Leash Walking Your Dogs

One of the most common dog problems that we encounter with our clients are dogs that pull on the leash. Many times, even well behaved dogs are terrible when they are on a leash. Some people choose to simply take their dogs off leash, but let’s be realistic. Are you willing to risk getting a citation for having your dog illegally off leash in public?

The challenges faced with teaching a dog to walk politely on a leash without pulling are numerous. They can ultimately be broken down into two broad categories:

1. The distractions and prospects of the outdoor world are numerous
2. Dogs have a naturally occurring opposition reflex

Distractions

When you leave your house, suddenly and automatically the distraction level that you have to contend with spikes. Dramatically. With this increase in the distraction, many times it means your dog’s level of attention to command drops dramatically too. The challenge is of course, that with all the prospects of new smells and new things to explore, each step you take validates your dog’s desire to pull. Every step he takes brings in new smells and new things to explore, thus rewarding your dog for pulling.

Opposition what?

An ‘opposition reflex’ is just a fancy way of saying that your dog does the opposite of whatever physical guidance you may provide. Basically the dog has a tendency to pull away from leash tension. A common technique people use to try to control a dog who pulls on the leash is to shorten and tighten the leash in their hand into a super-tight vice grip. This actually does the opposite of what the trainer wants, as it typically encourages the dog to pull more, and harder. How many times have you seen a dog on a choke-chain dragging their owner around, all the while restricting their breathing and potentially hurting themselves in the process. Common-sense would dictate that if something is choking you, you do what is necessary to remove the tension. In dog-language, common sense is to pull away from the choking sensation. Obviously, that doesn’t work.

The challenges faced with walking multiple dogs at once are the same, but doubled. There is also that competitive factor between the two dogs to get where they want to go first. Factor in the issue of dogs feeding of each others energy (basic pack mentality) and you’ve got some very difficult situations to deal with. As professional trainers, we recommend getting control over each dog individually to begin with, and then bringing the two (or three dogs) together as distractions for each other to proof the exercise.

The beautiful thing about training multiple dogs with a Sit Means Sit Dog Collar is the ability to control two or three dogs from one remote control. There is no need to fumble with multiple remote controls. The Sit Means Sit dog training collar features a programmable remote control allowing you to switch from single dog operation to multi-dog operation in the field and on the fly.

The video below features a Sit Means Sit dog training client from Las Vegas who was hesitant to call Sit Means Sit at first, however after only two lessons was more than pleased she did. She can now walk both her excitable golden retrievers at the same time without them pulling on the leash and dragging her around. More importantly, she has gained confidence in her ability to maintain her dogs’ training. Don’t take our word for it, check out the video from her second lesson below.

Check out our dog training client from Colorado training her three dogs off leash. We’d love to hear your feedback. Feel free to leave a comment and share your dog training tips.