LOOSE LEASH WALKING 101

PRE-LAUNCH

Engagement & Communication: We are assuming before you begin this work that you have been teaching your dog how to engage and focus with energy using our Engagement exercises, and that you’ve established a communication system including the use of markers. If these things have not been done yet, you will have a much harder time working through this progression.

The Art of the Lure: You should also be somewhat familiar with Simpawtico’s system for working with food and our system of communication with Markers.

To briefly recap, we hold food by putting it between our index and middle finger, using the end of our thumb to trap it in place; and then we cup our hand as if we're tying to hold water. This way the we can control the dog’s head; they’ll press into the hand but can’t quite get the food.

As you practice with luring this way, you’re teach-ing your dog the important skill of targeting. Luring is how we mechanically manipulate a dog’s body to where and how we want it, so targeting is a fundamental component.

Holding the food this way will also keep you from getting chomped by an overenthusiastic dog! Refer to our video-post to learn more: http://www.simpawtico-training.com/taking-treats-nicely/

Equipment: You’ll need a few pieces of hardware to work.

• Six foot leash with a metal clasp • Collar AND harness (yes, both) • Alternates: British-style slip jead or dominant dog collar

Use a standard leather or nylon leash. Do not use a bungee leash, and do not put knots in the strap.

DO NOT train on a retractable, prong collar, or metal choke chain. A retractable leash is for experienced dogs and will not work well during this progression. A prong collar is a sensitive finishing tool for certain dogs for certain behaviors; we do not ever teach on a prong collar. Choke chains are dangerous and don’t even do what they’re supposed to do very well anyways.

The best training always starts with an intelligent, well-structured, reward-based system that focuses on instruction, coaching, encouragement, and practice. Do not rely on hardware to do that for you or it will be a crutch, and you’ll get mediocre results to boot. Hardware should enhance your system; it shouldn’t BE your system.

Habituation to Equipment: If your dog is new to any of the pieces you have to spend a little time habituating your dog to it. It is ill-advised to simply put it on them and hope for the best. Just like anything new, “you gotta get used to it.”

Fit your equipment to your dog in a session all by itself. We don’t recommend doing it right before your first walking session; a couple of consecutive days beforehand is recommended. The best way to acclimate your dog to their hardware is to use Classical Conditioning.

• Show each piece to your dog, treat. • Put it on, treat-treat. • Make adjustments, treat-treat-treat. • Leave it on for a half-hour. Treat them intermittently for just wearing it. Play with them. • Take it off, no treats (having it on should be better than taking it off).

• Some pieces that weird your dog out may need more steps in between to help them habituate.

Leashes are weird, so for some dogs you may want to even clip a leash on and let them drag it around the house or yard for a while.

Take a look at our Classical Conditioning handout for more info.

TRAINING SPACEOne of the biggest mistakes owners make is doing too much too fast. They skip rehearsals and go straight for the big performance. In this instance, most owners attempt to teach a dog how to walk on leash in an ultra-stimulating environment. That is to say, they take the dog on a walk around the neighborhood and then try to force the training during all the excitement.

This is totally backwards! It’s like teaching someone basketball at the playoffs!

This work needs to done first in a neutral, distraction-free area. You need to focus on building muscle memory and motor imagery for your dog. These mechanical skills need to be learned away from squirrels, skateboards, and delivery men.

Work inside your home, in a garage, or any reasonably secluded area. You’ll get to your walk around the neighborhood at some point, but be patient and build skills first.

This is why you’ll use BOTH a collar and harness. We work the collar while we’re practicing and learning. In the meantime, you’ll need to be able to move your dog around the world—to vet appointments, the groomer’s, etc—and you’ll use the harness for this. It’s ok if your dog pulls into the harness because it won’t interfere with the walking practice on the collar. Eventually your rehearsals will transition to the outside world and you’ll walk around on the collar with no problems.

