The image of walking your dog is iconic, but it is something that must be trained into our pets. January is Walk Your Dog Month, and as many families have new puppies after the holidays we wanted to provide tips on how to leash train your dogs and offer some recommendations of some of the best equipment out there. 

Walking on a leash is not natural behavior for dogs, despite how widely-established the idea is. It requires intentional and personalized training for them. The good news is, dogs are eager to learn and some can pick it up as easily as they do potty training. 

Tips For Leash Training Dogs

There are a few things you can do to make sure you and your pet remain safe during leash training by following a few key points.

• Start Small – Dogs can learn new tricks at any age, but we recommend that if you want to really get the most out of walking your dog, that you start leash training them at a young age, as soon as you get them home.
  
• Train Key Behaviors First – There are a lot of other behaviors we look to utilize when walking a dog. Be sure your pet understands the basics before you dive in.
  
• Try Clicker Training – Rewards and cues are very beneficial to helping your dog know what to expect and how to act.
  
• Get the right Gear – Safety first! Make sure to have the proper equipment for leash training and walking your dog.

With patience, proper training, and proper gear, you and your dog will soon be a fantastic walking pair!

Start Small

Although false in the context of dogs as adult dogs are often easier to train than younger canines, the old idiom states, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. There is a lot of benefit to starting to leash train your pups early. Though puppies may have very short attention spans, you can start teaching key behavioral commands as early as eight weeks. Starting early teaches you and your dog a method of communication that can last the lifespan of the pup. Those key obedience commands will really help you toward building trust for leash training. Familiarizing your pup with their collars, harness, and leashes early and in a variety of settings will really help associate positive experiences with the gear.

Train Key Behaviors

There is a great deal of desired behaviors that go into what we imagine makes a good walking experience for us with our dog. Many of those behaviors required for an ideal walk are things that need to be learned prior to attempting to leash train, let alone experience the perfect walk. Your dog should understand basic commands such as “Sit” “Wait” “Come” “Leave It” “Step Up” or “Leash” long before you enforce ideal walking behaviors. These small commands can help make the walking experience that much easier for you both to get through without headache or injury.

Try Clicker Training

Clicker training uses a unique noise to bridge the time between the dogs positive behavior and the owner’s ability to reward. This is a form of positive reinforcement meaning it associates the desired behavior with a reward. Positive reinforcement really works with dogs. Focusing on rewarding the dog’s actions really teaches them to repeat behaviors to get what they want, often a treat or a reward. Clickers can not only help make a dog more likely to repeat a desired action in the future, but aids in telling the dog what to do and what they did that it was good. 

Clicker training can be especially powerful for training during walks. Using the clicker on walks, especially after you’ve established the positive tie with the sound when your dog is behaving well can really help train the dog to understand which specific actions are good. Imagine doing so on key behaviors such as walking by your side, keeping the leash loose, staying put, and coming close.

Get the Right Gear

Dogs come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and so does the gear for walking them. Be sure to measure your dog carefully and consider their build, and temperament when looking at gear. Although there seems to be aisle after aisle of gear made for walking your dog and it might be daunting to research on your own, we’ve gone ahead and made a list of the ideal gear to consider when leash training most breeds. 

• Gentle Leaders – Also known as Headcollars, gentle leaders can stop your dog from pulling or choking on their walks. Works with all sizes, but we most recommend use with Medium and Large types that are prone to pulling, lunging, or jumping.
  
• Harness – We recommend the front, no-pull, type harnesses. These harnesses discourage pulling, can act like a seatbelt, and will not choke or gag your dog all while promoting casual walking.
  
• Slip Collar – Although we recommend collars mostly for keeping track of your dog’s tags and not for walking, the slip collars can reduce a dog’s ability to remove them. Ideal for large dogs.
  
• Martingale Collar – Alternative to a choke collar, and designed for daily wear these collars are safer than choke collars for stopping a dog from removing them.

What to Avoid when Leash Training

There are dangers all around, especially in the unknown of a walk. We’ve made a list of activities and gear to steer clear of when training or walking your dog to help avoid injury to you or your pet.

Behaviors and Tools to Avoid Using

• Retractable leashes
• Leashes longer than six feet
• Pulling, yanking, or jerking the leash
• Pinch, prong, choke, or shock collars
  

Additional Resources

Training Your Dog to Walk on a Leash – Key points and troubleshooting from The American Kennel Club. 
Using Clicker Training to Communicate With Your Dog – Learn more about clicker training from The American Kennel Club.