The Walk

First, make sure you are using the right lead and harness for your dog.  Harnesses that go around your dogs body were originally designed for Husky type dogs to make it easier and more comfortable for them to pull a sled, so it stands to reason that if your dog pulls this is not the best option for you when you are trying to train your dog to walk beside you.  Haltis/headcollars were originally designed for Horses and Bulls and gave the handler control over the head and ultimately the rest of the animal, they have been adapted to dogs slightly and are brilliant for most dogs but especially large dogs.  Or you could choose a standard collar and lead, this is fine as long as your dog doesn’t pull so hard he chokes himself, in which case a headcollar is much better, or a body harness if you really don’t like the headcollar – but it does mean more work for you.  I don’t advise the use of a choke chain, for many the dogs the need to be in front far overrides the pain they are receiving from the collar tightening and they just put up with it. 

A note about Headcollars

Most dogs really hate the headcollars when you first put them on, this is not because they are causing pain or discomfort but because it is not natural for a dog to have something on their face and their instinct tells them to get it off.  The best way for your dog to get used to it is if you let them work it out for themselves, just ignore them when they are trying to get it off and only interfere if they get tangled up in it, otherwise say and do nothing and they will soon realise that it is not hurting them and they will calm down.  In my experience this can take as little as 1 minute and as long as 20 so allow yourself extra time.   

Lets get started – this is the most important part to training your dog on the lead – don’t skip it.

Firstly, make sure your dog is really calm before you even put the lead/harness on, do not tell your dog he is going for a walk this will only make him more excited and means it will take longer to calm him down again.  Just calmly get the lead and harness and stand in front of your dog, if your dog is very excitable he will jump around you like a lunatic grabbing at the lead, if he is very anxious he may run away from you, in either case stay exactly where you are and ignore him – say nothing, don’t touch him or even look directly at him.  Now just wait for him to sit down in front of you, don’t be tempted to help him out by telling him to sit, we are waiting for him to go into a relaxed, thinking state, by telling him what to do you will never know if he is calm enough to start training – be patient.  Once he has sat down, pause a second and if he gets straight up again just wait a little longer – he is nearly there, if he is still sitting lean forward as if to put the lead/harness on, he will probably burst with excitement and jump up again, this is normal, just stand back up again and wait a little longer.  Keep going like this until he remains sitting still while you calmly and effortlessly put the lead/harness on.  Again, you should allow extra time for this at the beginning of the walk. 

Now you have the lead on you are almost ready to go, guide him so that he is next to you, his collar should be in line with your leg, your arm and shoulder should be loose, you are probably used to him pulling so you will automatically tense up but shake out all that tension, now take up all the slack in the lead, it should be as short as it can possibly be without being tight.  As soon as he is standing patiently by your side take one step forward, he will probably charge forward, that’s ok, just guide him gently back into the heel position and wait for the lead to be loose again.  Once it is take another step, if the lead remains loose then take another and so on until you are at the front door.  Like many dogs, he is probably used to getting out the door ahead of you, but you should go first, open the door so that it is wide but don’t let him out yet.  Stand with him next to you until he is calmly waiting and then take a step out of the door, if he bolts past you, don’t worry just bring him back in and try again.  Now off you go – one step at a time at first and then as he starts to get the idea you can increase to two steps and so on until you are walking.  The idea is that the lead is short so it will tighten if he goes in front of you, this means that you don’t have to watch him to see where he is, instead you can hold your head up and look forward as a good pack leader should.  You will only move when the lead is slack, so he will learn that he moves forward when he is beside you and the walk stops when he is in front.  He will want to move forward so he will want to get it right.   

The length of time it takes to teach this will entirely depend on how bad your dog was at walking before you started training, how stubborn your dog is and how stubborn you are – if you give in and go back to the old way of walking, your dog will learn that you are a pushover and you will be making all training harder for yourself. 

Using the clicker

If you introduced the clicker to your dog last month you can use this to reinforce and speed up your training.  Simply press the clicker whenever the lead is loose, if it stays loose then keep clicking and every now and then stop and offer one treat for all the clicks he has just earned.  Once he has got the hang of it you should start slowing down the clicks until they are eventually phased out completely. 

My top tip

The first session will take ages, so set aside a significant amount of time – at least 2 hours but the more the better.

The second session will be much easier but you will still need to allow extra time.

By the third session you should set aside the normal amount of time you would spend walking your dog, try not to think of the walk in terms of distance, i.e. don’t try to walk him for two miles if that’s what you normally do, instead walk him for 30 minutes.  That way you will not be in such as rush and will have more patience.

Don’t worry if the walks are much shorter for a while, the concentration needed to learn will tire his brain out, even if his body is not getting as much exercise, he will still be as tired as normal (if not more so) when he gets home.  As he gets better at walking to heel his walks will naturally get longer.