February 29, 2024 • 12 mins
Today, we're tackling a common challenge: teaching your puppy to walk with a loose leash. But don’t worry, we've got the tips and tricks to make loose leash training possible. This episode includes what you'll need to get started, teaching your dog to follow first, rules of leash walking and ways you can make it fun for both you and your dog!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Puppy Training Podcast, episode 169,
secrets to Loose Leash Walking.
This podcast is designed tohelp you on your journey of
becoming best friends throughlove and learning, as you train
your own dog from home, and I'mhere to help you every step of
(00:20):
the way.
This is the Puppy TrainingPodcast and I'm your host, amy
Jensen.
Welcome to another episode ofthe Puppy Training Podcast.
This is your go-to podcast forall things dog training.
I focus on buildingrelationships with our dogs and
teaching you how to incorporateyour dog into everyday family
(00:41):
life.
Today, I want to tackle acommon challenge teaching your
puppy to walk with a loose leash.
But don't worry, because I'vegot the tips and tricks to make
loose leash training possible.
It is one of those trainingthings that takes a little bit
more time, takes a lot ofpatience and consistency, but
today I have a few tips that youcan try.
(01:01):
So, before we dive in, if youare planning or in the planning
stages of bringing a dog home, Iwant to help you get prepared.
We have a preparing for mypuppy learning module in our
member's area of our website,where you learn all about
realistic expectations, how toset up your house, bringing your
puppy home, having a familymeeting and more.
(01:22):
You'll also will have access toour trainers via email and
one-on-one sessions to askwhatever questions pop up.
I promise you'll have questions.
So even if you do not have yourdog yet, if you are on a
waiting list or you'reanticipating bringing a puppy or
a new dog into your homeanytime soon, we want you in our
program now to get and feelprepared.
(01:43):
All right, let's talk leashwalking.
So we're going to start withthe basics.
The keys again to successfulleash walking are patience and
consistency.
We have to remember that ourpuppies are still learning and
we'll need gentle guidance everystep of the way.
Now I like to just use alightweight leash, something
that's six feet in length, witha little tiny clip.
Nothing that's going to weighmy puppy down or feel really
(02:05):
heavy on them.
I want it to be just nice andlight.
I like to use a regular flatbuckle collar or a harness and I
clip the leash to the front ofthe harness.
So if you are going to get aharness for your dog, make sure
it has a front clip.
Avoid using retractable leashes,as they can encourage pulling.
The tension never goes away andwhat I'm trying to teach my dog
(02:26):
is.
When they feel tension, theyneed to release that tension,
and retractable leashes makethat really hard.
They're also a little bitdangerous if you're not careful
with them, so just avoid thosein general.
They're just not super helpfulwhen we're trying to teach a
puppy to walk on a loose leash.
Now I like to begin indoors,inside my home, with minimal
distractions.
I choose a time of day when mypuppy's a little bit active but
(02:49):
not overly rambunctious, and Ilike to choose a time of day
when maybe my family members aredoing other things, so there's
not a lot of chaos happening inthis room.
It's just pretty quiet and wejust start walking around.
Now I want my puppy to start tofollow me.
If you think of loose leashwalking as you would like, a
(03:10):
child in school learning mathnow, a first grader, or even
like a kindergartner, secondgrader, third grader, any of
those elementary ages they'rejust learning about numbers,
they're learning how to put themtogether, and it's not until
high school that I start tointroduce this child to calculus
.
Okay, now, calculus is a harderlevel of math and kids do get
(03:30):
to the point where, yes, theycan understand and do calculus,
but it takes some time andthere's some pre-work, there's
some pre-knowledge that needs togo into that before you can
just hand them calculus and belike, okay, let's do calculus
Now.
Loose leash walking is likecalculus for dogs.
So our puppies need skillsbefore they will be ready to
just walk around a city block.
(03:51):
So today let's talk about someof those skills.
The first one is to follow.
So no destination walks for now.
I know sometimes we get a dogand we think, oh, it's my job to
walk them, I must take my dogout on a walk.
I want you to just scratch thatoff your list for now.
