There are so many different methods to teach your dog to walk without pulling. There is no right or wrong method. Choose whichever method works best for your particular dog. Don’t let a trainer convince you which method is best. Decide for yourself. Nobody knows your dog better than you. You train a dog by temperament and personality, not by breed. I have listed several different methods for your review. Whichever method you do select, choose only one and stick with it.
Method 1 The start – stop method
Did you ever see a dog straining on the leash, pulling the human along? What’s happening here is the human has inadvertently taught his dog that the freedom to go forward is actually a reward for pulling. This is the exact opposite of what you want him to do. You want to teach him that the freedom to move forward is a reward for keeping a slack leash.
Whenever your puppy pulls, creating a taut leash, stop dead in your tracks. Your puppy will sniff for a while but eventually he will wonder what is going on. When he turns his head to look back at you, you’ll feel the leash slacken a bit. Immediately praise , reward and begin walking again. You are rewarding the relaxed muscle tension by moving forward. This gives him the freedom to explore again. He is learning that a taut leash means stop and a loose leash means go. Within the first ten minute session your puppy will figure this out. There will come appoint where your puppy will back up or relax his shoulders as soon as he feels the leash go taut. This will happen so fast that you will not have the chance to come to a complete stop. This is the critical point where you praise. He has figured out that he can keep you moving if he doesn’t feel any pressure, so he stops the pressure. That’s the whole point of the method. If you don’t acknowledge the recognition, he’ll say well that wasn’t it and he will keep pulling.You can close your eyes to feel the pressure rather than look for it.
Method 2 – The voluntary return method
While practicing method 1 , you may find that your puppy voluntarily comes all the way back to you whenever the leash goes taut. If that happens, give your puppy a reward for being close to you. The first reward your puppy got for slackening the leash in the start/stop method was praise and the freedom to continue walking. In this voluntary return method, your puppy will get an additional, even greater reward if she happens to be by your side. So when you are practicing the start/stop method and the leash goes taut, you immediately stop. When the leash goes even a little bit slack, such as when the puppy turns to look at you, you praise her and start walking again. Tight means stop, loose means go. Lets say that instead of pulling again when you start walking, your puppy waits for you to catch up. Now she’s by your side and you immediately praise her for being in that position. She will quickly learn that she can keep you walking as long as the leash is loose. So practice the start/stop method and reward if your puppy waits for you to catch up or walks back to you a step or two.
Method 3-The reversal method
Start out with the start/stop method but add a new twist. When your puppy goes to dart in front of you, turn and walk the other way. He will now be behind you, wanting to catch up. Just as he reaches your side on his way to the front again, praise and reward. This praise once again marks the position your looking for. This method works because dogs normally don’t like to retrace familiar ground as nuch as they like to explore new territory. He learns he can keep you going forward if he does walk ahead of you. He also learns that he gets intermitant treats if he stays by your side.
Method 4-Get behind me method
Step 1-Get the behavior using a treat and hand signal. With your puppy by your side, walk forward and simultaneously throw a treat behind you. As your puppy goes back to retrieve, praise and reward. Whatever side your puppy is on, that’s the hand you use to throw the treat. When you throw the treat behind you, throw it in the space between you and your puppy, not out to the side. Repeat 5-10 times. When is he successful 80% of the time, go to step two.
Step 2-Attach a word to the behavior along with the hand signal-With your puppy at your side, slowly walk forward while simultaneously saying get behind me and throw the treat behind you. Repeat this 5-10 times. Do several sessions of this per day for a week until your puppy really understands what you want.
Step 3-Use the word without the hand signal-When your puppy attempts to get in front of you say get behind me without the hand signal and without throwing the treat. Your puppy will begin searching for the treat behind him. When he does mark and reward. You are now rewarding the behavior rather than luring with the treat. Over time, he will hanging back in anticipation of the occasional treat.
Monks of New Skete
