Loose leash walking.
When we walk our dogs, we tend to be guilty of putting our headphones in and listening to music, or get stuck talking to a friend we’re exercising with among many other things. Remember, the world is a much more interesting place for our dogs than what it is for us humans being able to smell, hear and see more. This is why pulling tends to occur, dogs become so excited to check everything out. Dogs sniffing on walks is our equivalent to scrolling through facebook, they gather astonishing amounts of information about the world around them through their nose. Us humans receive so much stimulation in our day through work, driving our phones, there’s so much to do in a day! Dog’s essentially wait for us to come home, and so walks easily become really overstimulating for them.
They key to loose leash walking is engagement. If we can find a way to be stimulating for our dogs they are far more likely to engage with us on walks. What’s more than that is we need to be reinforcing this as it happens because they are making the choice to engage with us rather than the big wide world that means more to their senses than ours.
Check Ins -
When walking your dog encourage them to check in with you by voicing engaging noises. Mark and reinforce when they turn towards you or make eye contact with you.
Avoid calling your dogs name over as this can become annoying for the dog. Balance out check ins with exploring as not to hound the dog - no pun intended! When your dog starts to voluntarily check in with you, mark and reinforce. As your pup does this more often you can start to encourage them less.
You will usually start with a regular schedule of reinforcement but can quickly move to an irregular schedule.
U Turns -
When walking, place a treat on your dogs nose making a u-turn towards with your hand, luring them into you. Moving backwards, mark and reinforce as your dog follows. Practice this.
When your dog starts performing the u-turn independently and reliably, start to add the verbal cue ‘let’s go’ as you complete the u-turn and move backwards, still marking and reinforcing straight after you’ve voiced the verbal cue.
Eventually your dog will learn the verbal cue ‘let’s go’ and simply move with you when this is said.
Heel foundations for loose leash walking -
When walking your dog, offer your rewards from the same side consistently and have your treat pouch or treats from your pocket on this side also. This creates value in that side and your dog will be more likely to return there or walk in this spot beside you.
Regularly rotate your around to your chosen side, moving that leg out to give you room to lure them around, and moving them back in with you.
Reward as close to your body as possible to encourage them to be on your chosen side and close to you.
If confused, please refer to the following video regarding heel foundation skills. Please note, other videos by this trainer have not been investigated, please refer to only this singular video rather than the channel.
Walks can easily become overwhelming for both the human and the dog with all this training, so consider taking shorter walks more often for better performance.
