Leash Walking Gear - Managing Unwanted Behavior
Any leash walking tool you use - body harness, flat collar, head halter, prong collar, choke chain, slip leash - is designed to manage a problem, typically pulling on leash.
What we choose to walk our dogs with comes down to our individual education on dog training tools, what we are comfortable using, and the problem we are trying to address.
Reliance on tools is where dog owners & trainers often fall short. We use a tool that works to manage the pulling but we don’t teach our dog what to do instead. When used correctly, management can lead to a problem behaviors begin extinguished, but it is often a slow and unpredictable journey. Teaching what we would like the dog to do is going to get you much greater results and have a more lasting effect on your dog’s behaviors.
Commonly, I hear people say that their dog walks great when they use tool X, but when tool X is not on the dog they are back to pulling on leash. All this says to me is that you have been managing a problem, but not teaching toward a solution.
My goal is to use management tools (harness, head halter, and flat collars are the only tools I choose to use) WHILE I am teaching my dogs to walk with me, then I want to fade out those extra management tools as quickly as I can. Ultimately, I want to walk my dogs on their flat collar and a 6 foot leash.
For my dogs, Nellie is now walked on her flat collar and a regular 6 foot leash. We started out on a harness, then transitioned once she learned that walking with me earned her the rewards she loves. She does not pull on her neighborhood walks at all anymore. Mango is now walked on a Gentle Leader. He is a young, strong, teenage dog who often gets overly stimulated on walks, so being able to control his head is a big win for me and allows me to teach him more quickly. We spent time conditioning him to the head halter and now he readily accepts it and is learning how to walk with me like his older sister. Once I am happy with his leash walking skills, we will fade out the head halter and transition to his flat collar.
Regardless of which tools you choose to use with your dog, it is important that you realize that the dog is who decides what is aversive, not you. If your tool of choice is not helping you in the teaching process, it is time to try something else. Proper use of our tools and excellent teaching is the recipe for fantastic leash walking with your four-legged friend!
Let Them Sniff
In today’s busy world, us humans often hurry so quickly from one task to the next that we don’t notice the little (or big!) things along the way. As dogs have become a larger part of our lives, they have suffered from this rushed lifestyle we live…
Meals are no longer a foraging and searching event, instead they are a gobble it down as quickly as possible so we can move on to the next thing.
Midday naps are no longer a time to rest and refresh, instead they are interrupted with our hustle and bustle throughout the house (not to mention the phone noise from us snapping a few adorable pictures along the way).
Walks are no longer a leisurely exploration of the environment, instead they are a race to complete your two mile loop as quickly as possible.
Now imagine if someone forced you to work even harder and longer without any breaks to enjoy what you like - that would be the worst, right?! Well, this is basically what we have done to our dogs on their walks…
I’m 100% guilty of this myself. With Nellie, we use to hike and enjoy nature. She was free to explore, find all the critters, and get in the extra steps that she needs to meet her goals. But, somewhere along the way, we lost this exploration mindset and walks turned into a mission to get from point A to point B, all along a straight, paved sidewalk.
With that decrease in exploration came some unwanted behaviors. There was leash pulling, frustration (from both of us), and the ever dreaded reactions to other dogs. Walks had become a chore that I no longer had any interest in and I blamed Nellie for that.
Only within the past few months have I really made an effort to improve our walks again. I stopped blaming Nellie for her behaviors and instead found ways I could help her be more successful! (I mean who am I to tell her she isn’t allowed to chase the squirrels now, when she has been allowed to do that her whole life.)
I have made a point to slow our walks down, enjoy our neighborhood, and refresh our teamwork while she is on leash.
With a few simple changes, our walks in the neighborhood are great again! I allow Nellie the time to sniff, explore, and squirrel watch and she gives me her attention when I ask for it.
If you and your dog have been struggling on walks, allow them more time to sniff and enjoy their environment. Sniffing lowers a dog’s heart rate and is calming. The more they are allowed to use their strongest sense, the more they will thank you for it on your walks!
Now get outside with your dog, and notice all the beautiful nature you have been missing along the way!
