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One of the most important skills any dog can learn is to walk politely on a leash without pulling. Loose leash walking makes it easier, safer, and more enjoyable to walk your dog.
Puppy owners often get frustrated because they assume that their dog will automatically understand when the leash goes on and when they’re walking together, but puppies aren’t born knowing what a leash is. Leash walking is a trained skill that you will need to teach and continue to reinforce as your puppy grows.
When to Start Leash Training Your Puppy
It’s best to begin to leash -training your puppy as soon as you bring them home. “We start leash training before we even take a walk,” advises Michele Miller, Certified Professional Dog Trainer—Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA), who teaches puppy classes to dogs of all sizes.
It’s never too early to introduce the basics of loose-leash walking to your puppy. You can start even if your puppy isn’t fully vaccinated and or isn’t going out on walks yet. Introducing your puppy to walking on a leash right away will help them learn the skill and be ready to walk politely as they get older.
What You’ll Need Before You Start Training
To set your puppy up for success when teaching loose-leash walking, you’ll want to have the right supplies and equipment.
Important Tools
Treats are what motivates your dog to work. Have lots of small treats that your dog is excited about, including both high- and low-value treats.
When leash training puppies, you can attach the leash to a collar or a harness. For large puppies, Miller recommends using a front-clip harness. This will make it easier to direct the puppy if they do start pulling. Another option is a properly fitted leather or nylon collar.
A harness is generally a better option for puppies, so there’s no pressure on their neck if they pull. Make sure the harness is fits correctly, so the puppy can’t slip out of it, and doesn’t restrict their puppy’s movement while walking.
And of course, loose leash walk-training requires a leash! You’ll want to use a leash that’s easy to hold. It’s also good to use leashes that lets you maintain control. Avoid using retractable leashes, and opt for lightweight 6-foot-leashes instead.
Optional Tools
Some people choose to train their dogs with a clicker, known as clicker training. If you’re doing clicker training with your puppy, you’ll want to have a clicker easily accessible. As you start training, you can use it to mark your dog for staying close.
Choosing the Right Training Cues
It’s important to give your dog clear cues on what you want them to do. Of course, the specific words you use as cues are your choice. You want them to walk with you — not pull on the leash. Verbal cues signal to your dog that you’re walking together, as well as any direction changes in the walk.
Don’t be afraid to have fun with your dog. Miller notes that it’s okay to be loud, fun, and silly when teaching your puppy new skills. Clear, upbeat communication while training, especially when teaching a difficult skill like loose leash walking, makes a big difference.
“Your dog needs that jolly talk,” Miller encourages. For cues with teaching loose leash walking, using a cue like “Let’s go” or “With me” tells your dog that you want them to walk with you. Direction-changing cues like “Turn” can help your dog understand direction changes are taking place, and they should look to you for direction.
Formal Heeling Versus Leash Walking
To teach your dog to walk on a leash, it’s helpful to have a picture in your mind of what you want leash walking to look like. Generally, people want a puppy to walk on a loose leash next to them, not pulling on the leash or tripping anyone.
Polite leash walking isn’t a formal heel cue like you would see in Obedience or AKC Rally. Formal heeling is a more advanced skill that you can teach later if you pursue those sports. For loose-leash walking, we need our dog to stay near us and be able to walk at or near our side without pulling. To achieve this, we’re going to praise and reward our puppy for staying near us with the leash on as we start walking.
The more we practice, the more the puppy will learn that this position earns them a reward, and they will be more willing to stay by our side.
Teaching Leash Walking Step-by-Step
The first steps in leash walking can begin as soon as you bring your dog home. Start by getting them used to wearing a harness and attaching a leash to it. Rewarding your dog for this behavior at an early age will help them develop a sense of value in staying close to you.
Introducing a Marker Word
To get started with leash training, you’ll want your dog to understand the reward marker. This marker could be the clicker, or a verbal marker like the word “yes.” You want your dog to make the association of the sound of the click or marker word signaling that they’ve done the right thing. Which means: a treat is coming!
Begin by clicking or using your verbal marker word in a quiet area. Immediately give your puppy a treat. After a few repetitions, your puppy will start looking to you for a treat when they hear the clicker or your verbal marker.
