One of the first challenges faced by most dog owners is how to potty train our new puppy. The second big challenge is how to leash train our hyper young dog, without incurring any bodily injury whenever a squirrel decides to dash up a tree.
Even though walking a dog is often portrayed as a Zen moment that is both peaceful and enjoyable, the reality of the situation is often not quite so perfect. In fact, leash training a puppy is probably one of the more challenging aspects of dog training.
When our puppy is out on a walk, he is exposed to a lot of new stimuli, including new sights, sounds, and smells. Everything will be very exciting, even leaves flying in the wind and he will want to chase, smell, and see all of it at top speed. That is part of the joy of spending time with a puppy; sharing the excitement, joy, and wonder of youth.
However, all that excited energy can also cause crazy pulling, barking, jumping on people, and sometimes aggression. Here, we consider some of the key leash training ingredients that will help make dog walking into a fun, relaxing, and enjoyable experience.
Putting on a Collar
In the beginning, a puppy will be unfamiliar with collars and leashes. He may get apprehensive about having something new around his neck, and the weight of the leash may feel strange. My Shiba Inu was very sensitive to wearing collars during puppyhood. When we tried to put one on him on the first day, he tried to bite us, as well as the breeder’s husband.
From the puppy’s point of view, having some unknown person put a strange object on a vulnerable part of his body must seem extremely dangerous.
One of the best ways to start the leash training experience right, is to slowly desensitize our puppy to the collar. Help him learn that the collar is a positive thing that gets put on before a fun outing. Here is how I desensitized my dog to wearing a collar –
- First, I get some food that my dog really likes. Then I ask him for a Sit, show him the collar and reward.
- I keep repeating this until he gets comfortable and is looking forward to seeing the collar.
- Next, I briefly touch my puppy with the collar and treat him for staying calm. I repeat until he is comfortable with this new step.
- Then, I drape the collar on his neck and reward. I repeat until he is relaxed and comfortable.
- I continue doing a little more each time so that the collar becomes more and more familiar, in a positive way.
- If I observe any kind of stress from my dog, I back off, and go back to the previous step. This ensures that collar training sessions are always fun and rewarding.
Note that the snap sound made when fastening a collar can sometimes startle a dog. A useful added step, is to have some snap sessions. First I snap the collar without it being on my dog’s neck, treat, and so on. Later, when I snap the collar around his neck, he will already be comfortable with the sound.
In the collar desensitization process, make sure to always go slowly and not overtax our puppy. Remember that the main idea is to get our dog comfortable with the collar and help him associate it with something positive. Do not force the collar on because he will start to associate it with a negative experience, and will likely fight us every time he sees the collar.
Putting on a Leash
Some dogs may also be uncomfortable with the feel and weight of a leash. When I first got my puppy, I would fasten a light leash onto his collar, let him move around, and play with the leash on. While using a drag-lead –
- I make sure I am around to supervise.
- I use a flat collar and *not* an aversive collar. An aversive collar such as a choke chain or a prong collar can cause physical harm to a dog when not properly used. They should not be used with a drag lead or when a dog is off-leash.
- I ensure that the leash does not get caught on any furniture or fixtures.
When my puppy is comfortable with the light leash, I may play with him and occasionally pick up the lead during play. This will help him to associate being linked to me through the leash, as something fun and positive. Next, I use a heavier leash and so on.
In general, I start small, pair the leash and collar with positive experiences, and very slowly increase the challenge one step at a time.
Dog Walking Speed
Most dogs, especially larger dogs, will naturally walk faster than we do. In leash training, we want to get our dogs to reduce their natural walking speed so that their much slower two-legged companions can keep up.
An effective way to get a dog to slow down is to teach him the following –
The fastest way to get to where he wants to go, is by slowing down and walking with us.
When my dog starts to pull, and the leash gets taut, I no-mark (Ack, Ack) and stop walking. Initially, my puppy continued to pull and even tried to pull harder to get forward. However, I just calmly ignored him and stood still.