When you first get a dog, Iwant them to learn to follow you
.
Now, dogs tend to want tofollow the trail or the sidewalk
(04:12):
or the pathway.
I want them to follow you right.
We need to teach them that.
That's what this is about.
This is about a connection, arelationship between me and my
dog and we go places together.
So no going around the blockfor now.
Stick to areas instead of trailswhere you can circle.
Make U-turns, lots of figure 8s.
You might feel a little bitridiculous.
(04:33):
That means you're doing itright.
Walk around furniture.
So again you're startingindoors.
So walk around furniture likeyour sofas, tables, coffee
tables.
Go to the right, go to the left, make U-turns, go in and out of
every room in your home.
Take this practice outside,into your backyard or your
private area If you have a patioor something where you can
practice or a driveway is greatand then, once your dog is fully
(04:56):
vaccinated, you're going totake this following practice to
the park, but again you're noton a trail or a sidewalk or a
pathway, you are at the park andyou're picking a nice big area
so that again you can circle andmake figure 8s and U-turns as
needed.
The main rule we have with leashwalking is never follow a
pulling puppy.
If your puppy starts to pull,we stop or change directions
(05:19):
every single time, only startgoing down sidewalks and
pathways when your dog isreliably walking next to you,
meaning they follow you withoutpulling and they know how to be
a partner with you.
They know how to walk togethertowards things they want to get
to.
That's what we're establishing.
So it works out really wellthat our puppies if you're
getting a new puppy, thatthey're not fully vaccinated yet
(05:40):
that you have those weeks andthat time to practice at your
house inside where we reallyestablish that good following
technique, or even if you'rerescuing an older dog and
they're coming to you, don't beafraid to take those first few
weeks of doing the exact samething you would as if they were
a new puppy.
We want to stay inside and then, once your dog's fully
vaccinated if they are a puppyyou can, yes, go to the parks,
(06:02):
but stay off the trails, stayoff the sidewalks.
I want you to find an area andcircle and figure 8 and U-turns
and speeding up and slowing downand just being a little bit
unpredictable and exciting sothat your puppy wants to follow
you.
So be patient, go slowly.
There's no need to rush this.
There's not like this timelinethat I have to have my dog
walking around the city block byX amount of time.
(06:23):
There's nothing like that thatexists.
Your dog can get plenty ofexercise daily by playing in the
backyard or inside your home oron Ghost Nif walks and I'll
talk a little bit more aboutGhost Nif walks in a minute.
So as we're walking, our puppiesfollowing me, I reward in the
kitchen area no, this is notyour actual kitchen, but the
area directly next to your leg.
So whenever my puppy's headlines up with my leg, I reward
(06:45):
them and I move as I pay them.
It helps to have a nice soft,chewy treat versus a hard
crunchy one.
Sometimes if you give your dogsomething crunchy, they want to
stop and crunch it.
So try to give them a littlebit softer reward that they can
keep moving as you pay them.
So I'm going to reward themwith food.
You can use praise as well.
Tell them they're doing a greatjob, right.
And then I like to stop everyfew minutes and give them
(07:07):
playtime.
Just let them go sniff.
Or I pull out a toy and we play.
I call it recess.
It's just to give them a littlebrain break.
Now, consistency is key here.
Be sure to reward good behaviorevery time it occurs.
And I, like I said, keep thosesessions short, one to two
minutes, then play.
Let them sniff around again,play a little game of tug,
whatever your puppy enjoys,because after all, we are
(07:28):
rewarding them right, right, allright, let's get started.
Cues like let's go and are youready I just like to give my dog
a little heads up that hey,we're about to move, let's go is
kind of my cue, for I'mchanging directions or I'm about
to walk.
You need to pay attention.
And then when I stop, I justdrop a little food reward on the
ground for them to sniff andfind that's fun for them, and it
(07:50):
takes a minute for them to findit and they're standing still,
which is what I want.
And then I start walking againand I repeat that.
Now, to prevent your dog fromgetting overly excited about
seeing others, I use what'scalled the 9010 rule.
