How to Train Your Older Dog to Walk on a Leash

Hello Elaine, It is never too late to leash train Sophie. I recommend that you simply get her used to the leash first by following the "Acclimatize" method in this article bellow: https://wagwalking.com/training/walk-on-a-leash Once Sophie is used to the leash, then you can teach her to walk nicely on the leash by using one of the methods found in this article bellow: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-large-dog-to-not-pull Best of luck training and enjoy your travels with her, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Kaitlyn, First, start by putting a regular collar on each dog and let him wear that for a week until he gets used to having something around his neck. Give them treats while you are putting the collars on. You might need real meat treats like chicken meat. When they are comfortable wearing collars, then when you are at home, attach a two to three foot check cord to each dog's collar while they are in a safely enclosed area and cannot run off if they get spooked. A check cord is a type of leash that is designed for hunting dogs to wear during outdoor training. It does not have a handle, is usually rolled instead of flat webbing, and is made out of a material that slides through the grass easily. Look for a brand like Sportdog or Mendota, you can also create your own out of thin climbing accessory rope. Have each dog wear the leash until he learns to ignore it. Expect the dogs to freak out for the first two days that they have the leashes on. Puppies take time to get used to leashes. It will take an adult at least as long as it does a puppy. They need to learn through experience that the leash is not going to hurt them. While Bella and Bijou are wearing the leash check cords and have calmed down enough, do something really fun with them in the enclosed area without grabbing onto the leash. That could be training exercises with treats, a game like fetch, or giving them each a fun toy. Anything that they love, that they can do while in that enclosed area while wearing the check cords. The purpose of the fun thing is to distract them from the leashes and to make the experience more pleasant so that they will calm down faster. Also only keep the leashes on them while you are around to supervise for safety reasons. Clear your schedule and spend the day with them reading and hanging out where you can see them. When they are used to the leashes dragging behind them, then pick up the handles of the leashes and follow each dog around wherever he wants to go. Have one person work with each dog or do them one at a time. Don't try to handle both yourself. When they are used to you following them while holding onto their leashes, then follow them like before but occasionally give a quick tug on the leash and then give a wonderful reward right after. Practice this until each dog begins to look at you when you tug in anticipation of a reward. Release the tension on the leash again right after you tug. When they will look at you, then occasionally give a tug, but keep the leash tight until the dog turns his head toward you or takes a step toward you. Practice this until both dogs will step toward you when you make the leash tight. From there you can add more steps, rewarding each dog every time that he walks toward you a bit more, until you have dogs who will follow you on a leash while you give him treats. When they can follow you on leash, then you can gradually give them less treats overtime, until you no longer need the treats. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Nikita, First, whenever you feed him, set the leash next to his food. When he gets used to the leash being near him, then when you feed him, feed him one piece of food at a time from your hand while you hold the leash next to him in your other hand. When he can handle that, then reach toward him with the leash, but don't try to clip it on, and feed him a treat each time that you reach toward him. Repeat this until he can relax during that also. When he can handle that, then clip the leash to him, give him a treat, and un-clip it again. Practice this until he will let you clip the leash to him without reacting fearfully. Expect this to take at least a couple of weeks. After Jimmy can handle having the leash clipped to him, then create a short leash out something that is one to two feet long. When you are there to supervise him, clip the short leash to him and let him walk around with it attached to him. Play games with him and give him pieces of his food for following you around and paying attention to you. This will help with some of the other, future training and it will take his mind off of the leash being attached to him. When you are done spending time with him, then take the leash off of him again. You want him to associate the leash with attention from you, fun, and rewards, so that he will look forward to the leash being attached. When he can handle the short leash, then clip his regular six-foot leash to him, and practice the same thing with the longer leash, until he no longer minds that leash also. When he can handle the longer leash, then follow him around in the yard and hold onto the end of his leash. Every once in a while give a gentle tug on the leash and then quickly give him a treat while you praise him. You want to teach him to look at you or come toward