As soon as he stops pulling, I start moving forward. In this way, he learns the following lesson –
- Pull = We stop moving,
- Don’t Pull = Get to go where he wants to go.
For this method to work, it is important to be very consistent with our starts and stops. I do not let my dog pull sometimes, but not at other times. This will encourage our dog to pull even more because the next pull may cause us to give in and to move forward. I always make sure to stop as soon as the leash gets taut, and start again once the leash is loose.
In the beginning, I had to stop very often and did not get very far from my front door. But I kept at it and made sure that I consistently stopped every time there was any pulling. My puppy quickly learned that it is in his best interest to slow down and walk with me because if he does, he gets more freedom, he gets to choose his favorite smell spots, and he also gets to stop to smell the roses.
As with everything else, I set my dog up for success by starting small and taking things one step at a time. Initially, I would practice leash training inside the house. The house environment is more familiar to a puppy, it is safe, and low stimulus. In this way, we can both focus on walking together at a measured pace, without pulling.
Once he is comfortable with walking on-leash inside the house, then we move to the backyard and practice there. Each successful session will help to build his confidence, as well as teach him to associate leash training with being calm and having a fun outing.
Here is a list of other leash training methods, together with their pros and cons.
I do not walk my puppy in the neighborhood until after he has had all of his vaccination shots.
Young puppies are especially vulnerable when out on walks because they want to explore everything and still have developing immune systems. Therefore, they can easily pick up germs and parasites from contaminated water or poop from other dogs and wild animals.
I do early dog socialization by going to puppy class or puppy play sessions in daycare centers. I make sure that both places check for health and vaccination records, and are clean, well-run, and well supervised.
Leash Training – Greeting People & Dogs
Another challenging part of leash training is what to do when our puppy gets over-excited because he sees new people, new dogs, or a squirrel running up a tree. How excited a dog gets and how much he pulls will depend on the dog’s temperament and prey drive.
Dogs with high prey drive will frequently go rear-brain when they spot any nearby prey, especially if the prey is moving. Once this occurs, the dog starts reacting based on instinct, and is no longer able to listen to commands, or redirect onto food or toys. At this point, I can only move my dog away to a more quiet area, where he can calm down.
Therefore, the key is to be vigilant and take action *before* our dog switches to instinct mode. If we catch things early enough, we can teach our dog to stay calm and to use the right behaviors while greeting people and other dogs.
Remember that distance is our friend.
My Siberian Husky gets very excited when people give her any kind of attention, including just eye contact. Usually I just cross the street and move on. When this is not possible, I move into a driveway and engage her in doing simple commands. This creates space between my Sibe and the passing people and ensures that she does not invade other people’s space unless invited to.
Some other steps I take to deal with meeting people and other dogs –
- Slowly desensitize my puppy to people and other dogs.
- Be vigilant and engage my dog in alternate activities (e.g. obedience exercises) before he gets over-excited and goes read-brain,
- Always be calm and decisive, so that my dog learns to be calm and look to me for direction.
Leash Training Supplies
When people think of dog walking supplies, they usually think about the collar and lead. My favorite collar is the no-slip Premier martingale collar, which I use together with a nice leather leash.
Leather leashes may be a bit more expensive but they are easy on the hands, durable, and are secure even under heavy pulling. Make sure the metal clasp on the leash is high quality and well-built. Most nylon leashes I have gotten tend to have small clasps that break open whenever there is any serious pulling.
In addition to collar and leash, here are some other important leash training supplies –
- I make sure to bring enough water. A dog water bottle is great because it contains a bottle of water as well as a fitted bowl for easy drinking.
- I bring some treats or rewards with me so that I can practice obedience exercises during walks.
- I always have several poop bags available and scoop up after my dog. Leaving poop on the sidewalk and on other people’s lawns dirties the neighborhood, makes walking unpleasant, encourages dog poop eating, as well as gets people angry at all dogs and dog owners. Ultimately, it may even lower property prices. Therefore, it pays to take care of our neighborhood by picking up after our dog.
