6# troubling training tip- leash skill

Training trouble tip for struggling owners; 

Welcome to this edition of Strictly Dogs where you can find some advice on how to correct some common training problems I see everyday of my life.

Being taken for a walk by your dog. This problem I see everyday and I have trained a dog very recently,to stop pulling her owner and I'm 16. To understand her place is next to or just behind, not in front! and still sometimes I have to remind her where she must be in walking but that's what training is about just repetition and not getting annoyed with a dog who might take longer to learn. 

This can be fixed in this method which I personally use and it has never failed me,
the rule I follow is exercise then discipline, which means firstly walk your dog on a good walk then after, for me, training commences but that's not a must I feel it just makes it a lot easier when the dog is in a calmer state of mind and at a slower pace.

Firstly, Place the collar high on the dogs neck and begin to walk, each time the dog steps a few steps in front of you pull a sharp tug to the inside near your hip or in an upward direction(the bigger the dog the harder the tug as the dog must feel you mean business as a light one wont work) after the pull the dog should come back a few steps,make the dog sit and when the dog sits, relax your correction arm. 

   Repeat this as many times as needed and when the dog is doing well stop and reward with a treat. It's all about repetition. If you give up and say "whatever just go ahead and pull" the dog would have won and then it would of all have been for nothing. It took me two walks to train the lab as I didn't let her win at all it didn't take long and I never got annoyed with her when she didn't listen, i did not get annoyed as that creates a bad state in you and your dog. 

This is not cruelty {imagine flicking someone, it really hardly hurts that's what a tug feels to a dog} Hard and pure sturdy muscle in their necks can take a tug and sometimes they don't react at all if too light, proving your the leader means having to show the dog you mean what you say and letting them know they are not in charge on the walk.

Always remember reward the dog with a relaxed leash when she/he does what you would like. Hope this helps anyone out their struggling and thank you for reading this edition of Strictly Dogs
By Daniella aged 16, Dog Trainer.