90% of the time I am not goingup to people to say hi to them
and their dogs, and my dog isnot getting that expectation
right.
So don't set your dog up withthe expectation that, hey, you
(08:11):
get to run over and say hi toeveryone we see.
No, don't do it.
Do the 9010 rule.
Practice a leave it cue instead.
When they see somebody, thatleave it means we want them to
take their attention away fromthe person or dog they see and
give it back to you.
Now let's talk about that.
Go sniff walk.
This is my favorite kind ofwalk.
This is a much more relaxedwalk.
Let your dog be a dog.
(08:31):
Especially, this is helpful forthose dogs who are maybe
cautious outside or seem nervous, or dogs who aren't currently
enjoying their walks.
Maybe you have a dog thatyou're like they just seem to
have a problem with the walk.
I like to get a 10 to 20 footlead.
It's again a lightweight leash,it's just longer and I let them
sniff, I just connect it to theback of their harness.
So yes, at this time I'mconnecting to the back of their
(08:52):
harness because they're kind ofdragging that little line along.
But they get to go experiencethe world through their noses
and allowing you know, thisallows our puppies to stop and
explore interesting smells andit's not only natural but
beneficial for our dog's mentalstimulation.
So try to incorporate theseshort go sniff breaks into your
walks to keep your puppy engagedand happy.
(09:12):
Now you can have an entire walk,be that go sniff walk right Now
.
Make sure your dog's fullyvaccinated first, obviously
before you take them to the park.
But you can also do a nicelittle attention walk, like
we've been talking about, whereyour dog's following you and
paying attention, and then youcan release them to go sniff for
a little while and it can be anice go sniff walk.
So again, a 10 foot leash isprobably my favorite because you
(09:35):
can do both with the same leashon.
You can have them do a nicelittle attention walk next to
you and then you can releasethem to go sniff for a little
bit and then you can ask them to.
You know, do a nice littleattention walk again and you can
go back and forth.
But just doing an entire gosniff walk that's all you do the
entire time is a much morerelaxing way for a dog to get
exercise and some good mentalstimulation by sniffing.
(09:56):
Now I often get asked about aheel.
I teach a heel cue for tightspaces on a sidewalk, so if I
need to navigate around someoneor something it is nice to be
able to say heel, and my dogtucks in next to my side and
they pay strict attention to me.
But we're not doing that forvery long.
It's really just to navigatetight spaces and then we're back
to that more relaxed attentionwalk or, even more so, relaxed
(10:18):
go sniff walk.
Now playing games.
You guys, I'm a huge fan ofgames.
If you are part of my program,you know this.
So playing games can also be agreat way to relieve stress and
make leash training moreenjoyable for both you and your
dog.
Incorporate these short littleplay breaks into your walks and
it just helps keep the intentionof your puppy and you're not so
bored and it doesn't become somonotonous, because leash
(10:39):
training is a little bitmonotonous.
You need hundreds ofrepetitions of just following,
just circling figure eights,that kind of thing, so you can
see how that gets old prettyquickly.
I'm going to give you a gamethat you can try.
It's called the find it game.
You simply just toss a treat ashort distance away and
encourage your puppy to find it.
So this not only providesmental stimulation but also
reinforces good leash manners asyour puppy learns to focus on
(11:00):
you, because you're the onethat's saying hey, look over
here.
Hey, check out this spot overhere.
Hey, puppy, come check out thisover here.
And they're finding a littlefood reward along the way.
You're a pretty good partner onthis walk and they start to
figure that out pretty quickly.
So have some fun.
Play that game, see how it goes.
Remember, you guys, that leashtraining takes time and patience
.
Try to celebrate the small winsalong the way and don't be
(11:24):
discouraged by setbacks.
They're going to happen.
It's okay.
With consistency and positivereinforcement, you and your dog
will soon be enjoying peacefulwalks together.
I promise you'll get to thepoint where, yes, you can walk
around the block together.
It just takes time to get there, so be patient.
That's all for today's episodeon Loose Leash Walking.
Thanks for tuning in you guys,and happy training.