Hi, shibashake!
Thank you for all the all the invaluable advice and support I have got on your site ever since I started researching the ideal puppy for me and then learning more about my choice. Thanks for telling me about positive training and so much information on dogs, puppies and, of course, humans. I couldn’t have made it so far without your help.
I now have an adorable nine months-old Shiba, Benji. He is all I dreamed of and rather more. I enrolled us in a training class as soon as I could, when Benji was 12 weeks old and we have continued ever since. (I need all the help I can use, as a first-time dog-owner and Shiba-owner.) Mostly, training has worked well considering. I make mistakes, I correct them and we gradually progress.
But one thing that seems not to work out or even progress is getting Benji to walk with a loose leash. Whatever I have tried, nothing works.
I tried stopping when Benji pulls. He would pull regardless, then sit, while whining all the time. When we could walk on, then he pulled some more, ad infinitam. Every time we went out (we live in an appartment, so it was really often, at the beginning), relentlessly. A new trainer eventually put us on the 180-degree system (since the beginning of December). Benji is quite happy to turn as often as I want, but he just keeps pulling just the same. Or he pulls in a completely other direction. For a while he even refused treats until I started varying them more frequently. And he doesnt whine this way.
Lately, the trainer has introduced 2 commands, “Go on!”, when he can pull all he wants and “Slowly!”, when he is supposed to walk by me, sort of. Mostly it is “Go on” with two or three “Slowly” lessons over a 40 minute walk. After 30 seconds up to 90 seconds and a lot of treats, he’s fed up.
Note that in the appartment, he walks beautifully for me and even heels perfectly if he gets enough treats, so it’s not a question of not understanding. He just doesn’t care, once we are on the street. Anything is more interesting than walking with me.
Have you seen a case of a dog/puppy refusing ever to walk on a loose leash, even with training and a lot of consistence? Or is it just a case of waiting until one day, in the far future, Benji decides that all walks are a little boring?
Hello Jacquie,
Does he pull in response to something – e.g. another dog, a cat, people, noise? Or does he pull as soon as he is out the door? What is his daily routine like? Is he good about following house rules? Do you practice door manners before you leave?
With my Shiba, I have found that practicing door manners is very helpful. In this way, I ensure that he is in a somewhat calm state before we leave the house. It also gets him used to following commands and listening to me before we leave. During initial training, I practice walking him in the house first, then we do door manners, and we only leave when he is calm and willing to listen. This gets him into a good state of mind.
At the start, we go for shorter but more frequent walks. I only go to more quiet areas, so that the environmental challenge is not too great and Sephy can control his excitement. I am more strict with him at the start of the walk, and I slowly give him more freedom for good behavior. Being closer to home also means that I can quickly end the walk if need be.
I try to set Sephy up for success as much as I can. The more successful walks we have, the more confident we both become, and the more “the walk” becomes part of his routine.
With my Shiba, it was about finding the right motivator to get him to stop certain behaviors. Sephy is naturally very stubborn, and he will try to do whatever he wants if he can. For example, during walks, he learned that he could start leash biting. Initially, I did not have a good way of stopping the behavior, so he just did whatever he wanted. I tried lots and lots of different things, and finally found that the best way to deal with this is to march him quickly home. In this way, he learned that if he leash bites, the really awesome walk ends. Since he really values his walks, he stopped biting on the leash.
I have found that ending the walk is a very effective consequence for all my dogs, and I also use it to stop poop eating behavior. Eating poop and leash biting are two absolute no-nos and will result in an instant march home. With pulling, it depends.
If a cat suddenly jumps out of nowhere, and that gets my dog over-excited, I really can’t blame him. It is a very unexpected thing, and their instinct is naturally to give chase. Squirrels running around also get them excited. I try to desensitize them as much as I can to exciting outside stimulus, so that they learn to stay calm and to control their impulses in the presence of other dogs, cats, squirrels, etc.
