Dog Leash Training
Getting your dog to walk on a leash may sound like any easy thing to do, but your dog actually needs to be trained in order to properly walk on a leash with you. Instead of you chasing your dog while attached to a leash, your dog needs to learn that you are the boss. Your dog needs to walk beside you, stop when you stop, and listen to and obey your commands.
When you get the leash on your dog and take her out for a walk, the first few minutes will predict how the whole walk will be. If your dog starts pulling you instead of letting you be the boss, the whole walk is likely to be a disaster. Before you even put the leash on your dog, start to calm her down with your words. Get the collar and leash out so she can see it and keep talking to her to calm her the entire time.
Use your sit and/or stay command to get your dog to be still while you put her collar on. If your dog does not obey you by sitting or staying to let you put the collar on, you need to take the collar away and show her that you are not going to take her out for a walk when she is not obeying you. If you simply give in, she will continue to behave badly and think that it is all right to not listen to you.
Once you get your dog to sit and/or stay while you are putting her collar on, you may notice that she is still emitting energy of excitement for the walk. That is all right as long as she sits and stays while you are putting the collar on. However, your dog needs to stay calm after you have the collar on as well. If she runs from you after you get the collar on, bolts towards the door, starts barking up a storm, or anything besides sitting and obeying your command, it has already gone out of control. This is when you need to literally stand your ground for five minutes and let her go crazy. Once she realizes that you are not moving and neither one of you is outside yet, she will calm down, realizing that you are not going to let her go for a walk behaving like that. When she does calm down, praise her for doing so. Now you should walk your dog away from the door. Take her for a walk around the house, in the garage, or in your yard to practice good walking behaviors. If she pulls, you stop and wait for her to obey and stop pulling. Praise her when she calms down and continue walking. Training your dog to walk on a leash will take some time, effort and patience. It will pay off for both you and your dog. Once she is walking well on the leash indoors, you can try going for a nice walk. Any time that your dog starts pulling or getting out of control, stop walking to let her know that her behavior is not good. Praise her when she calms down, and then continue the walk. Just continue this training and you and your dog will be happily talking walks together!
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