(11:45):
If you have a question aboutanything you heard on this
podcast or any other puppytraining question, visit my site
BaxterAndBellacom to contact me.
This is the Puppy Training Podcast, episode 169,
secrets to Loose Leash Walking.
This podcast is designed tohelp you on your journey of
becoming best friends throughlove and learning, as you train
your own dog from home, and I'mhere to help you every step of
(00:20):
the way.
This is the Puppy TrainingPodcast and I'm your host, amy
Jensen.
Welcome to another episode ofthe Puppy Training Podcast.
This is your go-to podcast forall things dog training.
I focus on buildingrelationships with our dogs and
teaching you how to incorporateyour dog into everyday family
(00:41):
life.
Today, I want to tackle acommon challenge teaching your
puppy to walk with a loose leash.
But don't worry, because I'vegot the tips and tricks to make
loose leash training possible.
It is one of those trainingthings that takes a little bit
more time, takes a lot ofpatience and consistency, but
today I have a few tips that youcan try.
(01:01):
So, before we dive in, if youare planning or in the planning
stages of bringing a dog home, Iwant to help you get prepared.
We have a preparing for mypuppy learning module in our
member's area of our website,where you learn all about
realistic expectations, how toset up your house, bringing your
puppy home, having a familymeeting and more.
(01:22):
You'll also will have access toour trainers via email and
one-on-one sessions to askwhatever questions pop up.
I promise you'll have questions.
So even if you do not have yourdog yet, if you are on a
waiting list or you'reanticipating bringing a puppy or
a new dog into your homeanytime soon, we want you in our
program now to get and feelprepared.
(01:43):
All right, let's talk leashwalking.
So we're going to start withthe basics.
The keys again to successfulleash walking are patience and
consistency.
We have to remember that ourpuppies are still learning and
we'll need gentle guidance everystep of the way.
Now I like to just use alightweight leash, something
that's six feet in length, witha little tiny clip.
Nothing that's going to weighmy puppy down or feel really
(02:05):
heavy on them.
I want it to be just nice andlight.
I like to use a regular flatbuckle collar or a harness and I
clip the leash to the front ofthe harness.
So if you are going to get aharness for your dog, make sure
it has a front clip.
Avoid using retractable leashes,as they can encourage pulling.
The tension never goes away andwhat I'm trying to teach my dog
(02:26):
is.
When they feel tension, theyneed to release that tension,
and retractable leashes makethat really hard.
They're also a little bitdangerous if you're not careful
with them, so just avoid thosein general.
They're just not super helpfulwhen we're trying to teach a
puppy to walk on a loose leash.
Now I like to begin indoors,inside my home, with minimal
distractions.
I choose a time of day when mypuppy's a little bit active but
(02:49):
not overly rambunctious, and Ilike to choose a time of day
when maybe my family members aredoing other things, so there's
not a lot of chaos happening inthis room.
It's just pretty quiet and wejust start walking around.
Now I want my puppy to start tofollow me.
If you think of loose leashwalking as you would like, a
(03:10):
child in school learning mathnow, a first grader, or even
like a kindergartner, secondgrader, third grader, any of
those elementary ages they'rejust learning about numbers,
they're learning how to put themtogether, and it's not until
high school that I start tointroduce this child to calculus
.
Okay, now, calculus is a harderlevel of math and kids do get
(03:30):
to the point where, yes, theycan understand and do calculus,
but it takes some time andthere's some pre-work, there's
some pre-knowledge that needs togo into that before you can
just hand them calculus and belike, okay, let's do calculus
Now.
Loose leash walking is likecalculus for dogs.
So our puppies need skillsbefore they will be ready to
just walk around a city block.
(03:51):
So today let's talk about someof those skills.
The first one is to follow.
So no destination walks for now.
I know sometimes we get a dogand we think, oh, it's my job to
walk them, I must take my dogout on a walk.
I want you to just scratch thatoff your list for now.
When you first get a dog, Iwant them to learn to follow you
.
Now, dogs tend to want tofollow the trail or the sidewalk
(04:12):
or the pathway.
