What does a leash mean to your dog?

Many dogs and owners only know a leash as a means to control. But if we work on changing that a leash is simply a safety net that keeps our dogs safe when out in the world. If we work our leash walking and engaged connection when walking together outside than the leash is simply something that is there and doesn’t affect their behavior.

Does your dog head for the hills when the leash comes off? Does your dog see the leash in your hand at the dog park and avoid coming back over to you? Let’s work on changing that. Let’s work on changing our dogs associations of what a leash means.

Have some fun with it! How good is your dog at letting you put their collar and leash on before a walk? Here is a fun way to test that!

Teaching loose leash walking should not be about power and control. It should be about understanding how to hold your engagement and connection out in the world. Keep in mind it is not easy for you or your dog to do this. Think about how many times on a walk you find your mind wandering, are you thinking about what’s for dinner, what someone at work said, about that thing on social media that bugged you? If you are thinking any of these things, in those moments you have disconnected from your dog. We cannot expect them to stay connect to us, if we can’t stay connected to them. Their noses and ears take in so much more information than we can, their senses are being bombarded with information when they walk, it takes a lot of concentration for them to handle all of that and keep track of us. So be patient and know your progress will eb and flow. Know some periods of their life will be harder than others. Stay at it, keep working on staying connected!