Hi from Penny and me As you will probably know by now i really struggle to walk my whirling dervish on a lead. I always read this brilliant forum and try all the tips that are advised. She is absolutely great when take her to the park area for play off lead her recall is good and so far she isn't too bothered by other dogs as long as i distract her and at the moment i do try and take her when its quiet ( the park is literally outside my gate). My question is as long as she is happy and getting enough exercise do i need to go out walking on lead. I really do try all the tips with treats and stopping completely when she pulls and she is getting bigger so she is stronger now. I use a harness with a back clip any advice on other harnesses. I know i want her to walk good as i will need this at some point and i know training is the key but i do struggle. She is still a baby at 22wks but she is definately a lively girl and wants my attention. Thanks for advice in advance
I would persevere with teaching Penny good lead walking, but just as another arm to your training. Having had to start from scratch with a very strong 30kg, 16 month old dog I can say it is no fun trying to teach it later on in life and I was pulled over many times. When you ARE teaching lead walking, do it somewhere and at a time where you're not actually trying to get anywhere. Up and down your garden. Somewhere in the park, away from distractions. Up and down the road. And make it fun.
Definitely, definitely, definitely teach lead walking now. It's really good you're teaching her how to behave off lead, but on lead will only get worse the longer you wait. My dog is 35kg now and very strong. I was lax with his heel walking and paid the cost (badly sprained ankle and several very close calls). He's 15 months old now and I'm training lead manners in earnest as he's actually a potential danger to himself and me. I wish I had stuck with it from the start as I've only made things a lot more difficult for us.
You will almost certainly need to have her on lead at some point in her life, so I would train it now. With Molly (and previous pups) I let her off lead, then put her on for just perhaps 10 steps, rewarding every step, then let her off again. I repeated this several times on each outing. I also rewarded when she was off lead but came near to me without being called so she gradually built up off-lead heel too. I didn’t use the stopping strategy at all because I drove to off-lead areas and did very short on-lead sessions at first. I gradually extended the length of time and decreased the rewards. Molly was 7 or 8 months old before she was really properly lead trained, so it’s not a quick method, but it suited me.
Yes. The sooner good lead walking becomes a habit, the better I find the best way to do it is to not be going anywhere. Just go out for ten minutes a day, with good treats, purely to practice lead walking. .
I gave up trying to teach lead walking when Harley was little and boy do I regret it! At the age of 2 I had to start from scratch and believe me, at 28kg that is not easy. It took me best part of 6 months just to be able to walk the local shops & back (about 5-7 min walk each way). Her lead walking is still atrocious in new places, but is better than before. I usually trained about an hour after an off lead walk as I found she was more recorive at this time. I started literally walking up and down my drive until and done this until we could do it with no pulling - it took about 3 weeks, doing it most days. I really would persist whilst she is small.
Lots of good advice here already, but this from @Boogie is what I need to remember most. Trying to teach on lead walking when you really need to GET SOMEWHERE is frustrating and futile (and generally what I try to do, lol). So very wise words to set aside time where you're NOT going anywhere to build the foundation. And definitely worth it to build that foundation as young as possible. I'm constantly astounded at the difference between my pups who I got at 8 weeks and taught from that age vs. the fosters that come as pulling-like-a-train adults that I then have to try to re-introduce to on lead walking.
I agree totally start as you mean to go on. I like @Joy method of the off lead first. I definitely would never do the start/stop method again as it's so boring and I found with Charlie just not productive. Start off in your garden and only when Penny walks on a slack lead progress to up and down your street, proof that and move on but slowly and always with really good treats. I think we have all put a puppy on lead and set off to get to School to pick the children up and expect a young puppy to know what to do, I know I did It's invaluable to have a dog walk nicely on lead so stick at it x
There is a thing called a ‘ continental turn’ which is really useful in teaching loose lead walking - I’ll try and find a you tube of it .
I really struggled with loose lead walking when Red was little earlier this year and she tested my patience to it’s limit . I did persevere though and bit by bit it came. She is brill now at 10 months on her lead (not always in new places when she is excited) and I am so glad I did this. She is beginning to get strong and although she is only 18kg, I can feel her strength if she moves out of the heel position. We do a loose lead walk daily and she will move from the left side to my right side if I ask her too. We practice ‘middle’ and ‘stay’ and she now automatically sits when we get to a kerb with no cue having to be given. I’d definitely recommend building some lead work into your day.
I dob't do red light/green light as it's boring and frustrating for all. I start with making staying close to my heel fun - chicken appears like magic when they stay close and that is from the very first days. A lead is introduced once off lead is good and process started again just using kissy noise for attention as necessary with lots if chicjen delivered by the heel for staying clise. Then as @charlie says move to the garden, up and down the road etc. but not when you need to get somewhere.
