HOW CAN I GET MY PUPPY TO WALK NICELY ON LEAD?

Are you struggling to get your puppy to walk on a lead? Do they keep sitting down or jumping up and biting the leash? Let’s slow it down and build up some great basics that will lead to the calm walks on the lead of your dreams.

What even is a walk?

Don’t be in a rush to take them for ‘a walk’. What? But they’re driving you mad indoors and you want to tire them out right?

Remember, they have no idea what a walk even is. To them, it can just be an opportunity for game of tug! Or running around like a crazy thing and jumping up. Or sniffing all the amazing new smells and chewing sticks. Or they could find it scary – think of all those new smells, sounds and things they haven’t seen before.

A structured ‘walk’ is not something dogs would naturally do. It’s something we feel we should be doing with our dogs once or twice a day. If you watch an off lead dog they often sweep around following smells. Or walk, trot and run at different speeds and in different directions.

Walking in a straight line, at the same speed, isn’t very natural (or fun). We need to show them the value of walking along calmly at our side. But we need to build this up before we head out of the door.

Grow the foundations of a walk

Put that lead down! There are lots of great foundation behaviours to start teaching them first.

Play games to help them get used to their collar/lead/leash/harness (this is ‘desensitisation’). We want them to barely even notice them. The equipment itself will feel, smell, look and even sound weird to them, so it’s not surprising some of them want to chew it. Or run away when we pick it up and try to ‘wrestle’ it on to them.

This stage can be as simple as calmly feeding them while holding the harness in your hand. We don’t want them thinking it’s a toy; we’re looking for them not to be bothered about it.

Then start to feed them with your hand through the biggest loop in the harness (so you’re wearing it like a bracelet). And, over time, start to bring your hand backwards so that they are the ones poking their nose through the loop to get the food.

Also get them used to the sound of the clips, buckles or Velcro before you put it on them. That’s quite a loud noise to happen right behind their little ears when they’re not used to it.

Once the collar or harness is on, keep feeding them or playing a game with them. We are distracting them as they get used to the weird new thing that is wrapped around their body.

Do the same with a lightweight lead/leash or training line. Hold the lead and do some calm feeding or play some games while holding the lead briefly. Then unclip the lead before they’ve even decided there’s a potential new ‘toy’ attached to them.

Repeat these steps to make everything a non-event. A couple of repetitions, spaced throughout the day is ideal. If you have a very lively puppy, playing these games when they are calmer will be easier. You want them to practise getting it right.

While you’re not taking your puppy out for walks, there are lots of great training games you can play at home. These will tire your puppy out mentally and physically without even leaving the front door. As well as building up great foundations behaviours that will make everything else easier. If you need ideas of games to play, join my free Facebook group Pup Talk with Niki French >>> CLICK HERE

Don’t forget to play the training games in different rooms in your home (and garden, if you have one). This builds up their ability to be able to take their new skills from one location to another (‘generalising’).

Ready to head out of the front door?

So you’ve worked up to getting your puppy ‘dressed’ and ready to go out, collar/harness is on.

Start off with a calm game so that they’re not over-excited before you even start a walk. A game like ‘Mouse’ or ‘Aeroplane’ is great for this.

Short and sweet

To start off a ‘walk’ might be:
1. Get collar and harness on as above (we’re looking for a calm-ish start if possible!).
2. Get out of the front door, play a little game outside the front door.
3. And head back in.

What!? How is that a walk?

Every walk is just a circuit. It doesn’t matter how long or short or what direction you go in. You come out of your front door and eventually go back in again. It is better to make this a tiny circuit and make it a ‘successful’ one. If you try to go too far, your puppy is getting to ‘practise’ the things you probably don’t want, like pulling you over to all the exciting new sniffs, or chase leaves, or jump up and down like Tigger!

Why does she plonk her bum on the floor and won’t move (‘going on strike’)?
If they sit down and won’t budge, they might be frustrated that they’re not doing what they want to do, i.e. biting and chewing on their lead or jumping up and chasing those lovely leaves and sticks.

Or they might be a bit overwhelmed with all the new experiences. Or they might be tired.

Shorten up the ‘walk’ or go back to playing more games at home before trying again in a few days’ time. Just trying to drag a reluctant or over-excited puppy around, really doesn’t teach them anything useful.

When should I start?

You can start building up the foundations of a great walk straight away. The sooner the better.

But it’s never too late. Whatever age they are, you can grow the skills they need using the tips above to get great lead walking.

Ditch the bowl

If you use some of their daily food to reward them when you’re doing any lead training games, you won’t need to use loads of treats.
NB: Sometimes higher value treats will get a more ‘focused’ puppy in distracting environments.

Follow these tips steps and your puppy will be trotting along on leash in no time.

Need more help?

See my blog Puppy Toilet Training in 9 Easy Steps (CLICK TO READ) for puppy toilet training tips.

If you need help with any aspect of your puppy training, book a FREE 15 minute discovery call with Niki