How to train your dog to stop pulling on the leash

Ask Zen Dog Girl clicker training heel how to stop pulling positive reinforcement dog training

How to train your dog to stop pulling on the leash

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Hi!! i love your blogs and posts! so great! question... any suggestion on how to get a huge dog to stop pulling?

(From Megan on Facebook)

Hi! Thanks for writing! It can be pretty frustrating training a dog to not pull, but if you have the right training tools and patience, you'll be able to train him in no time! Do you have an Easy Walk Harness or a Gentle Leader halter yet? If you have an extreme puller I would get the gentle leader. It acts like a horse halter, because you'll have control of your dog's head and and it works like a charm on most dogs. However, some don't like having something strange on their nose and will try to scratch it off so be sure to attach a positive association. Make sure that you use lots of good treats when you put it on and when you walk him around with it for the first time.

You'll also want to get a leash that you can attach around your waist. Make sure it's short enough that he can't walk more than a couple feet ahead of you, but long enough that he can reach down to the ground to smell and check his pee-mail. With the leash around your waist you can stop every time your dog pulls and "be a tree". Wait till your dog calms down and takes the tension off the leash himself and then say, "Good! Ok!" and then take another step. If he pulls either stop and be a tree or turn and go the other way. Make sure that you're walking at a brisk pace because dogs walk along side you a lot better when they're in a "traveling" trotting mode. They are less interested in smelling and pulling you towards something when they're trotting along. It's good if the leash is around your waist because your dog will know the exact length in the leash that he has until it goes taunt. You can help him out a little bit, by making the interrupter kissy noise to get his attention when he starts to reach the end of the leash. You'll be able to get his attention and he'll have to lessen his step to look up at you. If he does drop back to you without ever putting tension on the leash in the first place, click and treat and tell him "Good heel!" every time he's traveling by your side. You want him to start realizing that a tight leash means that you stop and the fun stops. You'll know that he's getting it when he starts to automatically take the tension off himself because he wants to get from point A to point B as fast as possible and he's realized that a tight leash means he goes nowhere. He's probably learned like most dogs that pulling gets him where he wants to go and when he gets to smell the bush he wanted to smell or the other dog down the street. It's like getting a big reward and as a result the pulling behavior will increase and he's going to try pulling even harder next time, which is another reason that it's extremely important to be consistent in stopping every time he pulls. Just like slot machine gamblers, if he gets to win only once in awhile, it'll keep him hooked enough to keep trying.

You can also start teaching him what heel means by clicking and treating him for keeping his head right next to your side. When his head is by your side, click and then treat him right near the seam of your pants. Once he starts realizing that good things happen when his head is near the sweet spot, he'll start cruising right along beside you. When you first start to teach him this, take one step at a time and click and treat him each time.

Then take a couple of steps and click and treat him. Keep doing this until you are only reinforcing him for staying by your side every 50 steps or so and so on. If he's trying to turn sideways and face you, use a wall to keep him parallel to you as you walk, click and treat. If he pulls ahead when you do this, stop and be a tree and wait till he goes back to your side-- don't click and treat though, because he'll be thinking, "I'm going to pull, then stop, then get my treat." You have to be careful of chaining behaviors. Instead, just stop and wait for him to come back to you then tell him, "Good, Ok" and then take another step. If he keeps his head by your side, click and treat. If you are super consistent and patient, he'll be walking wonderfully by your side and he'll know exactly what heel means. And you'll be able to quit the game of tug o' war once and for all!

Happy training!

Peace, Paws and Love,

Zen Dog Girl

Understanding Leash Aggression- Part I

heel leash aggression leash reactivity look loose leash walking positive reinforcement training sit/stay

Understanding Leash Aggression- Part I

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Are you stressed out about taking your dog out for a walk? Do you dread seeing other dogs on the sidewalk? Does your sweet dog turn into a crazy, maniacal, barking, lunging, snarling dog when he catches wind of another dog in the distance? Do you feel nervous, anxious, scared and frustrated on the other end of the leash? You are not alone. Your dog is feeling this way too.

