Pulling on the lead is one of the most common behaviour problems that owners experience when walking their dog and can be challenging when they are strong! 

• Dogs naturally walk faster than humans 
• Dogs are instinctively motivated to investigate smells, people, other animals and their surroundings. 
• Dogs can pull on lead when they are excited, frustrated, anxious or have energy 

Think from the dogs perspective, what if you needed to go to the toilet really bad, could smell something delicious and you were walking with someone who walked half the pace of you? It’s understandable why a dog wants to get somewhere quicker! 

Dogs can learn to walk safely and walk on a loose lead rather than pulling.

• Get a well fitted harness that your dog is comfortable wearing
• Always take a treat pouch with high value treats 
• A longer leash - they naturally will walk faster 
• Reinforce and reward the behaviour you want to see 
• Go on quieter walks. Less distractions = less pulling 
• Allow your dog to sniff - this is more enriching than a walk for them 

It is very important that we avoid using aversive equipment at all costs such as; choke chains, prong collars, tightening "no-pull" harnesses, or head halters. 

While these tools may reduce pulling temporarily, they do not teach loose-lead walking and can cause pain, discomfort, or frustration. This may damage your relationship with your dog, increase stress or reactivity, or may simply result in your dog learning to pull through the pressure

Loose lead walking involves a lot of practice in a distraction free environment such as in the front yard. Once your dog can loose lead walk reliably in the front yard you can then move to practicing this exercise in an environment with more distractions, such as the driveway and street.

1. Place your dog on a lead
2. Take a step back and when your dog follows you say ‘yes’ and reinforce
3. After a few successful sessions, you can start taking a few steps forward and as your dog moves with you say ‘yes’ and reinforce
4. Slowly increase the number of steps you take between saying ‘yes’ and reinforcing with a treat
5. Add in turning around and heading in the opposite direction and increasingly longer stretches of walking

** Only mark & reinforce with a treat when the lead is loose!

Please see hand target training before trying this exercise. 

1. Place your dog on a lead
2. Take a step back and offer your dog your hand, when they touch your hand say ’yes’ and reinforce with a treat, change direction (to the side/forwards) and repeat
3. After a few successful sessions, you can start taking a few steps forward and as your dog moves to touch your hand say ’yes’ and reinforce with a treat
4. Slowly increase the number of steps you take between saying yes and reinforcing with a treat when they move towards your hand
5. You can now start to fade out the hand target and start to reinforce check ins
6. Every couple of steps mark and reward any check ins, to help this process you can also prompt them with their name to help build focus in the initial stages
7. If your dog does begin to pull, stop and ask them to move in the opposite direction as the lead loosens again on the way back to you mark and reward the behaviour
8. Once they can reliably walk 10-15 meters or so with a loose lead, add in turning around and heading in the opposite direction and increasingly longer stretches of walking

** Only mark & reinforce with a treat when the lead is loose!

Check ins simply means that your dog looks to you for information. We want to reward this behaviour and encourage our dogs to look to us for guidance in situations in which they may be worried, unsure of what to do or if they need something from us. It is also very useful for training loose lead walking. 

1. Grab some high value treats and place your dog on lead
2. Watch your dog and every time they look at you mark ‘yes’ and reinforce with a treat
3. Start in low distraction environments, such as practicing this around the house and backyard
4. Practice out on walks