One of the most important skills any dog can learn is to walk politely on a leash without pulling. Loose leash walking makes your daily strolls easier, safer, and significantly more enjoyable for both you and your canine companion.
Puppy owners often get frustrated because they assume their dog will automatically understand how to behave when the leash goes on. However, puppies aren’t born knowing what a leash is or how to walk nicely alongside a human. Leash walking is a trained skill that you will need to actively teach and continue to reinforce as your puppy grows into adulthood.
When to Start Leash Training Your Puppy
It’s best to begin leash training your puppy as soon as you bring them home. Certified Professional Dog Trainers advise starting the foundations of leash training before you even take an actual walk outside.
It’s never too early to introduce the basics of loose leash walking to your puppy. You can kick off this training even if your puppy isn’t fully vaccinated or ready to go out on public walks yet. Introducing your puppy to the leash right away in a safe, indoor environment will help them learn the core skill and ensure they are ready to walk politely as they get older.
What You’ll Need Before You Start Training
To set your puppy up for success when teaching loose leash walking, you will want to gather the right supplies and equipment ahead of time.
Important Tools
- Treats: Food motivation is what inspires your dog to work. Have plenty of small treats that your dog is excited about, including a mix of high-value treats (like freeze-dried liver or cheese) and low-value treats (like regular kibble).
- Harness or Collar: When leash training puppies, you can attach the leash to a collar or a harness. For larger or stronger puppies, a front-clip harness is highly recommended. This design makes it easier to direct the puppy if they start to pull. Another solid option is a properly fitted leather or nylon flat collar. A harness is generally the preferred choice for young puppies because it removes pressure from their sensitive neck area if they happen to lunge. Make sure the harness fits correctly so the puppy cannot slip out of it and ensure it does not restrict their natural movement.
- The Leash: Loose leash training requires the right lead. You want to use a leash that is comfortable to hold and allows you to maintain total control. Avoid using retractable leashes, and opt for a standard, lightweight 6-foot leash instead.
Optional Tools
Some owners choose to train their dogs with a clicker, a method known as clicker training. If you are implementing clicker training with your puppy, keep a clicker easily accessible. As you begin your training sessions, you can use it to precisely mark the exact moment your dog stays close to your side.
Choosing the Right Training Cues
It’s crucial to give your dog clear, consistent verbal cues so they understand exactly what you want them to do. You want them to walk calmly with you rather than pulling ahead on the leash. Verbal cues signal to your dog that you are moving together and can also alert them to impending direction changes.
Don’t be afraid to keep things engaging. It is perfectly fine to be loud, fun, and a little silly when teaching your puppy new skills. Clear, upbeat communication while training—especially when teaching a difficult skill like loose leash walking—makes a massive difference.
Your dog responds beautifully to enthusiastic praise. For loose leash walking, utilizing a cue like “Let’s go” or “With me” tells your dog that you want them to move with you. Directional cues like “Turn” can help your puppy understand that a change in course is happening, signaling them to look to you for guidance.
Formal Heeling Versus Leash Walking
To teach your dog to walk politely, it is helpful to have a clear picture in your mind of what success looks like. Generally, everyday owners simply want a puppy to walk on a loose leash next to them without pulling or tripping anyone up.
Polite leash walking is not the same as a formal heel cue like you would see in formal Obedience or AKC Rally competitions. Formal heeling is a much more advanced skill that requires tight positioning and constant eye contact, which you can teach later if you choose to pursue dog sports. For everyday loose leash walking, we just need our dog to stay near us and walk at or near our side without tension on the line. To achieve this, we praise and reward our puppy for simply staying in our general vicinity with the leash attached.
The more we practice, the more the puppy will learn that this zone earns them rewards, making them far more willing to stay by our side naturally.
Teaching Leash Walking Step-by-Step
The very first steps of leash walking can begin right in the comfort of your living room. Start by getting your puppy used to wearing a harness and having a leash attached to it. Rewarding your dog for remaining calm during this process at an early age will help them develop a strong sense of value in staying close to you.
Introducing a Marker Word
To get started with leash training, your dog must understand a reward marker. This marker can be a clicker or a consistent verbal word like “yes.” You want your dog to make a firm association between the sound of the marker and the arrival of a reward, meaning: the sound signals that they did the right thing and a treat is on the way.