In general, my strategy is always to set everything up to maximize success. However, if necessary, I will end the walk if my dog is unwilling to walk properly. In this way, my dogs learn that if they cannot follow walk rules, then the walk ends.
Thanks a lot for your thoughtful reply of the 12th.
Benji is moderately respectful of the house rules, unless he thinks I can’t see him or he has not been played with enough or both.
He waits for the front door of the flat. He struggles to wait for the elevator. Lots of treats are required. Then he lunges out of the elevator like a train, to the downstairs hall and the corridor past the cellars to the street door; at least if I don’t stop him by doing many 180-turns. I insist of those and the “slowly” command plus treats because many of the other residents are a bit unsteady on their legs, careful of their stockings or just afraid of dogs generally. Eventually, we get there… But he’s not getting better with time!
What gets his attention? Absolutely everything – clumps of vegetation, lampposts, trees, corners of gateposts, parking meters of course, but almost all of them; other dogs, even on the other side of street and far away, cars, trucks, pedestrians, children, birds, planes, barges on the river, workers unloading their gear, stationary bikes and motorcycles, you name it… He has a severe case of ADHD, and that’s just in our familiar neighbourhood. Anywhere else, like puppy class or the dog park and he’s unbearable. Thankfully, cats, rabbits and squirrels are in short supply and he doesn’t try to chase cyclists, I expect because he is always on a leash. Thankfully too, he is not particularly fearful, rather the contrary. But he is always alert and and compulsive about sniffing up new things.
He generally demand his ball sooner or later, and will chase it sporadically but just has to check up on a molehill or a piece of paper or whatever and forgets it until he realises that I might capture it if he’s not careful (excellent memory). He’s
much, much too busy for a game of Fetch.
On your advice, I have up the number of walks and shorten their time. I have also enforced more discipline at the doors and elevator. But so far I have not seen any evidence that Benji is bothered when I take him back home if he doesn’t comply with my rules for walks, and believe me, I have tried many times in the past. As to shortening the leash, he seems not to care, until I have it almost to the harness, and then he throws a tantrum. I try that too.
Thank you again for all your time and your advice. I ‘ll keep watching shibashake, of course, and when Benji shows any progress, I’ll post you again.
Hi, I have been loving your website, the resources you have provided have been so coherently organized and user friendly! I have just purchased a Shiba Inu boy from a breeder, and am trying to get as knowledgeable as I can before he is ready to come home in a couple weeks.
I am pretty familiar with larger dogs, but I am finding myself at a loss in this area. Forgive me if this answer has already been addressed – I tried skimming through comments but it seems that there are many other people as big of fans as myself! For Shibas, as puppies and as adults, do you recommend a collar or a harness for walking? I see you have recommended a particular collar, but some of your photos have your Shiba in a harness. If you like harnesses, what styles/brands would you recommend, and as far as training purposes, what has served you best in the past?
Thanks again for your time and dedication to this site. I am sure I will stopping by frequently when my pup has finally made his way to his new home!
Hello Colin,
Congratulations on your upcoming Shiba puppy!
I started my Shiba on a harness. We first got a no-pull harness (which has the leash fastening on the front of the dog instead of at the back). The problem with no-pull harnesses is that they are more difficult to put on. We got the Premier harness, which required some handling of Sephy, and he did not like that. Since I did not really notice a big difference in terms of pulling, we decided to try out a regular harness.
We tried out several regular harnesses, but ultimately the process of putting on a harness became a big battle, and Sephy didn’t like having extra material on his body. He really is not a “wearing stuff” kindda dog. During puppy class, he went nuts when we tried to put a bandanna on him as part of a training exercise.
Ultimately, we switched to a no-slip collar which worked out best for everyone. The problem with collars, however, it that if the dog pulls, it can place stress on the throat and neck, which can cause choking. Shibas have a short trachea, so constant force on the neck is best avoided if possible. This is why most people recommend using a harness.
