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So You Want Your Dog to Walk on a Loose Leash? Here are some ideas!!!
Information
The capturing method has many names the most
common is "Be a Tree". It works best with puppies under 5 months of age.
This is because movement in any direction is a thrill for them. Whereas
older pups and dogs generally want to go in a specific direction.
Capture the Behavior: Start with the dog on a short 4' or less
leash, you sitting. If the dog is a confirmed puller you may want to have
something to read. Wait for the leash to be loose. When it is completely
loose (snap hanging vertical to floor) click and reward. When the dog has
not pulled for at least 30 seconds change your position. For some dogs
this may mean just leaning back as if you were going to get up. Stop
moving as soon as the leash tightens. If you are uncomfortable go back to
the previous position. Click and reward for a loose leash when it happens.
Once the dog has managed a loose leash for 45 seconds in the new position,
change positions again. This time work for a loose leash for 20 seconds
before changing position. Your current goal is to get to a standing
position with a loose leash. You may want to get this in several places
before moving on. (such as in the car, by any door in the house, and in
the yard) Once you have achieved that goal go on to the next goal of
moving with a loose leash.
Now that you have standing with a loose leash the reward after the click
can be moving. At no time to you move in any direction if the dog is
pulling. Keep your arms in a steady position, near your body. It is easy
to tople over if your arm is stretched out fully with a heavy dog at the
end of the leash pulling. Start with clicking one step on a loose
leash.(ie. one step C/R one step C/R) Then click for two steps on a loose
leash. Continue until you can regularly get 10 steps on a loose leash
before clicking. At this point click randomly for walking on a loose
leash. When you add distractions or new places click for fewer steps on a
loose leash and rebuild the distance you were getting before. Jackpot for
walking past any new or interesting distractions without pulling. Now is
also the time to introduce pace changes.(you walk faster or slower)
C/reward for staying with you on a loose leash when you change pace. You
can reduce the number of times you reward a change of pace when the dog
starts to anticipate a change of pace.
Now that you have done some capturing the loose leash, you may have
noticed that it doesn't work in all situations. Fortunately for clicker
trainers there are more options! Another one is shaping the loose leash.
This is a great way to teach your dog to steer through lots of
obstacles(such as people in a crowd). It also really helps many dogs
understand HOW to make the leash loose. What you are teaching the dog is
to move away from the pressure caused by a tight leash. This method
combines -R with +R. Now down to the nitty gritty.
Have your dog on a flat collar ( no prongs, halters, or choke collars as
this will not work with those) attach a short leash (4-6 foot) and sit in a
chair. You sit because for now you are not going anywhere. Now take up
the slack in the leash until you can feel the dog resisting the
leash.(sideways is the best direction to start with) DO NOT pull so hard
that the dog is forced to move. Keep the tension in the leash constant,
wait. You will hold steady and wait until the dog moves to relieve the
pressure. When the dog moves C/Reward. If the dog takes a step to relieve
the pressure C/Jackpot. The dog will move to relieve the pressure because
the dog is resisting the leash. Now that the dog has earned one C/R take
up the slack in the leash in the same direction again. When the dog moves
C/Reward. After 3-5 C/reward for some movement increase the criteria to
actually taking a step towards the leash.(away from the pressure)
After you have 10 C/Reward in a row for a complete step to cause the
leash to slacken it is time to change the direction of the pull. You
should shape every direction until the dog will reliably take one step( or
big body movement) upon feeling pressure from the leash towards the source
of the pressure. The big body movement will happen for the downward and
upward directions. Don't forget to do the forward and backwards
directions.
Now that you can move your dog around your chair or even in a square
in front of you it is time to stand up. Practice more moving away from
pressure with you standing. Some dogs will follow your hand at this point.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. (leads into luring another post)
Other dogs will take more than one step to move away from the pressure.
This also is not a bad thing (useful for getting other behaviors such as go
out, backing, and side pass) The trick here is to not reward for following
the hand. Let the behavior extinguish and only C/Reward for moving AFTER
the pressure is applied via the leash. Alternatively if you want to keep
the following the hand behavior, simply hold your hand steady and move your
body to tighten the leash.(spin, or move over until the leash is taut)
After sufficient practice you should be able to move your dog with just a
light pull on the leash while standing.
Time to add more difficulty. Now the dog should move away from the
pressure of the tightened lead while you are walking. See if you can get
the dog to do a figure eight around two chairs while you walk from one to
the other without going around the chairs yourself. Also you should
practice going up and down stairs. Once your dog will move away from the
pressure at a walk, try it at a fast walk or slow jog. If the dog doesn't
move to release the pressure just hold the leash steady and stop moving.
Be very still and wait for the dog to realize that nothing fun is
happening. If you have taken your time to teach the previous steps well,
the dog will catch on right away as to what it should do. After you can
walk in a low distraction environment move on to other environments with
more distractions. C/reward for each success at each new level of
difficulty. Keep adding difficulty until your dog moves to create a loose
leash whenever the leash tightens. This is a great exercise for pups from
5 months to 10 years (more or less depending on physical ability). It is
also a really fun game for everyone.
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