- Every week in our classes,
we talk to hundreds of people.
And when they ask us about walking their dogs
and how to take the dogs for the walk,
it turns out, they're all making the same mistake.
And it's probably the biggest mistake that you make,
when you're teaching your dog
to walk nicely on a loose leash.
In this video, I'm going to show you how to take this,
this, and this
to get this.
I'm Steve Walsh.
Welcome back to McCann Dogs.
(piano music)
(dog barks)
Now, one of the most common
mistakes is people think that
taking your dog for a walk means
that they have to be at your left hand side,
in that heel position for 45 minutes or an hour.
In reality, that's an unreasonable expectation
for yourself or young dog.
Teaching my dog to walk nicely
is about giving us some freedoms once they earn them,
reinforcing some of the skills that they already have,
which is just to hang out with us
and move with us without pulling on that leash.
You may be wondering why I'm talking about walking on leash
and my dog is just hanging out in front of me.
We're out of the park here.
This is casual time.
This is hangout time with me and my dog,
and this is also going to be time
for him to get a little bit of exercise,
'cause I really want to change the rules
on how you think about walking your dog.
Walking my dog is all about giving him
the freedoms once he earns them,
letting him relax a little bit.
But then when I asked him to come in
and be a little bit more formal,
he understands how to do that.
And that's how we take our thought process
of walking our dog to teach them to walk nicely with us.
Now we're out here in this park,
and there are lots of distractions
for Final to work through.
And one of the biggest things that I want my dogs know,
right off the bat,
is that their job is to not pull on the leash.
And when we talk about this,
I don't care if my dog is in my left hand side.
He can be anywhere around me,
as long as he doesn't pull.
Now I'm going to help him
by moving a couple of steps at a time.
And anytime he pauses with me or stays with me,
I'm going to yes and reward him.
But if he doesn't and if he pulls,
we got a dog with walking over here and he's a little bit
interested in that dog it's fine.
If that leash goes tight,
I'm certainly going to add some of those pulses on the leash.
And once he reconnects with me,
I'm going to engage with them and praise him a little bit more,
let him know he's on the right track at that point.
His only job is to not pull on the leash.
And this is sort of the foundation
of teaching my dog to walk nicely with me.
Now one of the most applicable skills of leash training
or teaching my dog not to pull on the leash
is simply going down the driveway
and picking up the recycle bins.
If my dog understands that they shouldn't pull on the leash,
and they can be anywhere around me,
it makes life a whole lot easier.
Now response to name is a really, really big tool.
When I'm walking around with my dog,
when he gets distracted by things, because he's going to,
I want to be able to say his name
and get them refocused on me.
And I also want to make sure that if I call his name
and he doesn't respond,
I'm just going to keep repeating his name over and over.
I'm going to do something to ensure that he does respond.
So he's looking at some geese over here
that are in that ball diamond.
And now he's getting distracted by something else now.
That's great.
I'm just going to say his name and see what happens. Final.
Yes, good boy.
Excellent, good boy.
So he responded,
I marketed my voice.
Then I backed away.
Now I'm going to get a little food out to reward him.
Boy, that's good job.
Now I've got him on a fairly short leash right now.
This is sort of what I walk with him
when I'm in tighter places.
Hey bud, come here.
Once he gets a little bit more depth to this,
I can give him a little bit more freedom
by putting a long line on him,
but I'm going to make it a little bit
harder for him on the shorter leash.
I'm going to go closer to these geese
and see how the responds to name work.
So I'm going to move with him.
Come bud, okay.
Again, he doesn't have to be at my left
hand side he simply moving with me.
And I'm just going to pause and see if he notices those geese.
So he pulled on the leash there.
And I addressed the leash disrespect?
Good boy.
That's better.
Let be back.
Good job, very nice.
Yeah, good boy.
Come on bud.
(mumbles)
Final, yes, good boy.
Excellent. I can have a little tug and play.
I can change out my rewards for him to keep him thinking.
Out.
Excellent job.
Why do we want to change the rules
on how you think about walking your dog?
It's all about setting up a clear expectation
for your dog and helping you be consistent
anytime the leash is attached to your dog.
Whether it's giving him permission to sniff
or go to the bathroom or whatever it is they need to do,
or whether we're asking him to keep in tight
to our left hand side because we're walking on a sidewalk,
or in a busy store or marketplace.
But the consistency is what's going to teach your dog
the life skills they need
to navigate all the world around them.
This is about giving them freedoms by being consistent.
Obviously, he wasn't getting too terribly
distracted by those geese,
and he was responding really well,
every time I said his name.
So, this to me is an indicator
that I can start to give him a little more freedom,
a little bit more freedom further away from me.
So I'm going to switch out his leash here
to a longer line, about a 20 foot line.
And that's going to allow him to move
a further away from me, be closer the distractions,
but still gives me direct connection to him,
to help ensure that he responds to me every single time.
Take this on.