Pick a Side: Choose a side for your dog to walk on. Some things to consider:

• If you’re ever going to compete with your dog, it’s pretty universal to be on the left. • For pet dogs it doesn’t really matter what side. Your dog doesn’t care; just pick one.

Pick a side to train on, and be consistent with it. As you practice, it will start becoming habitual and your dog will naturally gravitate to that side, like going into formation. This is especially useful if you have more than one dog (although you should train multiple dogs individually first).

PHASE 1: LEASH OVER SHOULDER

• Sling the leash over your shoulder. It's just there to keep your dog from bailing out; we're not going to give any obedience information with it yet. Make sure to give enough slack that there is no tension on the leash when your dog is in the correct position. KEEP THE HAND CLOSEST TO THE DOG OFF OF THE LEASH!

• Your hip is the boundary; reward your dog when their shoulders are behind your hip. You'll use the hand closest to your dog to lure + reward. Hold the food as we’ve shown you so your dog’s nose connects to your palm, but you can still retain control of the food.

• Only work in straight lines. Turn 180º at the end of a line so your dog rotates around you. This makes it predictable for your dog and they can focus on the mechanics. Avoid curves or arcing turns for now.

• Start walking, and praise + reward your dog when they're in the right position. We use our duration marker, “Good” here.

• Keep your rate of reinforcement high. Don’t hold back. You may initially reward every step. You’ll be able to scale this back as your dog improves.

• For some dogs you'll have to place the food on the ground by your heel because they're so rowdy. Place the next one before they finish so they don’t raise their head and dart. This is all temporary.

• If your dog forges ahead, do not wrangle them back; your dog has to figure out for themselves

where the best place to be is. Simply about-face and show them where to be with your lure + target and your voice. Mark it with “Good” when they find their place.

• Make sure you're using your VOICE for good, representative feedback the whole time! We don’t practice at funerals and libraries.

• As you practice you should notice your dog lingering by your hip and glancing up at you to “check in.” You'll have to use fewer and fewer rewards to maintain position.

• Work for about five minutes, then take a break. Two or three 5 minute sessions will make a tremendous difference!

DO THIS EVERY DAY FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS UNTIL IT FEELS NEARLY EFFORTLESS.

PHASE 2: LEASH IN FRONT

After a couple of days, you’re going to make a big jump here and add some new layers to the work.

Start holding the leash somewhat normally in front of your body. The hand farthest from your dog will be your anchor hand. The hand closest to your dog will still be for targeting + luring + rewarding.

2.1a PROPER, PROFESSIONAL ANCHOR

• The leash should always exit the palm on the pinky side, not the thumb side.• Hook the leash on your thumb; loop the leash strap around your thumb on top of that, and make a fist around it (see diagrams below)• This is secure and tight, and very strong because it works with your body!• This retains sensitive control• You can change the leash length very quickly and easily.• This is called a “thumblock” and it works with any leash.

DON’T WRAP!Wrapping the leash around your hand is a common strategy, but it’s fraught with problems. For one, it’s cumbersome; you have to unwrap it to use your hand or to change the leash length. Two, it’s bulky; you lose a lot of dexterity and sensitive control. Also, on a large dog, it has a tendency to crush or even cause “leash burn.” The anchor shown above is super flexible for all sorts of leashes, dogs, and situations. Once you get used to doing it you’ll never go back!

PINKY SIDE! PINKY SIDE!Always have the leash exit the pinky side. If your leash exits the thumb side, you’re going to have a harder time. This is actually working against your body’s design. It’s weaker, allows your dog to forge ahead, and makes other moves harder.

2.1b IF YOU HAVE SMALL HANDS, TRY THIS ALTERNATE ANCHOR

• Hook the leash on your wrist; loop the leash strap around your index finger, and make a fist around it (see diagrams below)• This is also very secure and tight.• You can still change the leash length very quickly and easily.• This is called a “fingerlock” and it also works with any leash.

