Photo: Doodle standing beside a car
Your puppy is getting really heavy. Lifting her into the car hurts your back. If she gets any bigger, you’re worried you won’t be able to take her on hikes, to the groomer, or to the veterinarian.
There’s another problem too — it’s almost impossible to get her to walk toward your car. She balks. She plants her feet and leans in the completely opposite direction and drags you along with her.
Photo: Boston Terrier pulling on the leash
You feel terrible because you know she’s scared. You feel helpless because you don’t know how to help her through this. And you’re also feeling so embarrassed because your neighbours all seem to have perfectly trained dogs.
If your dog won’t follow you on leash, whether it’s past a construction site, through your neighbourhood when it’s dark outside, into your vehicle, or into the vet’s office, it comes down to leadership and trust. Don’t panic. You can teach your pup to trust you and your leadership skills and have fun doing it.
If your dog has learned to pull, pull, pull on leash walks (towards people she loves, other dogs, and squirrels) you need to work on this first. Your dog has learned that pulling gets them rewards (they pull toward your neighbour and your neighbour pets them and gives them a treat; they pull toward their dog friend and get the reward of roughhousing with their dog friend, etc.)
Have you accidentally taught your dog that pulling on the leash gets them rewards (play time with other dogs, treats from your neighbour, pets from strangers, etc?) Photo: two dogs pulling toward each other on the leash
Your dog has likely also learned that pulling on the leash makes you, their human, follow behind them. From your dog’s perspective, pulling is the correct way to move you forward, because it works.
So how do you change this relationship and teach your dog to follow you on the leash (because you need them to follow you and jump into the car)? There’s no cookie cutter method, but these steps help my clients reach their goals.
Your dog likely gets really excited when you bring out her leash. She may jump on you, be unable to sit calmly, or bite the leash. It’s important to create a new association with the leash. We want to teach her that the leash represents calmness. It is so much easier to walk a calm dog than an overexcited (or anxious) dog. Wait for calmness. You can even set the leash back down and try again a few minutes later. Dogs learn very quickly. Before you know it, your dog will be calm when you pick up the leash.
The next thing you want to work on is teaching your dog to follow you on the leash. I recommend teaching this inside your home first, where there aren’t any squirrels, sticks, or bunny poops around creating distractions. Remember that when you’re teaching your dog to follow you that you need to be calm and relaxed as well. Take a deep breath, tell yourself you can do it, and then walk with your head up and shoulders back and down.
Photo: person walking inside their home with their dog heeling beside them
Another question to ask yourself is: does my dog bolt out the front door ahead of me? If the answer is yes, you’ll want to teach your dog to wait politely at all thresholds (all doorways, crate door, stairwells, and eventually your car door as well.) If you invite your dog outside after you’ve walked through the front door and then provide them with direction (what to do next - sit, stay, heel, etc,) then you’re in the leadership role. The only other available role is follower.
Want to know another activity that helps boost your dog’s confidence and helps them look to you for guidance (remember, we want them to jump in our car when we ask them to)?
The place command. Teaching the place command to your dog teaches you a lot about who your dog is. If your dog also balks at the place cot and refuses to get on, be sure to check out our videos on Instagram and Facebook (at Go Beyond Dog Training) and TikTok (at Beyond Dog Training) to see client dogs overcoming this fear.
By teaching your dog how to step up on an elevated surface (a raised dog bed,) you’ll be showing them that nothing bad happens to them there. You’ll also be showing them that they can trust you to keep them safe. This is the same concept you will be using to teach them to hop into your vehicle.
Not sure what the place command is? Read this blog post: https://beyonddogtraining.ca/news/what-is-the-place-command
Once your dog understands to follow your lead on walks and how to do the place command with you, they will most likely happily jump into the car when you ask.
Once your dog trusts you enough to do this… (Photo: Tilly the Golden Doodle walking onto her place cot beside her owner.)
She will trust you enough to do this. (Photo: Tilly the Golden Doodle hopping into the car for her owner)
Some dogs may require a ramp. You can see lots of videos on our social media with ramps as well. Check out this blog post where we help a fearful puppy over his fear of the car using a ramp: https://beyonddogtraining.ca/news/puppies-and-cars
Remember, you can always rebuild trust between yourself and your dog. It’s not too late. They aren’t too old (and neither are you.)
Have a great weekend, Dog Leaders!
Alyssa
Photos: osher mizrahi @osher_m Doodle standing beside a car; Erik Mclean
@introspectivedsgn (Boston Terrier pulling on the leash,) freestocks
@freestocks (two dogs pulling toward each other on the leash,)
Evieanna Santiago
@evepsf30 (person walking inside their home with their dog heeling beside them,) Alyssa Foulkes (Tilly the Golden Doodle walking onto her place cot beside her owner,) Alyssa Foulkes (Tilly the Golden Doodle hopping into the car for her owner,)