Some Loose Leash Training Stops a Little Dog’s Pulling on the Leash

In this Omaha dog training session we taught 8 month-old Coton de Tulear / Havanese mix Tucker (left) to stop pulling on the leash, nipping people or playing too roughly with 7 year-old Havanese Jessie.

I got a nip from Tucker about 60 seconds after coming into the home and he was very worked up. I spent some time going over ways to help him calm down as well as common things people do that actually contribute to the problem.

The guardians had been inadvertently petting Tucker when he jumped up, barked, nudged for attention, etc. But anything a dog is doing when we pet it is what we are rewarding and reinforcing. So the guardians had been unintentionally training the dog to do the exact opposite of what they wanted.

I shared my petting with a purpose method as well as stressed the importance of rewarding desired actions so the dogs know what they can do to get the human’s attention in a positive way.

After suggesting some rules as ways to add structure, we were ready to address Tucker’s habit of pulling on the leash. I started off by showing the guardians how to add the special twist to a martingale collar to give them more control as well as stopping when the dog starts to get too excited. If the guardians practice stopping the instant Tucker starts getting excited, then resume when he calms down, they can help him learn to adopt a calm and balanced energy during the leashing process.

With Tucker suited up and calm, we headed outside so I could show the guardians how to train a dog to walk with a loose leash.

I went over a number of different tips to stop a dog from pulling on the leash in the above video, but it will be important for the guardians to practice each step by itself first to help Tucker get into a new habit and the human refine their skill set.

Loose leash training is one of the most popular requests we get for dog training. Its not that hard, but takes a lot of practice. Im hoping the guardians can practice these steps a few times a day in short practice sessions instead of on actual walks.

To help the guardians remember all the other positive dog training tips I shared in this in home dog training session, we shot a roadmap to success video.