Read on to learn how to stop this (Photo: large dog pulling on the leash)
Right now, walking your dog is a struggle. Not only do you dread walking your dog, sometimes you just don’t go. It’s that bad.
Here’s a few of the things you’ve had to live through:
Your dog stopped suddenly, sending you to physiotherapy for your shoulder.
Your dog tripped you and you broke your hip.
Your significant other has to walk your dog because he pulls you off your feet.
The other day, your dog dragged you into the street and you almost got hit by a car.
Not to mention how embarrassing it is to be “that crazy person with her out-of-control dog” that people cross the street to get away from.
This doesn’t feel very fun. Read on. You can do this! (Photo:woman covering her face with her hands in embarrassment)
It’s time to stop being injured by your dog. It’s also time to prevent both of you from getting hit by a car.
So how do you teach your dog to stop pulling on the leash?
The question for so many of you isn’t the how, it’s where. Let me explain why.
You know how to teach your dog to heel. You’ve either watched a lot of Youtube videos, trainers on Instagram, or you’ve been trained by yours truly in person. The struggle for almost all of my clients is to stop trying to teach their dog to heel in distracting environments.
For example, if your dog is reactive to other dogs (lunging, barking, whining, pulling toward them,) you should not try to teach your dog how to heel around these distractions. For all of you who like to geek out on lingo, the other dogs would be called “competing motivators.” Other examples of competing motivators in this example would be the wonderful smells outdoors, squirrels, bunny poo, geese, bikes, etc.
Even if your dog is not reactive and you simply want to teach them how to follow you on leash and not pull, you should teach this in a distraction-free environment.
The same goes for brand new puppies. Teach them new things in an area that has as few distractions as possible (like your hallway, living room, or kitchen) and then slowly add the distractions in.
This does not mean you’re going to live inside your house and never go outside with your puppy/dog, but you are going to practice heeling a lot inside your home before expecting your puppy/dog to heel past a bunch of distractions (bikes, other dogs, rabbits, birds, strollers, garbage trucks, soccer players, etc.)
This is what you’re working toward…(Photo: woman heeling with her dog. Her dog is looking up at her. Great engagement!)
And this is where you begin teaching your dog how to walk nicely on the leash (Photo: white and brown dog sitting in a living room. He is wearing a cute bowtie)
If your dog is reactive, don’t set them up for failure by taking them to narrow trails. Set them up for success by teaching them how to heel in a distraction-free environment (your house) and then building up to heeling in your backyard, in your driveway (when there are no triggers around,) and in an empty parking lot.
You need to stop skipping steps and going on busy trails where you feel you have to wrap your dog’s leash around a post or a tree and pray no other dog gets close. Off-leash dogs are everywhere nowadays. Don’t set your dog up to fail. Being wrapped around a tree prevents flight. Your dog’s only option is fight (if the other dog ignores his avoidance signals.)
There’s a reason we don’t send children to Wonderland every day for school. It’s hard to learn new things when you’re overstimulated.
Not the easiest place to learn your times tables or memorize lines for a play ;) (Photo: people on a rollercoaster)
Would you expect your child to learn a new song on the piano when the television and the radio are on?
Would you try to teach your child her times tables while you’re at the beach while all the other kids are playing in the water and making sand castles?
Have you ever been to a continuing education class for work? Those usually take place in a classroom setting, not outside during a fireworks display. Even small distractions can disrupt our learning. A great example of this is when there are people in the workshop who are whispering to each other instead of paying attention.
Just like us, dogs and puppies have an easier time learning new things where there’s not a lot of distractions going on.
Set your dog up for success by teaching them to follow you in a calm, quiet environment with as few distractions as possible first, before teaching it around huge outdoor distractions.
When you teach your dog in this way, you’ll find it fun and relaxing. When you try to heel through an off-leash area with your reactive dog before they are ready and before you are ready, you’ll feel stress. Stress travels right down your leash.
Ditch the stress and have fun with your dog instead.
Need help teaching your dog to be calm and follow you on walks instead of pulling?
Schedule your free call here: https://beyonddogtraining.ca/take-action
It’s time to enjoy your walks again.
it’s time to enjoy your walks again. Dream big. (Photo: person heeling their dog beside lots of sunflowers)
Happy training, Dog Leaders!
Alyssa
Photos by: Sumeet Singh @rolcye (large dog pulling on the leash,) Julia Taubitz
@schwarzeweissheitenfotografie (woman covering her face with her hands in embarrassment,) Jenn Simpson
@sassygreenboots (woman heeling with her dog. Her dog is looking up at her. Great engagement!) André Noboa @andrenoboa (white and brown dog sitting in a living room. He is wearing a cute bowtie.) Stephen Hateley @shateley (people on a rollercoaster,) Delphine Beausoleil @dbeausoleil (person heeling their dog beside lots of sunflowers)