Leash Training

corbinam

corbinam

Moderator
So we brought Lexi home yesterday (yay!). She's doing great. She walked in and pretty much claimed everything (including me, DH, the cat, and Bentley) as her own. It's interesting to see because she is so different from Bentley!

Anyways, on to the point of the post. She is not yet leash trained. I've put a light leash on her and she is able to drag it around the house and pretty much ignore it. She does stop every once in a while to play with it, but that's it. I even got her to walk with me a little bit (5 minutes) while I treated her for following me.

My question is this...how long does this normally take? I'm just worried because we don't have a fenced in yard so we are taking her out and letting her drag the leash around (basically for safety in case she decided to bolt).

Any other tips? Thanks!
 
Congrats on bringing home the new puppy! I can't wait for pics.

Bailey was always pretty good on the leash. I didn't let her drag the leash though. Since she was making in my yard, I just put on her leash and carried her to her spot. Waited for her to make and then back inside. After a week or so, I would walk her around my yard with the leash. She just instinctively followed me. You can encourage her with treats if she doesn't follow you. Good luck! i hope she picks it up fast.
 
I recommend you follow the advice in The Art of Raising a Puppy by the Monks of New Skete. We did, and it worked perfectly.
 
Buffy too was clueless about a leash for about the first month we had her. Plus she was in the middle of a city with scary things like busses, trains, etc. at every turn. In the first two months we spent a lot of time crouched down, encouraging her with a squeaky toy or treat. I think the first time I tried that it took her like 10 min to go a block. Don't worry, eventually she will catch on. Buffy did around 3.5 months. Heeling is instinctive for Shelties.

Once you have a decent leash-following technique, you can work with her to get it better. Buffy's issue was that often she would put on the brakes when she saw something scary. Per our puppy class instructions, we had her sit, wait, then "let's go," then repeated that over and over. Tiny crumbs of treat after each one, or after the one that is hardest (for Buffy, we treated after let's go.) It really gets her paying attention to you on the walk. I still do it if Buffy is not paying attention, to wake her up. This technique helps remind her to look at me when we walk down the street.

Oh, and also, anytime she looks at you during a walk, praise and treat. That will pay off a lot later. If she is not looking at you, start your finger by her nose (when she is being attentive) and zoom it up to your face. She should follow the motion. Say "Watch" and reward when she does.
 
Diana said:
Buffy too was clueless about a leash for about the first month we had her. Plus she was in the middle of a city with scary things like busses, trains, etc. at every turn. In the first two months we spent a lot of time crouched down, encouraging her with a squeaky toy or treat. I think the first time I tried that it took her like 10 min to go a block. Don't worry, eventually she will catch on. Buffy did around 3.5 months. Heeling is instinctive for Shelties.

Once you have a decent leash-following technique, you can work with her to get it better. Buffy's issue was that often she would put on the brakes when she saw something scary. Per our puppy class instructions, we had her sit, wait, then "let's go," then repeated that over and over. Tiny crumbs of treat after each one, or after the one that is hardest (for Buffy, we treated after let's go.) It really gets her paying attention to you on the walk. I still do it if Buffy is not paying attention, to wake her up. This technique helps remind her to look at me when we walk down the street.

Oh, and also, anytime she looks at you during a walk, praise and treat. That will pay off a lot later. If she is not looking at you, start your finger by her nose (when she is being attentive) and zoom it up to your face. She should follow the motion. Say "Watch" and reward when she does.
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Thats a great tip. I amy have to resort to this.As still to this day,Trapp is very hesitant on leash.If he has the notion to put the brakes on,he is definately stopping,and not budging~
 
It took our Megan about 2 weeks to walk decently on a leash. We live in the suburbs, but cars and everything else distracted her. She would walk a foot or two and just sit! Between treats, ridiculous amounts of high pitched praises, she finally got it. Lexi will too, it justy takes time and patience, OH and not giving in too much by picking her up!
 
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