You often see dogs walking on a leash next to their owners in the park or on the pavement. How do you feel when seeing that happy moment? You have a dog too, but it’s getting old. You wonder if it’s possible to teach your pet to walk on a leash. Don’t worry! You will find out how to train an older dog to walk on a leash in this article.
This’s a popular challenge for owners who have an old dog or inherit an older dog. You should know that you can overcome this. An old dog can learn new tricks and walk with you.
Dogs of all ages are able to learn how to walk calmly on a leash without pulling although they have had bad habits before. All you need is the appropriate teaching approach. Teaching an old dog seems to be difficult, but the result is worth the time you spend. No pain, no gain. Practice, patience, and love will create a happy dog walking on the leash.
If your dog doesn’t pull the leash and walk calmly, you get less stressful and your dog feels comfortable. It also reduces danger while walking. If you have to run after the dog or your dog draws you to an unwanted place, it’s dangerous.
Imagine that you and the pet walk slowly in the park, that will be an interesting experience. You and your pet can get on well with each other.
It doesn’t matter if your dog is an adult or puppy, big or small. Every dog needs to learn how to walk calmly on a leash. This will allow you to take your dog for a walk in the park or neighborhood, or even to a crowded veterinary clinic without a tangle leash or dislocation. Even a small pint-sized dog can spoil the fun of walking by dragging, spinning, and jerking you around. The walking-on-a leash- skill is not only important for the dog, but for your personal safety as well.
Preparation
Good Leash
Your furry friend will get benefit from a short training leash which allows you to keep it around you at a certain distance. This special type of leash is useful because it helps you to fix up quickly bad behaviors and keep your dog away from hidden troubles.
Don’t use a prong collar, choke chain or shock collar. They may harm the dog, and make the animal scared during the training instead of helping it to learn happily. Each dog needs a suitable leash. A thin leash is for a little dog while a big dog fits with a thicker leash.
Make sure that the collar fits in the dog’s neck. It mustn’t be too tight or loose. If your dog tends to pull too much, a normal collar can make it breathless. You can replace the collar with a harness.
Fav Foods or Treats
Punishment shouldn’t be applied in the training process. You are advised to give compliments to reinforce good behaviors. Besides compliments, you had better prepare delicious foods. Dogs often respond strongly to favorite treats; therefore, gift your dog a tasty treat when it acts nicely. This encourages it to walk and follow your words. compliments, that is to say rewards, are effective to teach dogs.
Patience
The training process takes so much time. You and your pet have to work together to gain the achievement. You need to prepare patience and positivity. Through test and failure, you will explore the motivation that encourages the dog to learn and obey commands.
Read more: How To Correct Aggressive Dog Behavior? Signs, Causes and Treatments
How To Train An Older Dog To Walk On A Leash
Control Excitement
There are many dog owners saying that walking- on- a- leash challenge begins even before the walk begins. Your dog can agree to wear a collar of a leash and become very excited. It responds less to your order as well.
At first, you will want to train your pet to calm down while it’s walking with you. To do this, you need to practice a little in your house. You put the leash on your dog and take it off while your and the dog are still in the house.
You must make your dog understand that putting a leash on doesn’t mean a walk. Clipping it into and out of the leash inside the house will make the dog forget the relation between the leash and walk. It won’t be over-excited when you put a leash on its neck.
As your dog can keep calm with a leash on its neck, you can allow it to cross the door line. Your dog needs to practice much more. Let the dog leave the house, stop to walk, and back to the house. Continue practicing until the dog’s excitement is removed and it doesn’t show eagerness. When your dog is calm, you allow it to leave the house.
If your pet has extra energy, you can encourage it to run and use up that energy. You can play a chasing-and-catching game with the dog in a safe playground. Then put a leash on its neck and have a walk. The dog will focus more on your request if it doesn’t desire to run around.
One popular problem is that your dog drags the leash because it feels so excited outside and its instincts tell that it has to explore new things. If you follow the dog when it drags, it will continue dragging you anywhere it wants. This is quite dangerous.
To stop this bad behavior, you need to pause and stand still until it stops pulling. You perhaps must repeat this action until your pet knows that pulling the leash isn’t good. When the dog stops pulling and turns its head over to get your attention, you need to reinforce this good action with treats or compliments. It will understand that pulling is bad and follow your words.
Reverse Direction Technique
There is another method called Reverse Direction Technique. You won’t stand still and wait for the attention of the pet. You will give a sign like “Let’s go”, turn around, and walk in the opposite direction it is pulling. Don’t jerk or yank the leash. You should use an eager voice to catch the dog’s attention. When it follows you and stops pulling, you can continue to walk in the original direction.
Consistency
Practice requires patience and consistency. You have to follow the instructions strictly. Gradually, your dog will realize which behaviors are good. If one day you allow the dog to pull you to the park, all practice days before are clear. The dog forgets good behaviors, then you have to teach it again from the start.
Each dog will need different time to learn how to walk calmly on a leash. It’s possible to train an older dog to walk on a leash. To sum up, all things you need are instructions, patience, concentration, and consistency.
This clip offers effective tips to train an older dog to walk on a leash:
Wrap It Up
Bear in your mind tips above to get how to train an older dog to walk on a leash. We hope that all dog owners can have a nice walk with furry pets every day. Walking with lovely dogs is an interesting experience.