# Taking a relaxed attitude to loose leash walking



## Chritty (Aug 17, 2014)

Do you think I'm doing the wrong thing? Lemme explain.....

I've seen a lot of threads on here about people's puppies pulling on the lead, they were doing so well but they've regressed etc. I like Millie to have fun on our walks. To me the walls are for her benefit so I want her to sniff and explore her world. She's only 7 months old and walking next to daddy means that she can't sniff or explore which is totally boring. So she sort of runs her own race. She'll want to go from here to there, stop here, wait there's something really interesting just beyond the lead's reach!! And I like to let her. I let her sniff for 3-5 secs and then tell her "c'mon, let's go". She'll lead me on to her next smell with a taught lead. 

Am I taking the wrong attitude here? And if I am, why?

Can she learn to walk loosely later when she's older and just enjoy her world now?

Thanks in advance!!


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## thorbreafortuna (Jun 9, 2013)

Well, it's really all about what you expect from her and what you want to see happen. 
Reasons why I'd be worried: 
1) She will only get stronger with time, and once she's accustomed to leading the walk it'll be harder to break the habit. Not that it can't be done, but this is hard even when you start really young. 
2) God forbid, if you're ever injured or otherwise unable to walk her it will be harder for someone else to help you with this if she's a strong puller. It will also be harder for you to manage it yourself in this scenario.
Luckily, making her walk right beside you or letting her pull you along aren't the only options. You can train her to walk on a loose leash without requiring her to be in a heel position. She gets to sniff and explore, even go a little ahead of you, as long as the leash has slack and she isn't pulling you. That would be my advice.


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## pb2b (Nov 8, 2013)

We do both with Henry. We let him sniff and jump around, pick up sticks, etc. Then we have time to practice formal walking. I hope by doing so he will eventually grow into being an easy going explorer because while I enjoy his enthusiasm, my shoulder does not.


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## Chritty (Aug 17, 2014)

thorbreafortuna said:


> You can train her to walk on a loose leash without requiring her to be in a heel position. She gets to sniff and explore, even go a little ahead of you, as long as the leash has slack and she isn't pulling you. That would be my advice.



So use a 10' lead instead of a 4' lead perhaps?


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

"She'll lead me on to her next smell with a taught lead"

You need to consider that there may be a time that someone else that isn't as strong as you may need to walk her and will they be able to do so without risk. The other thing is you are creating a habit/pattern that if you do eventually want her to walk on a loose leash will then be set and it will be even harder to change. You can actually use her wanting to sniff and letting her sniff as an actual reward/reinforcement for her staying closer to you. But until she understands staying close to you that is not an easy reinforcement tool.It is easier to use either food or a tug type toy rewarding near your side so it becomes valuable to her to be close to you. 
It is harder to break a habit later than to just teach what you ultimately want down the road right now.
If you want her to be able to explore/sniff/run take her to a safe area and have her on a long line let her do it on that type of line and you can work on your recall games.


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## BriGuy (Aug 31, 2010)

How about you use sniffing and exploring as rewards for walking on a loose lead? In other words, if Millie is interested in sniffing a particular corner, then let her sniff only after she walks there nicely on the leash. You both win there!


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## golfgal (Dec 31, 2013)

I think there is a difference between loose leash under control versus pulled by a dog down the street. I don't think most people make their dogs walk at heel position on the whole walk. If we're walking down a busy sidewalk filled with people, yes he's going to kept closer to me. If you let her sniff and it's come one let's go and she's fine, not a major deal. If she's dragging you from one spot to another to sniff, whole other issue. 

I'll be walking Murphy sometimes and he'll stop cuz he wants to go one way and I'm going another, a quick no, this way and we're off again. Sometimes I give in though if we're going doesn't matter. I'm sure people will think that's wrong.


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## Loukia (Sep 20, 2014)

As others have said above, you can take Millie for a fun, relaxed walk and not allow her to pull all at the same time. It does take practice and work and can be a little frustrating at first (at least it was for me)... but you can certainly get to a point where Millie is walking loosely on the leash and still enjoying her freedom, crossing in front of you, sniffing about, leading the walk, all while walking without pulling. 

I've been working on loose leash walking with Comet since he started Basic Obedience at 4.5 months. Up to that point, I really let him pull me down the street because he was so small, I didn't think much of it. However, I'm glad I started working on loose leash when I did because he's now 7 months and he's much bigger and much stronger (and he's not close to full grown). At this point, he's really gotten the hang of loose leash walking and is (finally) starting to master heel as well, but that's still a work in progress. He now knows that our walks are either loose leash or heel, and that pulling on the leash will result in me standing still. 

As some others have mentioned, Millie pulling could be fine for you but if you ever do need someone else to walk her, it could pose a challenge. On occasion my Mom stops by to take Comet out or walk him and I don't think she could safely walk him if he pulled on the leash with all of his might. He'll forget on occasion, but since he knows what he's supposed to do, it only takes a quick tug and correction and he's back to walking gently. 

When I walk Comet, I use a 6 foot leash and it gives him plenty of room to enjoy the walk.


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## thorbreafortuna (Jun 9, 2013)

Chritty said:


> So use a 10' lead instead of a 4' lead perhaps?



That's an idea. Personally I use a six foot lead, which gives him a little more room to explore though not too much. This length has worked for me.


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## Chritty (Aug 17, 2014)

thorbreafortuna said:


> That's an idea. Personally I use a six foot lead, which gives him a little more room to explore though not too much. This length has worked for me.



I put two 4' leads together today and took Millie for a walk. It worked really well. She was having a great time.


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## Chritty (Aug 17, 2014)

I spoke to Loukia privately about what methods she had used on Comet. They were different to what I had been taught. Gonna work on those for a while whilst using a longer lead


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## Loukia (Sep 20, 2014)

Good luck, Chris! You'll have to keep us posted and let us know how thing go. I'm sure Millie will do really well.


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