Having a good grip on your leash (literally and figuratively!) will take the burden off everyday life and turn every walk you take with your furry friend into a relaxing outing.
We’ve thrown together a couple of tips that’ll be helpful to keep in mind alongside your training.
Setting Goals
Before you start training, always keep the end goal for you and your dog in mind, and try to define it as accurately as possible.
For example: “My goal is to reach a point where my dog makes sure the leash stays lax without my intervention. The leash is taut if the carabiner connected to the collar/harness lifts up.”
Of course, your individual goals will potentially look a lot different to this.
Your goal will be helpful in determining when it’s time to use a particular signalling method during training, e.g. a change of direction, and also help determine whether you’ve been successful in reaching said goal.
Attitude
Having fun and enjoying yourself is an important precursor to success in your training!
Be friendly to your dog, and approach your training with a positive attitude.
Your dog is sensitive to your own stress, anger, and fear, all of which contribute to a sense of unease and anxiety. So be mindful!
Consistency
Once you’ve come up with your own definition of a “lax leash”, then you absolutely should reward your dog when it keeps the leash lax!
Similarly, you should use a signalling method and help it into the correct position when it tugs on its leash.
We recommend that you stay fair to your dog and be consistent with the rules you have set in place. This way you will be able to give your dog a sense of safety and guidance!
