How To Train Your Dog To Walk On A Leash Properly Without Pulling Tutorial

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Leash training a dog or puppy is not a difficult task, however it does require a lot of patience and consistency.

Taking your dog our for a walk should be something you look forward to and enjoy, not something that you dread which can be the case when you have a dog who constantly pulls on the leash.

In order to leash train your dog you are going to need two things.

A regular flat collar (nylon, leather, etc. NO PRONG COLLARS OR CHOKE CHAINS!)

A harness

As far as the harness goes I recommend a no pull dog harness.

For the record, there is no training tool that TRAINS a dog not to pull, training tools simply mask the bad behavior.

But as you will learn, there is a very easy way to actually leash train a dog and get them to understand not to pull.

Now the end goal of leash training a dog or puppy is that you are able to walk them with ONLY the collar and you wont need the harness.

In the beginning however, in order to stay consistent, you do need to use both the harness and the collar.

The rules of leash training

There are going to be two different sets of rules for your dog depending on whether the leash is hooked to the collar or to the harness.

Here are the rules for the collar:how to leash train a dog

When your dogs leash is hooked on the collar he can do what ever he likes as long as he isn’t pulling.

He can walk ahead of you, behind you, right, left, he can stop and smell things, let him dictate what he wants to do as long as he isn’t pulling.

The second that your dog does pull and the leash gets tight, you are going to immediately stop walking and wait.

You are waiting for the dog to either move his head back to relieve tension on the leash or he may even take a step back.

The SECOND that the leash is loose, you start to walk forward.

If the dog pulls again, you instantly stop and wait for him to choose to loosen up the leash.

In the beginning of leash training your dog, you are going to basically be doing this crazy walk of stop, go, stop, go.

But what the dog is learning is that when there is tension on the leash (and therefore the collar) he DOESN’T GET to go where he wants to go.

When there is no tension on the leash (and therefore no tension on the collar) he GETS to go where he wants to go.

Pretty simple, right?

No treats, no clickers, you are just simply using what the dog wants (continuing the walk) as his reward.

This is the exercise you are going to do as much as you possibly can.

With that said, there are going to be times that you can’t do this exercise, and that is where the harness comes into play.

Here are the rules for the harness:

There are no rules.

When your dog is on the harness, the leash will be hooked on their chest or back depending on what type of harness you are using.

This means that whether the dog is pulling or not pulling, he is not feeling any tension around his neck, like he would be if the leash were hooked on the collar.

Leash training your dog is actually about training your dog not to make the collar tight.

No tension on the collar = go forward.

Tension on the collar = stopping

So because we are actually training the dog to recognize the tension on his collar, we need to try to be as consistent as possible and stop walking every single time he pulls while the leash is hooked to the collar.

There will be times that you can’t do the stop-go-stop-go exercise (maybe you are crossing the street) and in order to stay consistent and not risk walking forward while the dog is pulling, which would ruin all the good repetitions you have put in, we simply switch them to the harness.

Because the dog is now on the harness, if the dog pulls, and you go forward, no training is being ruined because he is not feeling the tension on his neck.

By using the harness when you aren’t able to do the stop-go-stop-go exercise you will be able to be as close as possible to 100% consistency which is key to leash training your dog.