2.2 WORKING STEPS

• Put your anchor hand at about your navel. Still, keep your other hand OFF OF THE LEASH. Use it for targeting and rewarding.

• When you initiate motion say, “Let’s go!” This will be your conditioned consistent phrase.

• Start picking up the pace somewhat. One of the main reasons dog pull in the first place is because their normal walking speed is faster than ours. If we walk like we’re really going somewhere (think: late for a lunch date) will help bring the whole thing together.

• Start really working to reduce the number of treats you use. Get longer walking one each piece of food.

• Use your voice to reinforce looking at you. Feedback is important!

You're building muscle memory and conditioned responses. Keep working in your neutral environments and SLOWLY increase distractions. Keep rewarding at your hip and using your voice!

2.3 ADD THE HEEL-SIT

The Heel-Sit is going to be your power move in public. This is potentially one of the most important components of your walking practice, even though it’s a stationary behavior. Out of everything you practice, this one should receive the bulk of your attention.

At the end of a line, you’ll turn like normal, but you’ll stop, and slowly take your target up over the dog’s head, almost like you’re pulling a parking brake. If your dog is familiar with sit (which they should be) they’ll sit at your side. Use your terminal marker, “YES!” and reward.

• Be patient. Bouncy dogs may try to jump for the lure. Keep it connected to their nose and only reward when they’re stable. That “Yes” marker helps your dog pinpoint the moment it looks right and they’ve earned a reward.

• As you practice, this will become a reflexive response; your dog will learn to sit automatically when you stop.

• Just like with all lure-reward trained behaviors, you need to get the lure out of your hand ASAP. As soon as your dog is starting to become fluent with the move, try cueing without the food lure, just using the hand signal. In short order, the food will only appear after your dog has done the maneuver.

• As this becomes habitual, you will bookend your walks with Heel-Sits. Always begin your walk in a Heel-Sit, and always release your dog from walking from this seated position. Use a neutral release word like “Free!” or “Break” at the end. Ritualizing this sitting will cultivate engagement and buy-in.

2.4 HEEL-SIT DURING STRAIGHTAWAYS

• When your Heel-Sit is on-point and your dog is sitting reliably, move that practice into the straightaways. That is to say, instead of practicing the Heel-Sits mainly at the end of a straight line, start inserting it into the straightaway. This simulates coming to a crosswalk or some other stop.

• Don’t ambush your dog by stopping too abruptly. Take a few steps to roll to a stop, and use your voice to keep your dog’s attention. Help them through this.

• If your dog swings out in front of you, you stopped to quickly. Slow it down, and show them how to do it.

PHASE 3: SAY HELLO

As soon as you’re getting your Heel-Sits to happen whenever you want, we need to add a very common kind of distraction: a person standing who wants to pet your dog in public.

• Enlist the help of a neutral, non-reactive friend or family member. This person will be your practice decoy. This person will stand there calmly and wait.

• Bring your dog up to this person, and prompt your Heel-Sit in front of them. Your dog may be excited and bouncy. This is why your helper can’t react. Keep working on that sit, prompt them, and give good feedback. If your dog is too crazy, abort and move away. Come back and try again.

• Use our duration marker, “Good,” here as soon as the bottom touches down.

• If and only if your dog sits, THEN your friend reaches down and pets them briefly.

• Then say “YES!” and peel away; reward your dog on the way out rather than at the site. Moving away with you is part of the process!

• Repeat several times. Every time you reexpose your dog to the same person, the setup becomes less stimulating and you can focus on polishing the mechanical skills.

• Try to get as many people as you can to help you with this. As you get into Phase 4, start doing this in different environments as much as you can. Once you have to do this with a real stranger in public, it’s got to be good because chances are, that person is going to do everything they can to screw it up for you! Hurray for random people...NOT.

PHASE 4: MOVE OUTSIDE

4.1 PROGRESSIVELY DISTRACTING ENVIRONMENTS

By now you should be doing “driveway work,” that is to say that you’re moving the work outside slowly. If you’ve built your foundation well enough it should only take a couple of sessions to get acclimated to a new environment. Start taking your work out of the driveway.

