Hi, my name is Dr. Uri Burstyn
I'm a veterinarian in Vancouver, BC
and I'd like to welcome you to my series of practical skills for pet owners
I'm here today with my friend Chewbacca, who you'll see in a moment
to talk to you a little bit about how to properly use the leash
Now this might sound pretty simple, but it actually is not
because I really often see people with their dog on a leash
Completely misusing it
And the most common issue I see around this
is when I see dogs just pulling on a leash and the owners pulling back
and neither one of them has any idea what the other one wants
And there really is absolutely no control over the dog and the dog really kind of isn't--
barely even aware there's a human attached to it
and this is not an ideal scenario
So the most common way to misuse a leash is to use it as a handle
as something that is attached to your dog that you use to pull on your dog
And this is absolutely the wrong way to use it
a leash is a communication tool
for those of you who ride horses
It's no different than the reins on a horse.
This is not something-- You know, you have a 500, 600 kilogram animal
This is not something you can bully or force to do things
it's something that you can communicate with
so we like to use leashes to communicate with our dog friends
and it's really important that the communication be clear and consistent
Okay, that's all a dog wants from you is for you to be clear and consistent
Dogs don't misbehave, dogs always want to please you,
but they have a short attention span. There's a lot going on around them
And sometimes they just lose focus on what it is that you want them to do
So when you have a dog on a leash don't think of it as a handle
think of it as a way of communicating with your dog when he or she is 6 feet away from you
and the way to accomplish that is to make sure there's no tension on the leash
when under normal walking conditions
What you want to do is when your dog moves out of the range of the leash
you give them a short, fairly sharp jerk
to let them know that
they're moving too far away
And the dog is going to feel nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing,
They get to the limit of the leash and they get-- "Oh!"
"I have to go back here, okay," and they'll come back in
By the same virtue if you're walking along and the leash is slack, and you want to turn right or left
you simply give it a little tug
and tjhedog will-- will know that that's the way you want them to move
or a little tugback if you want them to slow down
now obviously this is not something they're gonna figure out on their own
you start walking your puppy on a leash when they're quite young
But if you have consistent and clear leash handling techniques
So if every single time you want to go right you give it a little tug
Or every time you want to stop, give it a little pull back
Then your puppy's gonna learn really quickly that "this is what my pack leader wants me to do"
And they'll do what you want them to do. That's how dogs are wired they want to please you
And what you're gonna, avoid is those puppies that are just straining on the leash
You know trying to get to other dogs and trying to get across the road
and completely ignoring you
So just remember:
✗ Not a handle ✓ Communication tool
And short little jerks with your goal being the relaxation of the leash inbetween
is the way that you communicate with your dog
And if you're consistent and clear about what you want
Then your dog will learn from you, and they'll learn quickly
Now if you do have a dog that really is, is really excited about the world, and really wants to pull
just remember this is not a dog who's naughty or misbehaving himself.
This is a dog who simply has a short attention span
and again
Sharp tug on the leash
your goal is to make it go slack, now it might require a bit of-- bit of arm strength
But your goal is to make the leash go slack
and then relax it as soon as the dog is doing what you want it to do
And very quickly they will learn how to communicate with you through this leash
So we're gonna go outside now and me and Chewbacca are gonna try to demonstrate what I'm talking about
So I'm gonna ask Chewy to demonstrate for me here
how to not walk on the leash
And then we'll try to show you how to properly walk on the leash
So Chewy,
Come on, off you go. Whoa! There we go
That's what we did not want. We don't want to be pulling on that leash
him pulling that way, me pulling this way
Him looking off into an entirely wrong direction
And then it just turns into a tug-of-war between me and him which he'll probably, you know
one of us might win but both of us will probably not enjoy it very much
So remember we want to use the leash as a communication tool
We'll give him a little jerk, just like that, little tug
and there we go look at this, so his attention's on me. He's moving with me
Should we-- should we go for a walk?
Here we go
Oh, and then come back this way again
Come on, just like that
Notice how when we're using the leash as a communication tool
His attention is kind of in a direction of our travel
So if we want to go this way, he'll pay attention this way
without me really having to work my biceps or really pull on that leash
the key here is not to be wrestling, not to oppose my strength to his,
but just simply to ask him to come this way
come on, come this way,
and he'll oblige
So that is a dog
that's effectively communicating with me, and I'm effectively communicating with him with a leash
Thanks buddy
Once again, he's again distracted. He's looking off in the distance
There you go, just a little tug on the leash brings him back to where I want him to be
So I hope you find this useful. Thank you for watching.
Please give us a like and a share
And remember to go out and have fun with your dog