Dog Training 101: The Preparation

If when you pick up the lead or put the collar on your dog they start going crazy, running around, jumping, barking and generally being SUPER excited then you don't want to be going for a walk.

This behaviour shows that their excitement level is way too high. Meaning they won’t be listening when you try to train them and will make your walk super difficult. What you want is to be able to pick up the lead, call your dog over to you and have them come over calmly so you can attach the lead.

There is one dog I walk, his name is Teddy and boy does he get excited when I come in. He actually leaps off the floor to try and greet me and he won’t sit still half the time. Usually I have to either stand and wait till he calms himself or leave the room and reenter once he’s quiet.

So if your dog gets excited when you grab the lead what you want to do is desensitise the lead and collar if need be. Meaning you make it less exciting.

How you do this is throughout the day start picking up their lead and move it to another location in the house. This way you teach your dog that the lead coming out doesn't always mean a walk.

Dog Training 101: The Door

When you leave for a walk your dog should never yank you through the door. Allowing this shows the dog that pulling gets them outside and the behaviour will likely continue throughout the walk.

Over the years I’ve took thousands of dog walks and the amount of times a dog has tried to pull me through a door is too many to count. I do remember this one dog, a black Labrador. It was many years ago so I forget their name now. So anyway he was that excited for his walk that the moment the door was open just a crack he lunged forward and my face smacked straight against the door. The bump on my head was huge and there for a couple of weeks.

Before getting your dog to walk without pulling you must learn to leave the house correctly. With the lead attached to your dog go to the front door and open it. If your dog moves forward, pull them back in and shut the door, wait a second or two and then try to open the door again. What should happen is when the door opens your dog waits until you lead them out.

Dog Training 101: The Walk

If your dog pulls and you advance forward you are rewarding them, which means they will pull more. The simple truth is if you want you dog to not pull you need to from this day forward not allow them to pull.

How you achieve that is rather simple, there has to be a forfeit for them pulling. I taught this to Miku my Shiba Inu. When we managed to get out the door calmly I would then walk out the gate and onto the drive way. The moment her paws hit the drive she would shoot forward, so without a word I did a quick 180 and head back inside to start the whole process again.

It took me 4 attempts before I could walk off my drive without pulling. It then took me a further 6 attempts to get down the road to a grass verge where I allow her to sniff and run around, which is her reward.

This process has worked a treat for me, and though very rarely she may need a reminder when in a new location I can walk pretty much anywhere without her pulling on lead.

Give it a try and see if your dog gets the message, remember the moment they pull go straight back home. Try and aim for walking just to end of your street at first, don’t set unrealistic goals such as getting to park.