If I got a new Shiba puppy, I would most probably start with a harness and make sure to slowly and properly desensitize puppy to it in a positive way. We did not do that with Sephy, and used force instead, which likely contributed to his sensitivity to harnesses and handling.
Here is a bit more on harnesses, collars, and other leash training equipment.
Thanks for the advice! I will look into the harnesses to start him off! And the desensitizing thread is very useful, I’ll be sure to try your technique out.
Hi Shibashake,
Thanks for the advice – I live in a flat/apartment so I don’t have a backyard unfortunately. I do have a balcony though, so I am going to try and walk him back and forth on that.
There’s also a small courtyard that I use for walks and we just go round in circles a few times. That’s basically where the big distractions are – gravel, bark, leaves…etc etc…
How long did it take you to train your puppies to walk well with you? Or at least well enough for you to go on an “outside” walk with no major traumas?!
Did your puppies whine a lot when you first tried walking them on a leash?
thanks
It depends a lot on the puppy. My Shiba Inu, Sephy, was very reactive to other dogs, and he was also very stubborn, so it took many months to get him more comfortable around other dogs, and also to get him to stop with his leash biting. Part of the problem was also with me – I started with aversive methods and that made his behavior worse. So we had to do some retraining and earn back his trust.
However, I started walking him outside pretty much as soon as he was vaccinated. In the beginning though, I took him to more quiet areas for our walk, so that we would have a positive and successful experience. In outside walks, he got to explore new areas, see some people, some other dogs, and more. We also did puppy classes where he got to socialize in a positive and structured way with other puppies.
The key I found, is to start small, supervise, and control the environment, so that I do not to expose Sephy to situations that he cannot handle and will lose control. But it was also necessary to properly socialize him so that he does not become fearful of people, other dogs, and new experiences.
Lara is the only one who is more vocal. She vocalizes when she gets over-excited, so I manage her excitement level and use desensitization exercises to raise her tolerance threshold. Some dogs are just more vocal than others. I learned that the key to retraining, is not to feel embarrassed with Lara’s behavior, but to observe it carefully, identify the source of the behavior, and help her learn alternate behaviors for dealing with her excitement.
Hi!
Your blog has some great info and it’s nice to hear first hand experiences from someone rather than just “do this and do this and your dog will be perfect”…haha…
I have a small 14 week old Chihuahua x jack russel puppy and I am having problems walking him. I know that everything is new and exciting for him at the moment so he stops and sniff or run in every direction apart from the one we are going in!
I tried the aversion technique and that did not work at all – that night he became quite aggressive and I thought it must be me not doing it right…thank god I found your blog about how you tried it, discovered it didn’t work and tried something else otherwise I would have just continued thinking there was no other way! So…now I am trying the stop start, 180, reward training…but so far…not much luck.
My problem is not that he pulls forward or runs faster than me…it is that I want to go forward and he will always want to go in the opposite direction. If I just stop, he starts eating everything he can on the floor around him (including stones!) – if I start moving away, he refuses to come therefore the leash becomes taut and feels like it’s being “pulled”. If he doesn’t stop to eat things, then he is constantly pulling in the opposite direction to me – I tried the 180 trick but it didn’t seem to work either…..any tips??!!
(both on the walk and getting him to stop eating stones and bark!)
PS: I have tried taking treats with me, but he just runs to eat the treat then will immediately stop and start eating things from the floor or will move in another direction. Once he’s eaten the treat he just ignores me!
Thanks for any help you can give!
Congratulations on your new puppy!
In the beginning, I do least training inside the house or in the backyard. This is a more low stimulus area, so I can focus on getting my dog used to the collar and leash, and getting him used to walking with me. Once we are comfortable with walking in the backyard, then I *very slowly* increase the environmental challenge.
I only walk my dog in the neighborhood *after* he is fully vaccinated. Puppies still have developing immune systems and can get very sick from drinking contaminated water, eating contaminated roadside stuff, or bad poop from other dogs or animals.