Most leash "aggression" is your dog's response to his natural animal instincts. Animals have a fight or flight response to stressful situations. If a dog is in his natural state of mind- off-leash in a wide open space with the freedom to run and play to his heart's content- he will have the freedom to escape from something that makes him nervous. When dogs are on-leash, they no longer have the freedom to "flee" from a stressful stimulus so instead they have to "fight" and become defensive. Most people say that their dog is a different dog off leash and is well behaved around other dogs. Most likely, your dog is not mean and aggressive, your dog is stressed because he has no way to avoid a confrontation with another dog or person because he is stuck on a leash. For this reason, it's important that you do not label your dog as "aggressive". Instead, think of your dog as being "leash reactive", meaning your dog is reacting to an unnatural stressful situation.

Leashes and sidewalks force dogs to approach each other straight on, which can be read as a challenging, aggressive approach. In a natural setting, if two dogs do not want to interact with one another, they would give each other lots of space by passing each other in a wide arc. Off leash, watch your dog interacting with other dogs and be aware of the distance that dogs give each other in passing. You'll notice that when dogs want to engage, challenge or play with another dog they will hold eye contact and approach each other head on in a straight line. In a park this is normal behavior, but on a sidewalk with leashes, dogs can not continue their interaction normally and they may become stressed. Stressed by not being able to run away, stressed by being choked as they lunge toward the other dog, stressed by your displeasure on the other end of the leash, and stressed by the inevitable tangle of leashes that can make dogs panic. For this reason, it's important to give dogs space and be very aware of body language.

Follow these 10 steps to start walking your dog with happiness and ease:

1) Start at home with limited distractions and make sure that your dog knows all of the basic communication commands- sit, down, stay, touch, and heel

2) Teach your dog the command, "look" so that your dog is comfortable with giving you a lot of eye contact. "Look" should be used to break your dog's fixation and to teach him to look to you as his protector when he is feeling distressed.

3) Really work on heel and loose leash walking so that your dog walks nicely on leash without any pulling or lunging to minimize tension. Choking caused by the collar and leash exacerbates the frustration and distress.

4) Outfit your dog in the appropriate apparatus, either a Gentle Leader or Easy Walk harness depending on the severity of your dog's pulling and barking.

5) Make sure that you have a hands free leash that snaps around your waist. This small change can make all of the difference because you won't be able to give your dog any cues by tightening up the leash when you see a dog.

6) Load up a treat pouch with two types of high reward treats like soft dog treats like dried liver, chopped chicken or string cheese that can be fed to your dog quickly and in tiny pieces.

7) Be very aware of your surroundings, your dog's body language and the distance that your dog can tolerate other dogs before a freak out.

8) Practice sit/stays and "look" with your dog on all of your walks together. It's important for your dog to be in tune with you and mentally stimulated. The sit/stays will increase your dog's focus on you and will teach him to stay calm even with distractions around. You want to be able to tell your dog what you want him to do instead of leaving it up to him to react in the way that he naturally wants to.

9) Train your own brain to stay positive and happy whenever you see another dog. Lose all of the negative, frustrated, embarrassed, stressful feelings because your dog will read it all over your body. Force yourself to smile and use a happy voice with your dog. Shower your dog with praise and rewards whenever your dog is around another dog and behaves really nicely.

10) Be your dog's protector and build up your dog's confidence around other dogs. If you react negatively to the situation, you will only fuel the fire because your dog will think that the sight of another dog makes you angry with him. Your job is to create a very positive association for your dog with other dogs. Instead of thinking, "Oh no a dog!", you and your dog want to start thinking, "Oh good a dog!". By rewarding your dog for good calm behavior and keeping his focus on you, he will start to associate other dogs with goodies. Your goal is for your dog to look at another dog and to look at you with a wag of his tail. Wouldn't that be nice?!

Stay tuned for Part II of "Understanding Leash Aggression". We've just gotten started!