate a habit of attention to yourself.


Humans can be such boring walkers from a young dogs point of view. Figure 8s, circles to the left, circles around trees, seprpentines, and asking for sudden sits and downs at your left side can alleviate the tedium of going slowly in a straight line for the dog. 

For my guys, I start in puppyhood with no pulling ever and with making the left side( following the seam of your jeans) as much of a reward zone as directly in front. The element of surprise turns and commands, the element of rewards for correct position, and the element of giving full attention to the pup (social lure) work well to create nonpullers. 

Dogs can get addicted to pulling like cigarette smokers- think of it like arm wrestling. They struggle and they win, step after step. I can see why it would be really rewarding to pull. 

I just avoid ever letting a pup rehearse any of this from the get go. Lol, I look at it as rude behavior, so I can get stubborn about not budging. I might try to stay with the dog's tail, so he had to really drive a bit to get back face to face or maybe goose in a friendly way, then play tug or maybe ask for "spin" to recapture the dog's attention, but I would wait until my hair turned grey before I would let one of my goldens pull me. 


Teach what you do want( left side, seam of your jeans, and reward that generously. I think I am in the extreme minority here in not really believing in loose leash walking- my dogs either heel or are off lead. I just think grey area is confusing for dogs and for people to it isnt consistent enough. My older dogs are great loose leash walking now- say walking 4 of them in NYC where they all cannot heel, but the habit of not pulling is entrenched.

I do agree with almost all the great advice you received above. My dogs get a lots of off leash running, so they are not pent up or frustrated about the leash. If they were, I would think about using a no pull harness or something very different from a flat collar on those type of walks, so I didnt unteach my good habits on the flat collar.


----------



## golden_732 (Aug 26, 2013)

Update: We walked loose leash out on the street today!!! Finally went off the driveway! I am still using pretty frequent click+treating, but I have his attention! We didn't go far today, stayed on the street between my neighbors houses on either side. 

He did pull a teensy bit, but as soon as he felt his collar move to the back of this neck, he immediately slowed down and looked at me. Which is exactly what I wanted. It just means that he is getting more accustomed to the loose leash hanging on his neck rather than something pulling, to the point where if is does pull, he realized that something was off and checked in with me! Double thumbs up from this golden mom! 

It's days like this that make all the effort, time and commitment we put into polite behavior really worth it.


----------



## coaraujo (Nov 2, 2012)

Ljilly28 said:


> *Humans can be such boring walkers from a young dogs point of view.* Figure 8s, circles to the left, circles around trees, seprpentines, and asking for sudden sits and downs at your left side can alleviate the tedium of going slowly in a straight line for the dog.
> 
> For my guys, I start in puppyhood with no pulling ever and with making the left side( following the seam of your jeans) as much of a reward zone as directly in front. The element of surprise turns and commands, the element of rewards for correct position, and the element of giving full attention to the pup (social lure) work well to create nonpullers.
> 
> ...


I'm struggling with this as well. The reason being, like LJilly pointed out - is dogs get addicted to pulling because, even if its rare, sometimes they win. If its not taught from the get go that pulling gets them no where then gather all the patience you've got because you have a lot of rewarding pulling to undo! At least, that's where Im at. Unfortunately I didn't start training loose leash walking until my boys were around 8 months old and already 60-70 pounds. I was stubborn and refused to use anything but a flat collar because I didn't want to be one of those people who couldn't train their dog to walk nice on a regular flat collar. I realize now I was being a bit too proud and that eventually they will walk nice on a flat collar, but not until I undo all the bad habits I have taught them. I can't hold them back on a flat collar and just pulling, even if its getting them nowhere, is rewarding to my boys. Now we walk with a front-clip harness, pulling is never allowed (because 
I can actually hold them back) and their walking has improved GREATLY. We'll be continuing this for a very long time before we gradually introduce walking just with a flat collar. I have 8 months of rewarding pulling to undo so Im giving myself at least 8 months of walking without pulling on the harness. Then we'll move to the flat collar. Best of luck, it sounds like you're making good progress !

ETA: forgot to add that making walks more interesting has helped me a lot. One of my boys gets over threshold very easily. So much so that going for walks in new environments is a huge struggle. I actually have to walk in the middle of the street sometimes because the new smells and sights on the side of the road are too much for him. So what I will do is walk in the middle of the road or large side walk and weave diagonally back and forth. I'll walk fast, then dramatically slow. I'll make sharp turns left and right, randomly turn around and walk the opposite direction. He gets all excited watching me because he has no idea where I'm going next. I know one member plays a game where they go into a large field or parking lot and walk the letters of the alphabet. All the random turns of the letters make the walking pattern unpredictable so the dog really has to watch you to figure out where you're going. I've tried it and it's pretty fun


----------

