Meet Shadow, an Aussiedoodle who is easily distracted and struggles with leash behavior. The key to successful walking on the leash starts without using any leash at all! That’s because the key is attentiveness. 

Before your dog is ready to practice with the harness and leash, you must begin with working on getting your dog to follow you and honor you. And this must go both ways; you must also honor your dog! By this I mean you need to be proactive rather than reactive. Always remember, it’s all about reinforcing and rewarding to get your dog to do the things you want him to do—not to focus on the behaviors you don’t want. 

So, let’s break this down into a few simple steps that will help you and your dog learn to walk well together.

Use these leash behavior tips to stop struggling with your dog and learn how you can have a more enjoyable walking experience for both of you.