Yesterday, the puppies took their first walk on a leash. This is such an important skill, yes, I wrote skill, for them to learn, again, to learn. This does not come naturally to puppies. It is a behavior to be taught just like sitting. It is an easy behavior to train.
With all training, it must be consistent and positive. A simple slip lead is best to use. There is a correct way and an incorrect way to use a slip lead. These leads are best purchased online. Chewy.com has a wide variety.
The lead should be positioned to resemble the letter P when placed around the animal’s head. It also works best if you have the dog on your left side.
A trick to this type of lead is to have the circle created by the looped area positioned high on the dog’s neck, just under the ears. This will require little if no tightening of the loop to ensure your pup walks and doesn’t pull.
If you want you may just also add a choke chain to a clip leash. But then you have to deal with buying multiple chains to fit the neck of your pup as it grows. So, using the basic fabric slip lead is easier for this stage.
I also discourage using a harness on your dog. This type of “collar” encourages pulling. Think of sled dogs. They pull heavy objects long distances. They wear harnesses. This allows them to pull continuously without experiencing any discomfort. Now, think of you walking your pup and they notice they can pull and pull with no problem. You walk has now become very unpleasant.
With learning to walk on the leash, you are also able to train the pup to recognize their name.
We start by making this a group activity. I know that we are unable to get too many persons together at this time, but a close family member that is already in your home will do the trick. If you are going to be training alone, that is just fine also.
Put the slip lead on your pup and immediately give them words of praise, pet them, play with them a bit, even give them a treat. This positive play will now be associated with the lead being worn. If you have someone with you, they should have another leash that you have clipped something, a dog toy or even just a piece of fabric, to so that they may drag it in front of the pup. This will encourage your pup to follow the object being dragged out of curiosity.
After doing this for a bit, try letting the pup just wander around while on the lead, you are still holding the other end. Every once in a while, take a treat and put it to their nose and then bring it up to your face while simultaneously saying the pup’s name. If they even look at you for half a second, give them the treat immediately.
Make sure to only train for very short amounts of time. They are puppies and small periods of training multiple times a day is more than enough to build the behavior.
