How to Leash Train a Weimaraner

Your Weimaraner is a high energy, sporting dog that loves people but can be difficult to train. They have a strong prey drive, and they are not for the faint of heart! 

Weimaraners need exercise and lots of it, so leash training your Weimaraner to allow you to provide that exercise is going to be important. The catch is, these high-energy dogs are motivated to chase anything that moves: cats, joggers, bikes, other dogs. Not all of the these passersby will appreciate being chased! You will need to train your Weimaraner to walk on his leash in control, with slack, so as to avoid unpleasant incidents with passersby. Also, you don't want a sore arm from being pulled, or to damage your dog's neck, airway, or spine by constantly having tension on his collar. 

Once trained to walk on a leash, your Weimaraner will be a great walking companion who is very devoted and lots of fun to exercise. 'Hope you can keep up!

Your Weimaraner should be trained to walk at your left side, with his shoulder next to your left leg, or on a loose leash, with no tension. Your dog should move at the same pace as you, speeding up when you do, and stopping when you do. Because a Weimaraner will be a large dog when mature, you want to maintain good control on-leash. A full grown, excited Weimaraner can pull a leash out of a handler's hand unexpectedly, running into dangerous situations such as traffic or an altercation with another dog, or chasing people or other animals, who may become injured. Due to their high prey drive, Weimaraners are liable to want to take off after other small dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, squirrels, or anything that moves, really!  To avoid having your dog break loose, you will need to train good leash manners and not to pull on a leash, which could also injure his neck or spine.

There are a variety of collars and leads available for training. Research which one would work best for you and your Weimaraner based on his temperament and your abilities. Often for training a large high energy dog like a Weimaraner, a choke chain or martingale collar is used, which will tighten up and provide some control. A buckle collar can slip over your dog’s head. Head halters are another option to provide more control, but be careful that your Weimaraner does not make a sudden run and come up short on a head halter, which can jerk his neck around and cause injury. A long lead, about 6 feet in length, is useful for several leash training exercises. Do not use a Flexi leash, as they are not effective at providing control during training, especially for a large, high-energy Weimaraner. Carrying treats to reinforce good leash walking behavior is a great way to direct your dog. Choose verbal commands like “heel”, or “let's go” to provide your people-pleasing Weimaraner with further direction.