Begin by clicking or saying your verbal marker word in a quiet area with no distractions. The moment you make the sound, immediately give your puppy a treat. After a few quick repetitions, your puppy will start looking directly at you for a treat the moment they hear that specific sound. Once they understand that the marker equals success, you can use it actively during training. Remember to only use your reward marker when you have a treat ready to deliver.
Rewarding Attention and Eye Contact
The world is an incredibly distracting and exciting place for a young puppy. As we work on leash walking skills, we must ensure our puppies understand that paying attention to us is highly rewarding. Start by teaching your puppy to watch you by marking and rewarding them any time they offer voluntary eye contact.
Engagement is a core skill that requires dedicated practice. Work on building consistent eye contact and automatic check-ins. By creating immense value around checking in, your dog will naturally offer this behavior when out on real walks, ensuring they want to stay close to you.
‘Let’s Go’ or ‘With Me’ Cues
It is incredibly important that we communicate clearly with our dogs about where we are heading while walking so they aren’t just caught off guard or dragged along. Teaching directional cues for turning left and right, alongside a general “let’s go” cue, solves this issue.
To build this, pair your physical movement with the verbal cue. Click and reward your dog every few steps as you move forward together. When it is time to turn or change directions, get your dog’s attention by saying their name first. Next, as you make the turn, introduce your cue like “turn” or a directional indicator like “left” or “right,” then treat your dog as they follow your lead. By communicating that a turn is coming, your puppy learns to shift their weight with you rather than getting left behind or caught at the end of the line.
Teaching the Automatic Leash-End Lookback
Even with excellent loose leash walking, there will inevitably be times when your dog gets distracted and reaches the very end of the leash. When your dog hits this boundary, we want to encourage them to automatically check back in with us rather than leaning in and pulling hard against the collar.
To train this habit, say your puppy’s name the exact moment they reach the end of the leash and tension occurs. When they look back toward you, immediately mark the behavior, deliver the reward as they return to your side, and then start moving forward again. After several repetitions of rewarding this sequence, checking in the moment the leash goes taut will become an automatic reflex for your puppy.
Bringing It Outside
When your puppy thoroughly understands the concept of loose leash walking inside your house or in the backyard, you are finally ready to introduce them to the heavy distractions of the real world. Be sure to have plenty of high-value treats packed and ready to go.
Before you step off the driveway, cue your puppy to watch you and reward them for their initial attention. Utter your walking cue, move forward, and shower your puppy with verbal praise. Just as you practiced indoors, mark and reward your puppy for staying near your side and checking in while the leash remains completely slack. Remember, walking nicely outside is incredibly challenging for a young dog. Keep the praise high and the rewards flowing frequently.
Common Leash Training Challenges
Patience is an absolute necessity when it comes to leash training. Teaching loose leash walking around real-world distractions takes time for a puppy to master. A major issue many puppy owners face is failing to explicitly communicate what they do want the dog to do. If you don’t want your dog pulling, you must proactively show them that walking beside you and mirroring your direction changes is the ultimate goal.
Another common hurdle is when a puppy starts chewing, tugging, or playing with the leash itself during a walk. If your puppy starts biting the line, grab their attention with a high-value treat, deliver a calm “drop” command, and praise them the moment the leash leaves their mouth. Afterward, try to keep the leash loose but minimize excess dangling slack so it becomes less tempting to grab.
Give Puppies More Choices
It might sound counterintuitive, but if you want your puppy to pull less during structured times, you need to give them more dedicated opportunities to simply sniff and choose where they want to walk.
Ensuring your puppy goes somewhere several times a week where they can just sniff and explore wherever they want is incredibly beneficial. These dedicated “sniffari” walks, where the puppy dictates the pace and direction, go a very long way in meeting their mental stimulation and enrichment needs, leaving them much calmer during structured training walks.
When to Get Help From a Professional
Seeking professional guidance when training your dog is never a sign of failure, nor does it mean you are a bad dog owner. You never have to wait until you are completely overwhelmed and frustrated before reaching out to a certified dog trainer.
Working with a professional right from the start can prevent your puppy from developing undesirable habits in the first place. Enrolling your pup in an AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy class or a local basic obedience class is a phenomenal way to get your companion’s education started on the right foot.
References
- American Kennel Club (AKC). Puppy Shot Schedule and Vaccine Guide.
- Miller, M. (CPDT-KA). Puppy Development and Leash Engagement Strategies. Oh My Dog Training.
- American Kennel Club (AKC). Choosing the Right Collars, Leashes, and Harnesses for Training.