We interviewed certified dog trainers and owners on this topic. Here you will find simple but helpful dog walking tips.
Why teach a dog to walk on a leash is difficult?
1.It is not dog's natural behavior to walk side by side with you.
2. To teach a dog to walk on a leash is very important because it is dog's natural instinct to run whenever they see something exciting
3. Training leash walking is difficult because you consider only your agenda but you do not pay any attention what your dog wants.
How to teach your puppy to walk on a leash?
1. You need to train your puppy to wear collar. Initially, your puppy will not be comfortable but gradually your dog will accept it. You should not remove the collar because your dog is barking. You should remove the collar only when the puppy is not trying to get out of it.
2. You puppy may overwhelm by an entire leash all at once. You should start initially with a string, shoelace and increase the length as your puppy gets used to it.
3. Play with your dog first before you start training him on leash walking. You should start with some fetch game. You should reward your dog for a loose lease. Every time your dog does this, correctly praise him and give a treat.
4. Always ignore bad behavior of your dog and never allow yourself to be pulled by your dog. You should stop whenever your dog pulls you. This will frustrate your dog and it will not pull you. You should practice your puppy walking on leash at least 5 minutes initially.
5. Choke collars are most recommended to communicate your commands to your puppy. You should use this collar only for training and remove this after training. You must train your dog the appropriate action when it feels the collar tightens; slow down or stop.
6. As a dog owner, you need to be very careful because pulling on leash can cause damage to the puppy's throat.
7. Your puppy is not responsible for pulling-on-leash problem. Most of the time, you hold the leash tight and it's a dog's natural response to tight leash is to pull.
8. During leash training you should communicate with your dog through your voice, body language .
