Dog Training: Teach Your Dog To Walk On A Leash

Have you ever been sitting on your porch or at a park and have witnessed a Great Dane or a Golden retriever `walking' their master. Some dogs have a way of taking you for a walk rather than the other way around.

The first step is to keep your dog as calm as possible. Once he sees the leash, he may go ballistic and then start dragging you out the door. A good way to start out, is to tell your dog to "sit" and then to "stay." This sets the precedence that you are not going anywhere until he obeys you and is seated and calm. Once your dog has sufficiently calm down place the collar and leash on him.

Once you have placed the leash on the dog, make sure you have a secure grip on it. Otherwise, once you release your dog, he may bolt in a frenzy and drag you across the room. If you release your dog and he begins to get hyper, once again, say, "sit" and "Stay." You may want to wait a minute or so, to assure that he has calmed down.

If this behavior continues, stand still. Your dog will quickly run out of leash. He will then turn around and see you standing still. Once the dog calms a bit and comes back to you, praise him and give him a treat. Then walk a little bit further and see what happens. If your dog does the same thing, once again stand still. Your dog will quickly learn that to go anywhere he needs to remain calm and composed.

Once you believe that your dog is calm enough you may want to venture to a park. You may need to repeat the exercises as dogs will be influenced by a variety of smells, other dogs, birds, children and squirrels. They may see a rabbit and try to drag you to it. If you see this coming you may want to stand still and then give the voice command to tell your dog to sit and stay.

You may need to practice again and again taking your dog for a walk. Your dog may need extra practice in order to learn the steps necessary to remain calm and to obey.

If your dog has particular problems with other dogs, you may want to invite a friend and her dog to practice with you. You may want to practice this task in a controlled setting and have the dogs interact with one another and then give the command. Keep in mind that dogs want to learn and obey but, they may need extra help learning, so be patient with them.