One of the biggest battles people have is with loose lead walking. We will be exploring this more, but this time we are going to look at how the preparation for a walk are part of this struggle.

Lots of dogs get really excited – or conversely run off and hide – when you get their lead/harness or collar. This can make it an inital battle to get the equipment on along with the behaviour that follows – whether thats massive excitement, jumping around, mouthing the lead, grabbing you, barking or whining. Some dogs will get shut down and stand really still (freeze) so we can be fooled into thinking they are ok. But, when you watch them they look very stiff and dont blink much.

Neither of those states are ideal. The dog is in ‘fight or flight’ brain chemistry and this will influence how they then leave the house.

Getting ready – what clues do you give your dog?

Humans are creatures of habit – it means we do things without having to think about them so we can be thinking or doing other things. Dogs are expert environmental learners and pick up on these clues… Human picked up the lead, got dog walking shoes out, filled treat bag, picked up keys… All these can prompt a reaction once the dog figures out what follows.

Trial this out with your dog to see what it is – sometimes its a combination, so dog walking shoes could mean going in the garden but paired with car keys = dog walk coming!

Calm for collar/harness and lead

This can be a signal to a dog – either that its a great thing about to happen, or its not good. Again, both make the dog stop thinking as their brain chemistry changes to that of ‘fight, flight, freeze or fool around’. This means their lights are on but no one is home! Cue frustration and irritation from you!

We need to teach the dog that the harness/collar/lead doesn’t always mean a walk, or that its going on them. If this happens every time, you build a strong prediction. Varying what happens reduces this, which reduces the brain chemistry shift. So the dog is then calmer.

Start with just walking around holding it, hang it around your neck, hang it out of your pocket… then put it away. This is the process of de-sensitisation and is aiming to reduce the reaction to it.

Have a look at this great video by Chirag Patel on calm for harness  and this one on clipping and unclipping the lead

Calm with hands reaching towards you

We worked in class on how to teach calm around hands that reach towards you to prevent mouthing and launching behaviour – and to spot small behaviours which show the dog is not confident (weight shift, whites of the eyes being seen, head turning away etc).

Now work on having the equipment in your hands and reach towards the dog – reinforce calm standing and move the equipment away so you can practice again.

Calm around the door

Practice some training around the door area, sit in a chair with a drink, read the paper or your phone. Things that are not linked to opening the door and leaving.  Here’s another amazing Chirag video on being safe at the front door