• LISTEN: You should fully expect to have to lower criteria and reintroduce training aids each time you change the scene. Which means that if you’ve gotten to a point where you’re using hardly any food and minimal prompting inside, you will need to use more food and prompting in a new environment. DO NOT EXPECT IT TO MAGICALLY TRANSLATE OUTSIDE SEAMLESSLY. If you think like that, you will fail.

• If you feel like you’re struggling or your dog is frustrating you, then back it off. Either your foundation is not taught well enough, or your dog is overwhelmed.

• Don’t start on it right out the door. Most dogs need to go potty first. Allow them to go potty initially without making it a “walking” exercise. You’ll both be happier afterwards! Tighten up the expectations after they’ve got their business done.

• Allow your dog some “sniff ‘n’ stroll” opportunities; It’s their walk too, after all. Use your neutral release word for this like “Free!” or “Break!”

• Work in your driveway for a bit. When that’s good, go to the sidewalk in front of your house. When that’s good, go a few houses down and back. When that’s good, go around the block. When that’s good, go to the park. See how were’ gradually cranking it up? Take your time and reattain proficiency in each new “zone” before moving up the ladder. Depending on your dog and how often you train, this process could take days or weeks.

4.2 ROAD CONSTRUCTION

Walking should never devolve into mindless exercise. Mental stimulation is just as important as physical stimulation. This is a great opportunity to also work on other things in your training and really sew up loose ends. Here are some strategies:

• Behaviors that need extra work should be done every 25 yards. Having trouble with sloppy Downs, for example? In a three mile walk your dog would do it 211 times. It’ll be FIXED IN A DAY.

• Regular maintenance can be done every 100 yards. Or every 1/2 mile. Or however often you want and/or need. Keep your walking dynamic and fun. Keep it active and stimulating mentally. This is valuable practice time!

• Keep using your Heel-Sits as necessary. Crosswalks, elevators, doorways, parking lots, farmer’s markets...these are all practical applications of what you’ve learned.

UNDERHAND(INCORRECT)

OVERHAND(CORRECT)

4.3 ADDING SENSITIVE CONTROL

Having reduced the need for constant targeting or rewarding, your control hand can now grip the leash. Use an overhand grip (shown right). Remember: Pinky side! Pinky side!

• Use small amounts of pressure to indicate the direction you want your dog to move. Do not drag, pull, or reel them in. Just apply directional pressure with your wrist. When your dog moves, immediately release all pressure from the system, say “Yes!” and explode into motion, rewarding at your hip as usual. The idea is for your dog to learn to be “light on the leash” and to happily interpret information from the leash.

• Use feather-light tension. If you need to “get outta Dodge” that’s what your anchor hand (the opposite hand) is for. Then you use your body (core and legs) and the leash is tight across your body.

• Always face the direction you want to go.

• Practice in with random direction changes. Use your voice! This is not an ambush for your dog! Let them know you’re about to move and to pay attention. Praise + reward HUGE when they stick to you like glue!

• Tension Control is a skill—nay, an art—all unto itself. To get really good at it takes some focused practice. It’s powerful stuff, though. We have a PDF on this on our website.

• At this stage a slip lead or dominant dog collar may be an appropriate finishing tool. Refer to our PDF on using this, too, for more info.

APPENDIX: ADD-ONS

SPEED CONTROLAdjusting speed as you practice will help your dog develop better skill, focus, and body awareness. The practical side, of course, is there will be times when you need to either move quickly (e.g. across a busy intersection), or navigate slowly (e.g. through a crowd or tight space).

For speed control, we use the words "Hurry," and "Easy." As always, remember our Master Key here is to say it before you move. So you’ll say “Hurry” before we speed up, and say “Easy” before we slow down. This teaches your dog that the words are important.

