Feb 4, Leash Training a Puppy | Dogs | Leash Training Dogs | Leather Leash

Leash training a puppy is NOT an easy task. Many dog owners DO NOT know the proper way of leash training their dogs.

In general, dog leash is usually used together with dog collar (See: Puppy Training Collar and leash is NOT supposed to be pulled by dog in front of human. But, many dog owners allow their dogs pulling on leash, which is not what the leash is designed for.

When a dog is pulling on the leash (picture on the bottom), she puts tension on her neck and the boy's hand which is NOT healthy. The dog may injures herself and also the little boy.

If she is in front of you during walking, she is the alpha dog or the pack leader (Signs of Dog dominance behavior). The right way to walk with dog on leash is she is heeling with you. Heeling means your dog is walking beside you. When you stop walking, she has to stop, when you run, she has to run. You should take the pack leader role and she must listen to you.

I understand that some dog owners do not want control every movement of their loving dog. But you have to understand that dog is different than human. The major mistake of most dog owners is treating dogs like human by giving a lot of affection.

In any unfortunate event, you could cause your dog her life. Example: A dog does not listen to the human's command and she is running towards a busy road. I believe that you do not want this to happen.

Leash training a puppy has the follow benefits:-

You will lead the dog during working, instead of letting she leads you.
Your dog will NOT pull the collar which could injure her neck and also your hand.
Your dog will ignore any interest things beside her and only concentrate on her walk.
Your dog will NOT simply jump on people because she knows that you DO NOT allow that. And you will be able to stop the dog from jumping anytime you want.
Your dog will NOT show any interest in other dogs on the street as she knows that you DO NOT allow that.

Many dog owners really like to give more freedom to their dogs. The best is their dogs can walk with them off leash. Well, this is possible.

But first of all, please learn the off leash rules in your area. I understand that some area has strict law on dog owners by restricting the dog owners to put their dog on leash all the time when walking outside. If your area allows you to walk with your dog off leash, you will need to train her.

The process to train a dog off leash is as below:-

Start with a 6 feet leather leash with your dog.
When you are walking your dog outside in park, learn to put the leash loose on the ground and let the dog to pull on the leash on her own.
Test some obedience command like "Come" to see if she still listens to you. If your dog starts to run on her own, you are still able to step on the leash to halt her behavior. You allow your dogs to be within 20-30 feet and still listen to your command.
Depends on how obedience is your dog, you can slowly change with a shorter leather leash (eg: 3 feet), let her walk within 20-30 feet around you.
Slowly cut or change to a shorter leather leash over time until your dog listens to you without leash.

There are a few things that you will have to understand during leash training a puppy. You MUST learn to associate dog leash as a positive thing for her. You MUST NOT associate dog leash as a punishment for her.

If your dog always runs away once she is off leash, one thing I am sure is that your dog associates dog leash as a punishment. So, she thinks that you remove the leash means that you no longer punish her and she can run free.

There are many ways you can correct this unwanted behavior.

Firstly, every time you put on leash, she MUST come to you and not chase her around to put the leash on her. After you put her on leash, you will have to understand her state of mind. If she nervous? Fearful? Or she is comfortable and acts just the same like she is not on leash.

If she acts fearful, she associates the leash as a punishment. In order to train this, every time you put her on leash, give her a treat, so that she will associate leash as a positive reinforcement.

Snap and release strategy on leash training a puppy is a good way to train the dog to listen to you. This is usually used with training collar such as choke or prong collar. Non-training collar is less effective.

Step-by-Step of using Snap and Release Strategy:-

Put on selected collar on your dog. (Training collar is recommended).
Attach a leash on the collar.
You can do any out door activity with your dog. Eg: Take a walk around your neighborhood. The dog MUST heel (walk beside) with you.

When your dog shows undesired behavior like looking at neighbor house, or looking at other dogs, just "Snap" her out from that state of mind by pulling the leash suddenly and release. I am sure that your dog will pay attention at you, and you just need to keep walking.

This can be applicable for any other undesired activities or situations like stop the dog barking at postmen or visitors.

If you want buy a leash for your dog, make sure that you are applying the right techniques on how to leash train your dog. This is to avoid any unwanted injury on your dog and also possibly on yourself.

Remember that leash training a puppy takes time. Consistency and patience will pay in a long run.