After a few repetitions, your puppy will understand that when they hear this, they’ve done a good job. Now you can use the clicker/reward marker in training. Be sure to only use your reward marker when you have a treat and can reward your puppy. It’s what they’ve been trained to expect!
Rewarding Attention and Eye Contact
The world is a distracting and exciting place for puppies. As we’ re working on leash walking skills, we want to make ensure that our puppies understand that being near us is rewarding. We’ll start by teaching puppies to watch us by marking and rewarding them any time they offer us eye contact or attention. To do this, click or use your marker word and give a treat when your dog looks at you when the leash is attached.
“Engagement is a skill, and we need to work on that. We work on that eye contact and those auto check-ins,” Miller explains. By building value through checking in with us, our dogs are likely to offer this behavior in the future when out on walks, ensuring they’ll naturally want to stay close by.
‘Let’s Go’ or ‘With Me’ Cues
Miller notes that it’s especially important that we communicate clearly with our dogs about where we’re going while walking, so they’re not just getting dragged along. For her, that looks like teaching directional cues for turning left and right and general walk with me cues like “let’s go.”
To do this, you’ll pair movement with the cue. Then, click/mark and reward your dog every few steps as you start walking. When it’s time to turn or /change directions, get your dog’s attention by saying their name. Next, while turning, you can introduce a verbal cue like “turn” or a directional indicator, such as “left” or “right” then treat your dog as they stay with you during the turn.
By communicating to your dog that a turn is coming, your puppy will learn to stay with you and not get frustrated and left behind.
Teaching Automatic Leash-End Lookback
Even when loose leash walking, there will be times your dog will reach the end of the leash. When your dog does this, we want to encourage them to automatically check in with us, rather than pulling on the leash.
To do this, Miller instructs students to say their puppy’s name when they reach the end of the leash. “When they look back and you mark it, and they come back to you to get the reward, and you start moving again.” After several repetitions of rewarding, this check-in at the end of the leash will become automatic for your puppy.
Bringing It Outside
When your puppy understands loose leash walking inside your house or in the yard, you’ are ready to introduce them to the distractions of being outside. Be sure to have plenty of high- value treats ready. Then, cue your puppy to watch, and reward any attention they give. Cue your puppy, you are going to start walking, and as you start to walk, as you start to walk and give them plenty of praise your puppy.
Just like you did inside, click/mark and reward your puppy for staying near you or, and checking in on you while the leash is loose. Remember, leash walking is a challenging skill. Keep the praise and rewards coming!
Common Leash Training Challenges
Patience is key with leash training. Teaching loose leash walking, especially around distractions, can take time for puppies to fully understand. Miller notes that the big issue she sees is puppy owners “not telling our dogs what we do want.” Specifically, if we know that we don’t want our dogs to be pulling on their leashes while walking, we need to communicate with our dogs that we want them to walk with us, and when we’re going to be changing direction.
Another common issue that can come up is when a puppy chews on the leash, attempting to play with or tug at it. If your puppy starts to do this, get their attention with a treat, say “drop” and praise or reward your puppy when the leash comes out of their mouth. Then, try to keep the leash loose, but with less slack, so it won’t be as distracting to your puppy.
Give Puppies More Choices
It might sound counterintuitive, but if you want puppy to pull less, give them more opportunities to sniff and choose where they walk. Miller advises puppy owners to “make sure that they are going somewhere several times a week where their dog can just sniff and go wherever they want.”
These opportunities for sniffy walks where puppies get to explore and pick the directions they walk, go a long way in meeting their enrichment needs.
When to Get Help From a Professional
Seeking professional support when training your dog is never a sign of failure. It definitely doesn’t mean that you’re a bad dog owner! There’s no need to wait until you’re struggling and frustrated to start working with a dog trainer.
Working with a trainer from the start can help prevent your puppy from developing undesirable habits. Signing your puppy up for an AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy class or other basic puppy training classes is also a great way to get your puppy’s training started on the right foot.
Need help with your adorable new puppy? Training your dog can be challenging without expert help. That’s why we’re here to help you virtually, through AKC GoodDog! Helpline. This live telephone service connects you with a professional trainer who will offer unlimited, individualized advice on everything from house-training to behavioral issues.