Dogs on Leashes

If you want your dog to walk calmly at your side, the first thing you should do is shorten the leash. There’s absolutely NO reason your dog should even have the space to lead you. If your dog is a super-puller & you have less upper body strength, wrap a leash up your non-dominant hand, cross the leash behind your legs & use your dominant hand to redirect (especially for women I find this trick to be extremely helpful because our legs tend to possess a lot more strength that our upper bodies). Ensure the leash is short enough to keep your dog at your side. Walking in tandem with your dog does so much more than allow you to exert control: it establishes a solid bond & respect. Retractable leashes are good if you’re working on recall & how to be in off-leash areas, but for the love of everything logical: don’t walk your pets on city streets with them unless you’re willing to see your dog hit by a car, risk it running into a reactive dog when you;re too far away to help or intervene or even Sparta kicked by someone like me that isn’t going to chance your dog’s reactivity on mine. My best advice for a dog that heels properly: make the training process fun. Really engage your dog while walking by switching up speeds/direction, spinning, walking backwards, running while alternating on/off curbs or walking on retaining walls. When you stop request they sit & focus. This makes YOU more interesting than other stimulus you might encounter while out. Don’t slack on teaching leash manners... a dog pulling you down the street is NEVER a good look. Unless you like looking like your dog’s bitch 😂 #notevensorry