Training a Multi-Dog Household to Stop Pulling on the Leash

In this Denver dog training session we worked with a pack of dogs: Riley a Labrador mix, Titus a Black Labrador mix, and Ellie and Tippet two Dachshund mixes who needed help with rules, structure and loose leash walking to help them stop pulling on the leash.

After I arrived I sat down to chat with the dogs’ guardian about her main dog behavior concerns and I learned that the dogs didn’t have a lot of rules and structure in place. Often times when dogs don’t have rules this can lead to them feeling anxious because they don’t know what is expected of them. We discussed some rules that the guardian could incorporate into the home such as asking them to sit before being pet, no jumping on the furniture without permission and sitting before going outside.

I also wanted to help their guardian take the dogs out for a walk. The dogs had been pulling on the leash during walks so I showed her our Structured Walk exercise, which you can see below.

As you can see in the video, Tippet was distracted by her guardian walking behind her. In general though, you do want to keep walking with the dogs if they stop like that, but in this specific case it was best that I handed her back to her guardian for the time being. Afterwards both dogs were walking nicely in the heel position for their guardian. Remember to start taking only two dogs at a time, one in each hand so you can correct them independently. When the dogs don’t need many corrections you can start to bring three or all of them out for a walk.

To keep up with this good behavior the guardian will want to remember to be consistent with her training and enforcing the new rules in the home. Remember to reward their good behavior with our Petting with a Purpose technique and to disagree with their unwanted behavior using our Escalating Consequences. We wrapped up this dog behavior session with Riley, Titus, Ellie and Tippet’s Roadmap to Success video, which you can watch below.