Want a Relaxed Walk on Both Ends of the Leash?

Want a Relaxed Walk on Both Ends of the Leash?

by Katie Bedrossian, Pet Behaviour Consultant

Dogs love to explore and love to sniff. They also love to move faster than we can keep up.

Unfortunately all these natural behaviours often mean your dog is pulling on walks. This not only is frustrating, but can cause damaged joints and muscle strain for you as well as for your dog.

Read on for 5 tips to make your walk more enjoyable for everyone!

1. Pick the right walking equipment. A harness such as the Rogz Control harness with a 1.8m lead attached to the chest ring is ideal for most dogs.
2. When the leash is tight, don’t allow your dog to continue the walk, and prevent access to other dogs, people and smells until the leash is loose again. Try to stop walking before your dog starts pulling.
3. For the first 2-4 weeks of training, if the leash is loose, let your dog sniff a spot for as long as they want (even if it continues for 2 minutes!).
4. Reward eye contact with you. Dogs can’t pull and look at you at the same time.
5. Practise lots at home around your house and backyard. The more your dog practises the right behaviour when they are calm, the quicker they will choose those behaviours on real walks outside of their home.

Keep in mind that loose leash walking takes longer than many behaviours to become reliable due to the different array of distractions presented every walk.

The above is just a snippet of tips and some dogs need the training individually tweaked. For further assistance, please contact us for personalised one-on-one training with Katie. We look forward to helping you on your journey to loose leash walks.