I want them to follow you right.
We need to teach them that.
That's what this is about.
This is about a connection, arelationship between me and my
dog and we go places together.
So no going around the blockfor now.
Stick to areas instead of trailswhere you can circle.
Make U-turns, lots of figure 8s.
You might feel a little bitridiculous.
(04:33):
That means you're doing itright.
Walk around furniture.
So again you're startingindoors.
So walk around furniture likeyour sofas, tables, coffee
tables.
Go to the right, go to the left, make U-turns, go in and out of
every room in your home.
Take this practice outside,into your backyard or your
private area If you have a patioor something where you can
practice or a driveway is greatand then, once your dog is fully
(04:56):
vaccinated, you're going totake this following practice to
the park, but again you're noton a trail or a sidewalk or a
pathway, you are at the park andyou're picking a nice big area
so that again you can circle andmake figure 8s and U-turns as
needed.
The main rule we have with leashwalking is never follow a
pulling puppy.
If your puppy starts to pull,we stop or change directions
(05:19):
every single time, only startgoing down sidewalks and
pathways when your dog isreliably walking next to you,
meaning they follow you withoutpulling and they know how to be
a partner with you.
They know how to walk togethertowards things they want to get
to.
That's what we're establishing.
So it works out really wellthat our puppies if you're
getting a new puppy, thatthey're not fully vaccinated yet
(05:40):
that you have those weeks andthat time to practice at your
house inside where we reallyestablish that good following
technique, or even if you'rerescuing an older dog and
they're coming to you, don't beafraid to take those first few
weeks of doing the exact samething you would as if they were
a new puppy.
We want to stay inside and then, once your dog's fully
vaccinated if they are a puppyyou can, yes, go to the parks,
(06:02):
but stay off the trails, stayoff the sidewalks.
I want you to find an area andcircle and figure 8 and U-turns
and speeding up and slowing downand just being a little bit
unpredictable and exciting sothat your puppy wants to follow
you.
So be patient, go slowly.
There's no need to rush this.
There's not like this timelinethat I have to have my dog
walking around the city block byX amount of time.
(06:23):
There's nothing like that thatexists.
Your dog can get plenty ofexercise daily by playing in the
backyard or inside your home oron Ghost Nif walks and I'll
talk a little bit more aboutGhost Nif walks in a minute.
So as we're walking, our puppiesfollowing me, I reward in the
kitchen area no, this is notyour actual kitchen, but the
area directly next to your leg.
So whenever my puppy's headlines up with my leg, I reward
(06:45):
them and I move as I pay them.
It helps to have a nice soft,chewy treat versus a hard
crunchy one.
Sometimes if you give your dogsomething crunchy, they want to
stop and crunch it.
So try to give them a littlebit softer reward that they can
keep moving as you pay them.
So I'm going to reward themwith food.
You can use praise as well.
Tell them they're doing a greatjob, right.
And then I like to stop everyfew minutes and give them
(07:07):
playtime.
Just let them go sniff.
Or I pull out a toy and we play.
I call it recess.
It's just to give them a littlebrain break.
Now, consistency is key here.
Be sure to reward good behaviorevery time it occurs.
And I, like I said, keep thosesessions short, one to two
minutes, then play.
Let them sniff around again,play a little game of tug,
whatever your puppy enjoys,because after all, we are
(07:28):
rewarding them right, right, allright, let's get started.
Cues like let's go and are youready I just like to give my dog
a little heads up that hey,we're about to move, let's go is
kind of my cue, for I'mchanging directions or I'm about
to walk.
You need to pay attention.
And then when I stop, I justdrop a little food reward on the
ground for them to sniff andfind that's fun for them, and it
(07:50):
takes a minute for them to findit and they're standing still,
which is what I want.
And then I start walking againand I repeat that.
Now, to prevent your dog fromgetting overly excited about
seeing others, I use what'scalled the 9010 rule.
90% of the time I am not goingup to people to say hi to them
and their dogs, and my dog isnot getting that expectation
right.
