Easiest Way To Leash Train Your Puppy
Do you have a brand new puppy that you want to become a well behaved adult dog? You can get a head start on that by beginning the leash training of your puppy very early on. By six weeks of age my young puppy could already walk on a loose leash. He was already heeling at eight weeks old like an old pro.
If you use this easy method you should get very good results without causing the puppy any anxiety. I have seen other puppies and dogs that hate the leash, and get scared just at the sight of it. If their first experiences with the leash were negative they won’t be happy to see the leash come out.
If you want to know how to begin leash training your new puppy with only positive results, just try the easy techniques that I used to get excellent results.I start the leash training of my puppies this way, and they never undergo any negative experiences with the leash. In fact, they get excited when they see the leash, because they know they are about to go for a walk with Dad.
- Just put the puppy’s little flat collar (not the choke collar yet) on first of all, of course. The puppy should have no problems with the flat collar being put on. Attach the pup’s leash to the collar, but let it lay loose on the ground. You won’t need to keep ahold of the leash at this point. For the first sessions with the leash, let the puppy walk around the house or yard while he does his thing. Try to walk close by and make sure his leash doesn’t get caught up on anything. By keeping the leash from entangling, your puppy will cruise around stress free, hardly noticing he is trailing a leash.
- The following leash training step starts after the puppy is accustomed to cruising around dragging his leash along. Now you should pick the end of the pup’s leash up, but still keep it completely slack. Without trying to control the pup, walk along with him as he checks out the yard. After he is used to walking about loosely on his leash, you can start the next step in leash training your puppy.
- Next you’ll want to teach him to walk without pulling on his leash. Use treats as a reward to encourage your puppy to learn a loose heel while you walk together. If you hold the treat in your left hand it will get the puppy used to the idea of staying by your left side. this is because your pup will walk at your left side when it’s time to heel. Call your puppy over to your side and when he comes over give him lots of praise, affection and a tasty treat as a reward for paying attention. Positively reinforce this correct behavior each time it happens.
- If the puppy isn’t paying attention when you call him over, just give a gentle tug on his leash to get his attention, and let him see you have a treat for him.
- Once you have his attention using a happy tone of voice he’ll come over and you can reward him for listening. It won’t be long before he gets the idea. Even at 6 weeks of age, puppies are already in the learning zone. Stay calm and don’t get frustrated as you begin leash training your puppy. Try not to make it an unhappy time for the puppy when training him. For leash training your puppy, or for future obedience training also, be sure to train your puppy using positive reinforcement training techniques. Dogs will learn a lot faster if you make it fun and rewarding for them while they are in training. I know that always works for me, too.
- Continue the training several times a day until the pup is comfortable walking alongside you with his leash loose. By the time your pup is comfortable walking on a loose leash, he is halfway there to learning how to “heel”. That should be all there is to get started with leash training. Follow this simple lesson, starting with a very young puppy and you will never have a problem putting your dog on his leash for a fun walk.
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