To speed up:1. You're walking with your dog in a straight line2. Say "Hurry" in an upbeat voice3. Lure them to trot with you by walking briskly or jogging a short distance (5-10 steps)4. Stop (Heel-Sit), mark with “Yes!” and reward + praise (wait for stability if necessary)

Practice this a few times. For a bouncy, jazzed up dog, you may need to start with a brisk walk instead of a jog and work the speed up as it becomes smoother.

To slow down:1. You're walking with your dog in a straight line2. Say "Easy" in a calm voice3. Lure them to linger with you by walking slowly and praising attention; take long strides

instead of the short steps you’re probably more inclined to do. This keeps your dog in “walk” mode whereas the short steps make them think they’re about to sit. Move 5-10 steps.

4. Stop (Heel-Sit), mark with “Yes!” and reward + praise

Slowing down is a great opportunity to recapture attention when it wanders. The “slow down for attention” skill will come in really handy as you move out into the real world more. As always, give good verbal feedback.

INSIDE TURNSInside turns are little tricky (as you might’ve discovered) as opposed to “outside turns” where your dog is rotating around you as you turn. Here’s how to tighten up those inside turns.

• Learn to anticipate. Your timing as the handler is important. A step or two before the turn, begin prompting.

• Prompt it by dragging your control hand. Think like you’re in a canoe on the river and you just drop your hand in the water and the current carries it back. Your control hand will move just like that—straight back with steady, even, light back-pressure. You can also say “Easy” if necessary.

• If you time it all right, the back-pressure will prompt your dog to drop back “into the pocket” as you make the turn. It should be a buttery-smooth maneuver from start to finish. Give verbal feedback all the way!

simpawtico , LLCDOG TRAINING www.simpawtico-training.comCopyright © 2019

APPENDIX: ADD-ONS

SPEED CONTROLAdjusting speed as you practice will help your dog develop better skill, focus, and body awareness. The practical side, of course, is there will be times when you need to either move quickly (e.g. across a busy intersection), or navigate slowly (e.g. through a crowd or tight space).

For speed control, we use the words "Hurry," and "Easy." As always, remember our Master Key here is to say it before you move. So you’ll say “Hurry” before we speed up, and say “Easy” before we slow down. This teaches your dog that the words are important.

To speed up:1. You're walking with your dog in a straight line2. Say "Hurry" in an upbeat voice3. Lure them to trot with you by walking briskly or jogging a short distance (5-10 steps)4. Stop (Heel-Sit), mark with “Yes!” and reward + praise (wait for stability if necessary)

Practice this a few times. For a bouncy, jazzed up dog, you may need to start with a brisk walk instead of a jog and work the speed up as it becomes smoother.

To slow down:1. You're walking with your dog in a straight line2. Say "Easy" in a calm voice3. Lure them to linger with you by walking slowly and praising attention; take long strides

instead of the short steps you’re probably more inclined to do. This keeps your dog in “walk” mode whereas the short steps make them think they’re about to sit. Move 5-10 steps.

4. Stop (Heel-Sit), mark with “Yes!” and reward + praise

Slowing down is a great opportunity to recapture attention when it wanders. The “slow down for attention” skill will come in really handy as you move out into the real world more. As always, give good verbal feedback.

INSIDE TURNSInside turns are little tricky (as you might’ve discovered) as opposed to “outside turns” where your dog is rotating around you as you turn. Here’s how to tighten up those inside turns.

• Learn to anticipate. Your timing as the handler is important. A step or two before the turn, begin prompting.

• Prompt it by dragging your control hand. Think like you’re in a canoe on the river and you just drop your hand in the water and the current carries it back. Your control hand will move just like that—straight back with steady, even, light back-pressure. You can also say “Easy” if necessary.

• If you time it all right, the back-pressure will prompt your dog to drop back “into the pocket” as you make the turn. It should be a buttery-smooth maneuver from start to finish. Give verbal feedback all the way!