you when he feels pressure from the leash. If he expects a reward whenever he feels the tug, he should start looking at you instead of panicking. As he improves, you can gradually wait until he takes a step toward you before you give him the treat. With practice, you can add more and more steps before you give the treat, teaching him to follow you. Go slow and make sure that he is comfortable with the current amount of leash pressure with the treats before you make things more difficult. Once you can take him with you places on the leash, then whenever he sees a person or a dog, before he has a change to react poorly, praise him, do a little fun dance, and give him a treat. This is to get him excited and to make him feel happy about the presence of other people and dogs. You want him to expect the appearance of others to be fun and not scary. To teach basic obedience commands, go to the training section of www.wagwalking.com/training and read the individual articles written for how to teach each of the commands that you want to teach him. Since Jimmy is so fearful, look for methods that involve using treats at first, to help him like the training sessions too. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Shekeyda, First, simply get Taco used to wearing a leash by following the accept a leash article linked below: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-your-puppy-to-accept-leash When he is used to the leash, to teach him to walk beside you by following the "Turns" method from the heel article linked below: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Sonia, I highly suggest hiring a professional trainer in your case. Structure and consistency are really important for anxious dogs. Working them through fears to build confidence is also super important - so they don't just stay stick in an in between anxious place - but this has to be done with the right amount of pressure, enough that the dog moves forward with learning but not so much that the dog shuts down mentally. Obedience and confidence building exercises are also huge. First, check out the article linked below to help him adjust to the leash, don't worry too much about not being able to walk him for the next two weeks, you can still work on training him mentally - which is even more important for releasing anxious energy. When you can walk him, work on a structured walk, like heeling most of the time, because while heeling pup will have to focus on you and not other stimuli, will stay in a calmer state, and it will tire him out more mentally which will help with calmness when you return home. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-your-puppy-to-accept-leash The following commands are good ways to implement structure - building an anxious dog's respect for you can make them feel more secure but it needs to be done very calmly and confidently - not angry or feeling sorry for them. Crate manners: https://thegooddog.net/training-videos/free-how-to-training-videos/learn-to-train-the-good-dog-way-the-crate/ Thresholds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-w28C2g68M Heel article - The turns method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel Heel Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTiKVc4ZZWo Confidence building exercises - you don't have to have special agility obstacles, think about the obstacles you own or can build that your dog can practice weird surfaces, jumps, balance, going through things, and focus on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OseD7TRwsPQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elvtxiDW6g0 Check out the video linked below on Separation anxiety - the trainer's talking type is a bit abrupt but he is very experienced dealing with behavior issues. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5GqzeLzysk Finally, check out the Surprise method from the article linked below for introducing the crate if he isn't already crate trained: https://wagwalking.com/training/like-a-crate Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Meredith, It sounds like he is used to wearing a leash now, so I suggest starting to teach a formal heel by following the "Turns" method or the "Treats" method from the article linked below. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Thank you for the question about beautiful Cassie. I think that learning a few methods and techniques for walking her will help. You are right, she should not have marks on her from the prong collar. Because she has them, this leads me to believe it is not working for her. Have you ever tried a padded harness? Look for one that is easy to put on, has nice padding, and does not pull at the neck. Most come in adjustable sizes. Go to a reputable pet supply store to have Cassie fitted. As well, take a look at these great guides for tips on walking Cassie. https://wagwalking.com/training/walk-on-a-leash-1 and https://wagwalking.com/training/walk-slowly. You are doing the right thing by trying out various things so that you can find what will be most comfortable and safest for her. If she hasn't practiced what she learned at obedience class lately, you can do that while on a walk. She will be focusing on what she needs to do and may pull less. Have her sit, heel, and do 180 turns often. This may provide a mental workout that will make walking her easier. Good luck and happy training!

