loose leash

[Stacy Deitrich]

Hi everyone, I've really been working with Rosie lately on walking on a loose leash.  Rosie has caught on to most trainings right away... but, this one is really a challenge for both of us.  I do have her in obedience class and that is helping.  But, I'm hoping to get some tips from you all.  What is your best bit of advice to teaching my 9 mo old to walk on a loose leash?  Thanks in advance!

Stacy & Rosie

[Cathie]

When Indy and I first started walking the bike path he pulled so much it was crazy-I just stopped. He had to sit until I said 'walk with me'. He would immediately take off, pulling me again, so we would stop again. It ruined all the fun, so he learned to stay at my pace, still free to look around, sniff at things, discover, but not ripping my arm off. It reminded me of when one of my kids tried climbing out his car seat way-back-when, and I just pulled over and sat there til he got back in. It was a long trip to town that day, but it worked.

[Moe]

What do you guys think of those 16ft retractable leashes? My puppy 16 weeks will run to the end of the 6ft leash. She doesn't pull, she runs ahead then back. On the 6ft leash she keeps running to the end of it. When she is on the 16 ft leash she never hits the end. She will double back at about 12ft. Eventually I'd love for her to learn to heal on a 6ft leash, do you think I'm causing 'Leash Confusion' by using the 16ft leash?

We finished puppy kindergarten and are starting intermediate training in February. I think they cover loose leash and heal in that class.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

I personally don't like the retractable leashes because the do not give you any real control over the dog.  We use 4ft leashes for our walks because I want both of my dogs to walk next to me.  For our training classes we use the 6ft or the longer training leashes (I think ours is 16 or 20ft).

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Retractables are also dangerous, for both the owner and the dog, and are not permitted in any kind of training class to my knowledge.

[Moe]

I should have clarified, when we are on a street with cars I use a 6ft leash, when we walk the trails in the local state park, which is pretty desolate, I use the 16ft retractable, if we are in the woods in the park I let her go with no leash. She is really good when it is time to put the leash back on. I stop at the same spot, say come, sit, put the leash on then give her a treat. Mostly we walk in the park. I would like her to be better on the 6ft leash... I think I'll wait till the Feb. intermediate class then really work on heal and loose leash. It takes a lot of hard work to get a good dog! Or... more likely it takes a lot of work to be a good dog owner. :)

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

Stacy,I worked with Cubbie (a LOT) on not pulling and it took us forever especially when he would get excited about something.  Now at almost 3 years old he walks perfectly with a loose leash.  If we let him walk on a long leash he will get a few feet out infront of us and just stop and wait until we catch up.  I practiced with him a lot but made the most improvement when I taught him "close".  I didn't care if he walked in a heel position, but I didn't want him to pull.  If he was walking nicely I would say "close" and give him a treat.  If he got to far ahead and there was tension in the leash, I would tell him "close" and pull him back and then give him a treat once there was slack in the leash again.  he caught on to that pretty quick and now I only have to say "close" as an occasional reminder to him.