An exercise to practice leash walking
There are many different ways to train leash walking, but here's an exercise to train your dog to want to walk close to you, both on and off the leash. It's important to reward your dog a lot for the behaviours we want to see more of, so Lassie's dog trainer Lina Lundin shows you how to reward properly.
Do this
Start by backing up with your dog. To get a dog to stick to your leg, feed the dog treats throughout the exercise.
Once your dog is following you smoothly, you can add turns to train your dog to keep following you no matter where you go.
Practice the first two steps a lot to create a lot of reward history to being near your leg.
Now, while backing up, you can face your dog to teach your dog to continue following you at your side. Watch the video to understand how to do the turnaround. Continue to reward generously.
Now do the turnaround and don't reward your dog until it takes a step with you.
Keep increasing the steps you take before your dog gets his treat. Practice this as far as you want your dog to be able to walk by your side.
