Teaching Your Dog To Walk With You
An important aspect of dog training, is teaching your dog to walk properly on a leash. Some dogs tend to mosey behind you at a slow pace, while other dogs are perfectly content with literally dragging you down the road. Unfortunately, if your dog can not learn to behave on a leash, you will have to leave them behind a lot more often than you would like to. This article will explain a couple effective techniques to help you train your dog to remain in control while on their leash.
From the first time you put a leash on your dog, you should begin training. If you tolerate bad behavior on the leash early on, your dog will think it is appropriate and continue doing it. Not allowing them to pull from the get-go can make the rest of your leash training much easier. Otherwise you might end up with a 170 pound dog dragging you down the sidewalk. Allowing this to happen can be dangerous, because an out of control dog can end up injuring itself or others by accident.
Dogs learn best through positive reinforcement. For this reason, it is important for you to keep the entire experience a positive one from start to finish. Yelling and jerking the leash around will not give you the results you desire. Keeping things happy will ensure that you have a happy dog on the end of your leash when they are full grown. Fear is never an effective means to train your dog.
You have to be clear with your dog when showing them what is okay behavior, and what is inappropriate. The key to this is by being consistent. Allowing your dog to pull you sometimes and not others sends your pooch mixed messages, as to what exactly they should be doing. Your dog is happiest when they know what you expect of them so that they can please you.
A technique that many dog owners find useful when training their dog to walk on a leash, is by using the crazy-walk method. Instead of walking in a standard straight line, keep your dog on their “paws” by going around objects like telephone poles, signs and any other obstacles that you come across. Eventually your dog will understand that you are leading and know the way, not them. This will cause them to stick close to you, because they are never sure what you are going to do next.
Another very effective method is known as “reversing”. Reversing involves abruptly switching directions as soon as your dog begins to pull on their leash. Much like the “zig-zag” method, this helps to reinforce to your dog that you are in charge of the walk. Eventually your dog will learn not to pull you and will walk next to you instead.
It is important to make sure that your dog can behave themselves on a leash. This will make things much easier for you when you are out walking your dog, or simply want to take them out to a public place.
