So, you bought a new puppy and you are now wondering how do I go about leash training the little guy?
Leash training is fairly straight forward, and you should be able to leash train almost any breed of dog fairly quickly, although there are a few exceptions.
Some dogs like the English mastiff or the bullmastiff for example can be really stubborn and require persistence and a little can-do attitude to be successful when leash training or with any obedience training for that matter.
A Basic Guide to Leash Training for Your New Pup
It is important that obedience training and in this specific case, leash training is begun as soon as possible. Ideally you want to begin the leash training process before your new pup even ventures out for their first walk. Your first step should be to acclimatize them to wearing a collar, this can be a strange experience for them as they most likely have never worn one before.
Once they have stopped trying to chew at the collar or scratch it off, it is time to attach the leash to your pup’s collar. From this point you can teach your dog his first commands, such as sit down, or lay down.
Once your pup can perform these commands reasonably for its age, you must then begin the act of walking. This should first be done in your garden or house, to acclimate the dog to the exercise. It is important to teach the puppy how to heel, you should focus on keeping your dog to your side and walking at your pace slightly behind you, this reinforces your position as the “Alpha” so to speak.
If your dog tries to pull on the leash or move ahead of you, you should make it stop or “heel” and sit down thereby ceasing the walk temporarily, this will show your pup that you dictate the pace of the walk and that by pulling the walk will cease to happen.
Once your pup has mastered this to a reasonable extent it is time for you to being leash training your dog to walk correctly outside of your home, this is really important as your pup must get used to the sounds or cars passing by or pedestrians and other dogs walking by.
You should follow the same steps when leash training outside as you did inside, always correct behavior you do not want your pup to perform, such as pulling etc. It is important to make your pup sit and stay before crossing roads and awarding them with treats to reinforce positive behavior such as ignoring the distraction of other dogs, cars or people.
An important point to remember is always to use positive reinforcement when training your puppy/dog, and never to use punishment and this can negatively impact your dog’s behavior.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my basic guide on leash training for more top-tips and guides by me, check out heelboyheel.com