Dog Training: Guide Dogs trainer reveals why teaching your dog to walk on a leash can be so difficult

Walking your dog is meant to be an enjoyable activity that strengthens the bond between owner and pet.

But while it is probably the most enjoyable part of your dog’s day, walking your dog can be far from a pleasant experience if your pooch is constantly pulling on the lead.

Now, an expert has weighed in with his top tip to get your dog walking on a leash calmly beside you – and all it takes is a couple of items found in every kitchen.

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Ryan Jones, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT mobility instructor says one of the most asked question he hears from dog owners is ‘How to get your dog to walk well on a lead, without pulling or constantly stopping’.

Guide Dogs NSW/ACT has teamed up with its ambassador, leading vet Dr Katrina Warren, to launch a free-eight week program which offers dog owners the chance to learn simple care and training techniques, including good leash walking.

Jones says teaching your dog to walk well on a lead was very important from a safety point of view, as a pulling dog could injure the handler and poses a risk to the dog if it gets away.

He adds that it’s important taking a dog for a walk is a pleasant experience otherwise an owner might just give up and stay home.

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“Teaching your dog to walk nicely next to you will make the walk more pleasant and enhance the experience for both you and your dog,” Jones says.

The good news is, if your dog is not a good leash walker, there is a simple training technique that Jones says is bound to work, and it all comes down to positive reinforcement.

Before starting, Jones says it is important to remember that taking a dog on a walk is like “going to Disneyland”, what with all the sights, sounds and smells they experience. No wonder they find it hard to stay on track. 

When training a dog to walk on a lead, he places a dollop of peanut butter on a wooden spoon before setting off. As the dog walks along beside him, he rewards it with a lick of the spoon.

“Straight away, I have made myself more interesting than anything else the dog will encounter on the walk,” he said.

He said giving “positive reinforcements” will straight away “change the dog’s behaviour”.

After some time, you can swap the spoon for a treat, and eventually nothing at all.

Better still, once you have used a reward to change one behaviour, it will be easier with other things as the dog already understands positive reinforcement.

The Guide Dogs’ Learning Lab program includes practical training tips and information on nutrition, exercise, sleep and enrichment to support your dog’s overall health, well-being and happiness.

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It is designed to be completed over eight weeks, with a new lesson emailed weekly.

Each lesson addresses a different topic and includes a training checklist, training tips and positive reinforcement, understanding what your dog is trying to tell you, enrichment tips, dog socialisation, ensuring your dog’s health and well-being, leash walking, feeding, boundary training, dog safety, dog distraction training, dealing with barking and jumping up and keeping your dog healthy in summer and winter.

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