If you want your dog or puppy to walk on a leash, those dog walking manners should start before you leave the house.
Usually your puppy or dog starts to get excited about you taking them for a dog walk, the minute they get sight of the dog leash.
With some puppies and dogs, this signals a great time is going to be had by all – or at least your dog anyway.
You, on the other hand may only have visions of your puppy or your dog pulling you on the leash down the street instead of your puppy or dog walking nicely by your side.
Let’s discuss ways to start the calm before you even leave your house.
It starts with calm control in the house, before you walk your dog, as you attempt to simply get the dog leash on your dog.
Teach your dog to “Sit” for everything – affection, dinner/breakfast, potty breaks in the back yard, toys, etc. I can hear it now: What does this have to do with my dog pulling on the leash?
If you get your dog in this “sit” mode, then sitting to put the dog leash on for walking becomes much more manageable. Makes sense now?
As you approach your dog with the leash, ask for a calm “Sit!” and if you do not get it, put the dog leash up and resume other activities. Repeat this exercise as much as possible until you get a calm sit.
Letting your dog pull you out of the front door and down the sidewalk for the next six blocks is not the ideal way to start off a walk. Sure, he’s great once he’s exhausted and then he calms down!
It doesn’t have to be that way, leaving the home in a controlled position with slack in your leash will set the mood for the entire walk. Barking at dogs, pulling, and/or reacting will be much less likely as his mind will already be dialed in due to him being focused on the proper walking position.
If your dog is likely to pull you out of the door, take that opportunity to work them through it. You may have to repeat the process every day for the next few days; put the work in and enjoy every step of your walk!
Most importantly, have fun. Dogs LOVE to go for walks. They get to engage in the big world outside your home and yard, it stimulates their olfactory senses (the nose does a lot of work outside) and it stimulates their brain. Dogs need both physical stimulation AND mental stimulation. Give them both and you have a much happier dog and you get to walk your dog with ease.