Hello Debbie, First, I suggest parking your car further away by 10-20 feet. Every time pup takes a couple of steps, give a treat (the car should motivate her to walk at least 20 or so feet to the car, reward that effort to begin with). Keep your energy excited and confident. When pup stops, tell pup "Let's Go" in a calm and business-like tone of voice (it's not a question it's a confident, calm command), then tug and release the leash several times in a row until pup takes a couple more steps - at which point give another treat and praise (it's okay if pup won't take the treats at first). The leash tugs should stop as soon as pup starts moving. Keep your walking goals short at first. If pup won't leave your yard - your first goal is just to leave the yard after pup can make it the initial 10-20 feet. Park the car at the end of the yard if in a house, or further away in the parking lot in an apartment. When pup reaches that goal - go home before pup puts on the brakes, as an additional reward for pup following you - even if a lot of leash tugs were involved to get that far. When pup will go to the end of the yard easily then walk to the next house. Gradually increase your walk distance overtime as pup hits milestones and seems more relaxed walking to the current distance. If you make your goal something huge like the whole neighborhood at first you are less likely to succeed - work up to distance overtime. Also, do not continuously pull pup on the leash. Doing so can harm pup's neck, but also dog's have a natural tendency to pull away from something - so if you pull pup in one direction, she will just pull back in the other direction, budging even less. This is why you do the quick tug and releases so that not following is uncomfortable with the tugs but not a continuous pull. You want pup to choose to walk to get away from the annoying tugs and to receive treats and praise. Drive the car up to three houses away once you have worked up to that far while practicing this. After the third house, require pup to walk past the car to the next house, no longer moving the car further. When pup can easily walk past the car, then the car can go back to where you normally park it, and work on pup walking that same distance without the car as a motivator. Don't take pup to the park when they refuse to go for a walk - instead walk in small circles close to the house to get pup to go potty - taking pup inside and crating for an hour before trying again if pup won't go potty when you do so. Trips to the park shouldn't be a reward for refusing to walk. Pay attention to pup's body language and the environment. Some pups don't want to walk because they are afraid of a neighborhood dog in a fence barking, construction workers, funny objects (like Christmas decorations), and things we would never think twice about. If pup isn't familiar with something (no matter how normal it may seem to us) it can feel scary to pup and be a reason why they don't want to leave the safety of the yard. If pup seems nervous or something might be bothering them in the environment, work on helping pup overcome that fear first by using play and treats to distract pup and then reward pup for any confidence, calmness, or tolerance they shows around the fearful thing. Practice this further away from the scary thing first and very gradually work up to pup being able to pass that thing as her confidence grows with your help. If pup won't play or take food (they may begin taking food once they are more relaxed later - most dogs won't take food while stressed, and will begin taking it again as they improve, at which point you can use food rewards more in the training if you wish), then simply spend time sitting outside calmly with pup for an hour at a time often, to desensitize pup to being in areas outside that they are not used to. Finally, make sure pup isn't in pain or sick, causing her not to want to exercise in any form due to feeling bad. If you have reason to suspect pup is ill or injured, definitely see your vet. (I am not a vet) Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Thank you for the question. Little Artie has a mind of his own - not uncommon in the Shih Tzu. The fact that he walks along briskly lets you know that he does know the scoop, so perhaps when he sits down, it's sheerly out of boredom or reluctance to go the way you want. Do you vary the route often? That may help. Make every walk a structured brisk one so that Artie has no time to think about sitting down and refusing to walk. Practicing obedience commands while on the walk is a good way to keep up the pace. Take a look at this article for tips on commands to work with. The entire guide is good, but the Turns Method may be especially helpful. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel Bring along treats that Artie likes to give him the incentive to train. Good luck!

Hi there! Since you have tried treats and the basics with leash walking and that hasn't been working, I would try getting a no pull harness at this point. Of all the behavior issues I have encountered over the years, leash walking seems to be one that is difficult to solve without the use of a tool. There are two types of harnesses I suggest. One is called a Gentle Leader. That goes around the nose and behind the head. It isn't a muzzle, they can freely open their mouths. The other one is called an Easy Walk Harness. It's basically a chest harness but it clips in the front. Both create a bothersome sensation when they pull, so they quickly learn to not pull. You can still provide treats to keep her focus on you as you go through this process.

Hello! Another solution may be a head halter called a Gentle Leader. It helps with pulling/attention without the potential negative side effects of a slip collar/leash. These can be found at ay pet store and online.