So don't set your dog up withthe expectation that, hey, you
(08:11):
get to run over and say hi toeveryone we see.
No, don't do it.
Do the 9010 rule.
Practice a leave it cue instead.
When they see somebody, thatleave it means we want them to
take their attention away fromthe person or dog they see and
give it back to you.
Now let's talk about that.
Go sniff walk.
This is my favorite kind ofwalk.
This is a much more relaxedwalk.
Let your dog be a dog.
(08:31):
Especially, this is helpful forthose dogs who are maybe
cautious outside or seem nervous, or dogs who aren't currently
enjoying their walks.
Maybe you have a dog thatyou're like they just seem to
have a problem with the walk.
I like to get a 10 to 20 footlead.
It's again a lightweight leash,it's just longer and I let them
sniff, I just connect it to theback of their harness.
So yes, at this time I'mconnecting to the back of their
(08:52):
harness because they're kind ofdragging that little line along.
But they get to go experiencethe world through their noses
and allowing you know, thisallows our puppies to stop and
explore interesting smells andit's not only natural but
beneficial for our dog's mentalstimulation.
So try to incorporate theseshort go sniff breaks into your
walks to keep your puppy engagedand happy.
(09:12):
Now you can have an entire walk,be that go sniff walk right Now
.
Make sure your dog's fullyvaccinated first, obviously
before you take them to the park.
But you can also do a nicelittle attention walk, like
we've been talking about, whereyour dog's following you and
paying attention, and then youcan release them to go sniff for
a little while and it can be anice go sniff walk.
So again, a 10 foot leash isprobably my favorite because you
(09:35):
can do both with the same leashon.
You can have them do a nicelittle attention walk next to
you and then you can releasethem to go sniff for a little
bit and then you can ask them to.
You know, do a nice littleattention walk again and you can
go back and forth.
But just doing an entire gosniff walk that's all you do the
entire time is a much morerelaxing way for a dog to get
exercise and some good mentalstimulation by sniffing.
(09:56):
Now I often get asked about aheel.
I teach a heel cue for tightspaces on a sidewalk, so if I
need to navigate around someoneor something it is nice to be
able to say heel, and my dogtucks in next to my side and
they pay strict attention to me.
But we're not doing that forvery long.
It's really just to navigatetight spaces and then we're back
to that more relaxed attentionwalk or, even more so, relaxed
(10:18):
go sniff walk.
Now playing games.
You guys, I'm a huge fan ofgames.
If you are part of my program,you know this.
So playing games can also be agreat way to relieve stress and
make leash training moreenjoyable for both you and your
dog.
Incorporate these short littleplay breaks into your walks and
it just helps keep the intentionof your puppy and you're not so
bored and it doesn't become somonotonous, because leash
(10:39):
training is a little bitmonotonous.
You need hundreds ofrepetitions of just following,
just circling figure eights,that kind of thing, so you can
see how that gets old prettyquickly.
I'm going to give you a gamethat you can try.
It's called the find it game.
You simply just toss a treat ashort distance away and
encourage your puppy to find it.
So this not only providesmental stimulation but also
reinforces good leash manners asyour puppy learns to focus on
(11:00):
you, because you're the onethat's saying hey, look over
here.
Hey, check out this spot overhere.
Hey, puppy, come check out thisover here.
And they're finding a littlefood reward along the way.
You're a pretty good partner onthis walk and they start to
figure that out pretty quickly.
So have some fun.
Play that game, see how it goes.
Remember, you guys, that leashtraining takes time and patience
.
Try to celebrate the small winsalong the way and don't be
(11:24):
discouraged by setbacks.
They're going to happen.
It's okay.
With consistency and positivereinforcement, you and your dog
will soon be enjoying peacefulwalks together.
I promise you'll get to thepoint where, yes, you can walk
around the block together.
It just takes time to get there, so be patient.
That's all for today's episodeon Loose Leash Walking.
Thanks for tuning in you guys,and happy training.
(11:45):
If you have a question aboutanything you heard on this
podcast or any other puppytraining question, visit my site
BaxterAndBellacom to contact me.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com