I start by walking my dog on a shorter leash (I use a 6 foot leather leash so that I can easily change the length of the leash during walks). This gives me more control and I can stop my dog from eating poop, rocks, and other dangerous things. Eating rocks can be very dangerous because it can obstruct a dog’s digestive tract. I also teach my dog the “Leave-It” command.
When I stop, I make sure to bring my dog in next to me. I do not let him explore and smell when we stop, because I want him to learn that –
Pulling = Less freedom and don’t get to go where he wants to go,
No pulling = Get to explore, smell, and go where he wants.
Dogs learn from us mostly through a process called conditioning. They repeat behaviors that get them good results, and stop behaviors that get them bad results. To stop my dog from pulling, I want to arrange things so that “Not pulling” is very rewarding, and “Pulling” is not rewarding at all.
I also follow the Nothing in Life is Free program with all of my dogs.
We also got help from several professional trainers with our Shiba Inu. A good professional trainer can help a lot with timing and technique, as well as with learning how to read our dog.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Big hugs to your puppy!
Howzit @Shibashake…as a Shiba Inu owner myself, I am sorry you had difficulty withe whole leash ordeal and training him. Now either I was completely blessed with an extreme oddity for a dog, or she simply listened and obeyed from day one. However, she is far from perfect as I wrote a small piece on my Nani as my very first Hub when I joined a couple of days ago. I am still trying to figure out why she goes into these funky mood swings?! I at times just chalk it up to “girls perogative” and let her be. I understand the cat quality Shiba’s possess, and they are very self efficient in caring for themselves, but she can be moody. If you have any advice on “training” being deaf ear, i would appreciate that very much.
Hi, I have a 9 week old husky pup and she is having some trouble walking. She does not pull much but she freezes and won’t move further away from our house. If we take her away she will walk all the way home. Is there any way to curb her fear of walking away from the house?
hello..i have 3 chihuahuas..all of which are very different in personalities.
The third one a boy, and is 7 months old. I take them all for walks together and the two older girls are great off the lead. They both come back to me. I have gotten the youngest used to the lead. However, when i let him off he doesn’t run away as such but he does not listen to me whatsoever. He will just follow one of my girl dogs that he is friends with. When i call his name he does not look at me, flinch, move his ears, nothing. He will run right past me without even acknowledging me. The will only follow my other chihuahua, which is probably the only reason I haven’t lost him. How can i rectify this, as i do get quite worried as he is the smallest and would prefer if he listened to me even a little bit. Thanks
I have a 2 yr old great dane/lab mix. He is about 120 lbs. He pulls very bad on a leash and when he wants to run he overpowers me and I usually go to the ground. Recently, I was hurt pretty bad. How can I keep him from doing that. I have tried treats and once he starts to pull and I correct him, he tries harder to pull next time. I would really like some advice because I really would like to take him places and enjoy him.
Hi, I have a 7 month old Great Dane that weighs about 80 pound. When I take him for walks and he meets people that I stop to talk to, he gets very excited and rushes towards them and starts jumping and shoving himself against them. Not really actually jumping on them but he hops into them, and most people want to pet him because he’s very friendly but it is stressful trying to calm him for the first 5 mins, I try to make him sit which he’s usually very good at but its no good when he’s too excited. If there’s anything I can do different, I don’t want to avoid people because I would like for him to be able to calming sit there. Thanks.
I have a 3 month old shiba inu puppy, his name is Akuma, he’s having a little bit of trouble grasping the “come” command and he gets really spastic excited and jumps away playfully instead of coming to the treat in my hand. He also gets extremely terrified when a leash is put on, he would walk for a little while then freak out and try to pull out of his collar. how do I get him to be comfortable with the leash and how long could this take with him walking around with it on, before I can pick up the leash and try to walk with him? Thank you for your time in reading this and look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Kaleigh Andrews