Teach Your Dog To Want Its Leash

Although over the years I've tried all sorts of different collar and lead combinations, my favourite has always been the sliding rope lead.

This is basically a length of soft rope with a metal ring at one end and a handle at the other.

To use it you push the end of the rope back on itself through the metal ring in order to create a 'noose'. This is the bit that then goes over the dog's head.

It works on the same principle as a choke chain, in that it will tighten and fall slack according to how you handle the dog. But it is much kinder on the dog than a chain. I'm very wary of recommending people to use chains. Unless you know *exactly* what you're doing they often do far more harm than good.

And even for a skillful handler who knows how to use them I still think they're only appropriate for certain bold and boisterous dogs.

Shy or sensitive dogs can often be totally traumatised if you try using a chain on them.

When I want my dogs on the lead I just open up the noose, say "here y'a" (as you'd pronounce it if you were saying "here you are" very quickly) and they just stick their heads straight in.

I've often had people comment in amazement that their dogs don't really want to be put on the lead and would certainly never voluntarily stick their heads through the collar like that.

Until about a week ago I've never consciously thought about how I teach it. It just sort of happens. But I decided with my new puppy that I'll actually teach it as a definite exercise.

And it's been incredibly easy. He learnt what was expected within 2 or 3 days. All I did was get the noose ready in my left hand and have a small treat in my right hand.

I held the noose about 12 inches in front of his head and put my right hand through it until it was just in front of his nose, offering out the treat.

As soon as he smelled the treat he reached forward for it.

I just withdrew my hand through the noose saying "Tufter, here y'a". He immediately followed my hand, thereby putting his head through the noose. The moment he'd put it right through I immediately praised him and gave him the treat.

After a couple more goes I no longer had to put my right hand through the noose. It was sufficient just to hold it in front of the noose so he had to put his head into the noose to be able to reach the treat in my right hand.

From that point on it was a simple matter just to hold the noose open and give the command without actually offering out the treat. He'd race to stick his head through in the expectation of a treat.

Once you get to this stage I recommend you cut down on the use of the treats. Sometimes give one, but sometimes don't. That way the dog never knows if it'll get one or not.

Always praise it verbally and give it a warm loving caress and pat for doing what it was told, but don't let yourself be held to ransom by the dogs insistence on always being rewarded with treats.

The other thing you need to do is make sure the dog doesn't associate being put on the lead with something unpleasurable.

I once got called out to see someone who lived in a city and had a German Shepherd. The dog was walked on the lead to the local park where it was let off and allowed to run free.

The owner did a circuit of the park then was ready to go back home. But the dog abolutely refused to come to be put back onto the lead. As soon as I'd been out with the owner and seen what he was doing the problem was obvious.

The dog associated being put on the lead with the end of its walk. The daily jaunt in the park was the only opportunity it got to run about and have fun and - not surprisingly - it was loathe to surrender its little bit of precious freedom.

I told the owner he had to put the dog on the lead at all sorts of times. Sometimes in the house, sometimes in the car. Just leave it on the lead for a short while - anything from five seconds up to a few minutes. Then let the dog off again.

And during their walks in the park he was to do the same thing. Call the dog up to him, put it on the lead and make a big fuss of it, then promptly let it off again.

Then a few minutes later do the same thing again. And again. And again.

And so on and so on. So he was reconditioning the dog's response to being on the lead. Instead of the dog associating being put on the lead with the end of its walk, it now associated being put on the lead with having a fuss made of it, immediately followed by being allowed to run free again.

Within a week or so of this change in routine the dog would happily come to be put on the lead once the walk in the park was over.

So when you're training your dog to want to put its head into the collar you must make sure at the same time that the dog doesn't come to associate being on the lead with something unpleasant.

Recommended reading "Dog Training Blueprint To Success".

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