|
Leash Training your Puppy
My
Approach – Mylad Havanese
Lauren
Goebel
Havanese are great walkers –they LOVE to go for walks
or runs. Before taking your puppy on that 5 mile run
though, or that 3 mile walk make sure they are
physically up to the challenge. I personally would not
take my puppy for long runs until they are at least 7
months old and then I would build up their endurance and
muscle gradually.
They need to work up to strenuous exercise just like
humans do. Make sure you take water for the puppy with
you as well.
Leash
Training:
There are a number of ways to train your puppy to walk
well on a lead, and it really depends what you are
after. Do you just want a leisurely walk, or do you
want a well trained walker that will not pull, will walk
on a loose lead or heel?
If you just want a nice comfortable walk, and you
have a ‘tugger’ then a harness or a nose lead will do
the trick for you pretty quickly. Dogs will not tug on
a nose lead, but they have to be trained early on it as
they don’t tend to like the feel of it as they get
older. A nose lead does prevent a dog from tugging but
does not necessarily TRAIN the dog not to tug, if you
ever revert back to a collar and lead.
Loose
Lead Training:
I like to train my puppies to walk nicely on a lead at
my left side without tugging. It’s called loose lead
because you should never see any strain on the lead at
all. Loose lead training is, of course, necessary for
training for the ring, but it is also great to walk a
puppy or a dog without frustration and begins the more
advanced training for heeling and off-lead training.
Note: I do not use and do not like the flexi leads
at all – they don’t train your puppy to walk, and some
of them are dangerous. The small lead has gotten
wrapped around children’s limbs and also puppy limbs and
has caused serious damage. Some pet stores have banned
them, and most have warnings on them now. In addition
if you have your lead on flex, you are not able to reel
in your puppy quickly enough in the event of an
emergency. I have heard a tragic tale of a puppy
getting killed by a passing car while on lead – a flexi
lead.
So ready to start Loose Lead – this method has worked
for me on many puppies – it requires a lot of patience,
so if you don’t have the time to put in, go for a nose
lead or a harness.
Some puppies can cover Walk 1, 2, and 3 all in one
Walk – some need to spend more time on Walk 1 before
moving to walk 2. Just be patient. Don’t worry about
tugging quite yet – you need to have them comfortable
with a collar and lead first, then we start to train.
Don’t let your puppy bite the lead – we think it is cute but
many trainers think it is the puppy being Alpha to you
so I just say no bite and remove the lead from the mouth
every time the puppy tries to bite it.
First
Walk:
Generally with a new puppy who has never been on a
lead before I don’t do any real training to start with –
this is all about fun and enjoyment. I let the puppy
explore on his new lead and I follow him/her. The only
thing I do is encourage moving. If the puppy stops I
coax him/her to move again by saying “let’s go” and
sometimes even use bait in front of the puppy to
encourage moving when I want the puppy to keep walking.
Big praise when the puppy moves again. Keep this first
time entirely fun and happy with lots of praise and
little treats to encourage movement. Don’t worry about
what side the puppy walks on and that they sniff and
seem to go around in circles. Fun is the name of the
game for Walk One.
Second
Walk:
More of the same but you are going to really encourage
moving in the direction you want to move now using your
“let’s go command” If you can get the puppy to follow
you, even if it is for a few minutes give huge praise.
Don’t overdo the training on this walk – be happy with
the puppy being comfortable to walk with you leading
today, even if only for a short time. Repeat this
Second Walk several times until the puppy moves
comfortably with you leading it. This does not mean it
won’t stop, sniff, circle a bit – it still will be with
a little encouragement and a let’s go command you should
be able to motivate the puppy to move when you want it
to.
Third
Walk:
Left side walking. Today you are going to have your
puppy walk on your left side. It is really a repeat of
the second walk, you are just going to direct your puppy
to your left side every time it is between your legs or
on your right. This is going to be more you moving to
his/her right then the puppy moving to your left
initially.
Fourth
– Sixth Walk – “The Plant”:
Reinforce Left Side Walking and Stop Tugging: You are
really walking the puppy now and teaching him how to let
you lead him.
Keep the puppy on your left side.
When you feel your puppy tug, or try to go in a
different direction, you are not going to coax this
time.
You will do what we call a “PLANT”.
You will stand perfectly straight with the end of the
lead in both hands in front of your body and you will
stay firmly planted UNTIL you puppy stops what he/she is
doing and makes eye contact with you.
Once the puppy stops and looks up at you say Good Dog
(or whatever your reward word is) and then Let’s Go.
The puppy should move on his/her own again. He/She
may only move a step though and then pull or act up
again, you stop, plant, wait and then Good Dog, Let’s
Go. You do not talk to the puppy or look at the puppy
while you are planted – you wait for the puppy to LOOK
AT YOU.
You repeat this until you are finished your walk
For Havanese, who are not big tuggers generally, it
should only take 1-3 walks using the plant before your
puppy walks without tugging.
As I said this takes lots of patience – it once took
me 25 minutes to walk two blocks with a Bichon who loved
to tug, but it has worked for every dog I have trained.
Havanese are easy – they love to walk and if you use
treats you can have your hav trained not to pull very
quickly.
Walk
Seven etc:
You are going to give you puppy some slack. He knows
how to walk with you without tugging, now you are going
to keep the lead very loose, and as soon as he/she
tightens up that lead do the plant. The puppy will
understand very quickly that he needs to look at you for
direction and hints. Mix it up a bit, slow down, speed
up, stop, begin. Always have the puppy look at you and
use the Let’s Go command when you want the puppy to move
with you.
The
Heel Command:
Once your puppy can loose lead walk and is looking at
you to guide the pace and direction he/she is already
learnt the basics of how to heel. Heeling involves
keeping the dogs shoulder at your knee. Start with the
leash, and do the same as Walk Seven – we are going to
still keep the leash slack but we are going to gently
pull the puppy back into the position we want him in
everytime he moves to far ahead or behind and say heel.
Keep these sessions short and have lots of treats
available – I would do no more than 5 corrections and
repetitions on the first session. Continue with the
lead heel training until you dog understands the
command. . Like any training, the rule of thumb is it
takes 50 repetitions for a command to become a habit so
go slow repeat often and reward and celebrate in
increments.
Heeling is particularly useful if you want to train
your dog to follow you off leash. Again start with
small increments. Have treats ready as a lure and make
them visible to your dog in your left hand. In a safe
secure area practice off-leash. Start with your dog by
your side and use the heel command. Have you treats
ready in your left hand and lure your dog into position
with the treat. Do small increments at a time – a few
steps with your dog following you, not jumping for the
treats, not too far ahead and then treat him – say heel
again and do a few more steps. Move up to going across
your yard in a straight line with your dog at your
heel. Once you have mastered a straight line off-lead
heel – start adding turns and stops etc. into your
walk. Heeling takes time and patience. Remember go
slow repeat often and reward and celebrate in
increments.
.
Links are welcome copying is not!
|