Now, even though he's got a longer line on,
I still expect that he does not pull on this line.
And anytime that leash goes tight,
kind of I'm not mad at him,
I'm going to add those pulses
like we've shown you to reconnect him with me.
I mean it's my job to really be more fun at that point
than the world around him.
So, I'm just going to let this line drive.
I'm going to let him move out as he is interested,
and we'll see what happens.
Okay buddy, lets go.
So again, there's no tension on this line.
I'm making sure that clip still hangs straight
up and down when he's moving.
I'm just feeding it out as he moves before.
Okay, go straight forward.
Go straight forward.
(mumbles)
I'm going to move about.
We going to get closer to these geese,
and see if we can turn up here to respond out there.
Away bud.
So I've given permission to him to be anywhere around me.
As long as this line doesn't go tight.
Good boy.
Now, one of the things you'll notice he's doing,
he's actually checking in with me often,
he's going a few feet,
and then looking back at me.
Those are great opportunities to actually reward that.
Say yes to your dog when they offer that focus
and praise them
for coming up close. (dog barks)
Good job, when he is a little silly there.
Having a little fun.
He thinks we're going to play,
Okay bud, let's keep on going.
Good job, now we're going to walk.
Now the nice thing about walking a dog on a long line
is that I can transition from this casual movement
to have him get inside my at left hand side,
when I want to.
Final, yes, good boy.
Excellent job, come here, good.
Now as he's closer to me,
I can take a hold of that line a little closer to him.
Pretty bud get here, just come.
Yes, good boy.
Good boy.
And he moves into that more fun,
in that more formal position.
So I'm using a little bit more control,
just sometimes, not all the time, because he's listening.
He can go away and have a little walk
around the park as well.
Now even though we're moving in a relaxed fashion,
even as they come down this part of the park,
I'm still very conscious of where he is and what he's doing.
We're still training and this is the thing that
tends to make the biggest difference in your walking.
I'm conscious of what he's doing.
I'm using the tools that he knows,
and I'm keeping the same expectation
no matter what we're doing.
Don't pull on the leash,
I will help you when you do.
And I'm also going to work the other tools
that we have to keep them focused on me
and keep them interested in me.
Now, even though this is relaxed,
this isn't moving through the park,
updating all my social media at the same time.
Here's a great opportunity to use one of the tools
that I use to help teach my dog to not pull on the leash,
which is having them respond to their name.
Just around the corner in the field,
there's a whole flock of geese.
I have Final on his long line,
I'm going to give him permission just to move about with me.
And when he gets interested I those geese,
I'm going to say his name, in a nice excited fashion.
Of course, when he turns,
I'm going to say yes, I'm going to throw a party
and let him know he's done a great job.
Now, I'm not just going to go up to those geese
and expect him to respond.
I'm going to try and start further away and again.
Build on success so then I can move closer.
It's really important that anytime
there's a distraction in your dog's life,
that you teach them to be successful.
Don't put them in a situation
where the distraction is too much for them to be successful.
Start far away and then move closer.
Why is your dog having a great response and aim important
when it comes to taking your dog for a walk?
Well, when I'm walking along,
when my dog is distracted by something,
if I'm able to call his name,
and get him refocused on me,
it saves me having to,
a, use the leash to get him refocus on me.
It's teaching him to listen to my voice.
And it's also teaching a little bit more value
for him staying closer to me,
checking in from time to time.
That's why it's important that having a strong response name
can really help your dogs walking on leash.
So the point of all this long line work is
to teach our dogs how to listen to us,
no matter what's going on around them,
'cause our eventual goal is that
this line is not in my hand.
We're not even attached to the dog,
but I can still call the dog's name,
or say come or even just say lie down,
and my dog responds each and every time.
This is about giving them the more freedom
by setting a really clear expectation right off the bat.
This isn't about being overbearing and controlling.
This is about teaching my dog to learn.
This is a great example of a place where teaching my dog
to walk right on my left hand side is really important.
This is a busy store with lots of people
and lots of things going on.
So I'm not going to afford her the freedoms to move anywhere.
I'm going to ask her to walk nice and tight
to my left hand side.
Now that we're in a more quiet outdoor,
I can give her permission to be relaxed and move about me
as I, let's say, check out some products on the shelf.
(mumbles)
You can see her only job
is to stay with me and not to pull on the leash.
Good girl.
Very nice job.
Good, okay.
But let's say things get a little busy
and somebody comes along,
I'm going to ask you to get in
and use that more formal walking position.
Okay, come, get in.
Let's go.
Girl, well lets go.
(mumbles)
Good girl.
The next time you take your dog for a walk,
I want you to think more about teaching them
to walk instead of just taking them for a walk.
And if you're still struggling with your leash walking,
check out this video right here.
It goes over some of the five most common mistakes
that people make when teaching a dog
to walk on a loose leash.
On that note, I'm Steve.
This is Final.
Happy Training.