Dog Leash Training
When you first adopt a puppy, it is just so tempting for you to ‘baby’ it because it is so cute and small. However, doing so can result in an untrained and spoiled dog in the long run. Your dog may exhibit many tricky behavior problems as it grows up and it is much more difficult to retrain an older dog.
One of these problems is dog leash training. As with all kind of dog behavior problems, training a dog to a leash is a lot easier when it is still a young puppy due to the fact that it is smaller and easier to handle. An older dog, with its bigger size, is much harder to train to the leash since it is physically more capable to pull the owner around and create more problems.
3 Steps To Dog Leash Training
1) Getting The Puppy Used To Wearing A Collar
The very 1st step to dog leash training is to allow your puppy to get used to wearing collar. When you first wrap a collar around the puppy’s neck, he will usually try to scratch it, roll around or use whatever way he can to get rid of it.
It might pains you to watch this process and you may be tempted to remove the collar from his neck. But it is critical that you resist the urge to do so. The puppy will eventually calm down especially when he is distracted by other things in the environment. You want to let your puppy know that he cannot remove the collar with all those behaviors and that the collar can come on or off any time.
2) Getting The Puppy Used To Wearing A Leash
Now that you have gotten your puppy used to wearing a collar, the 2nd step is to get him used to the leash. You should attached the leash to the puppy’s collar and allow the puppy to drag it around with him when he is playing. Very soon, he will not even remember the leash, just like what happen for the collar.
When that happens, it is time for you to move on to the next step.
Note: While dragging the leash around, never leave the puppy alone. In case he got caught on something, at least you are there to help him.
3) Start Holding The End of The Leash
For this final step, you can start holding on to the end of the leash and walk with the puppy around the house. Keep the leash loose between you and your puppy. In other words, your puppy should be walking right beside you when you are holding the leash.
In case your puppy begins pulling on the leash, you should stop walking immediately and call the puppy back to your side. Only when he comes back beside you will you start walking again. You can continue as long as the puppy is walking beside you and the leash is hanging loosely. Last but not least, don’t forget to praise your puppy for a job well done! He will realize that it is really fun and enjoyable to walk in this manner.