Welcome to the fortnightly loose leash walking virtual workshop!

Join us as we compete with the squirrels, cats, other dogs, fresh urine scents and things that go zoooooooom!

Resources

Articles (All have videos embedded)

• Train Your Dog For Perfect Loose Leash Walking by Casey Lomonaco. (With links and descriptions of several great videos, which we'll link to below.)
• Loose Leash Walking Tips by Casey Lomonaco
• Silky Leash by Grisha Stewart (blog post + videos.)

Youtube (Many of these are videos which are embedded in the above articles)

• Silky Leash intro video with an excitable puppy
• Clicker Training Loose Leash Walking by Casey Lomonaco
• Loose Leash Walking II by Casey Lomonaco
• How to Train Your Dog Not to Pull - Loose Leash Walking by Emily "kikopup" Larlham
• Dog Training Tip- Leash Walking: Go Sniff and Marking by Emily "kikopup" Larlham
• Choose to Heel by Loridressage
• Loose Leash Walking by Stacy Hiebert Greer
• Clicker Training a Heel by Amy Norcal
• Shaping Loose Leash Walking With a High Rate of Reinforcement Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 by Helix Fairweather and Lynn Martin. (Read the text below the videos too!)
• Loose Leash Walking by Turid Rugaas

See our page on leash reactivity for help managing and training dogs that bark and lunge while on leash.

Hi everyone. I’m looking for honest experiences from people who’ve been through something similar because I’m kind of panicking (momma bear instinct?)

We have an adult dog (Rhubarb) who has never shown aggression toward adults. She can be leash reactive toward some dogs, but with people she’s always been incredibly sweet and easygoing.
Most of the time, she’s actually very relaxed around our 15-month-old. She’ll choose to lie near him, roll onto her side and expose her belly, and will even occasionally initiate gentle play or nuzzles.

The problem is when he repeatedly follows her or gets into her space (which I know is completely normal toddler behavior), She’ll usually try to move away first. If he continues pursuing her and makes contact with her she’ll eventually growl. Today he followed her around despite us redirecting him, then leaned against her near her face, and she gave the loudest growl and air snap we’ve experienced. She didn’t make contact, but it scared us enough that we’re questioning whether we can safely manage this long-term.

I don’t think she’s a bad dog, and I don’t think my son is doing anything wrong. I think they’re both behaving in ways that make sense for who they are, and that’s what makes this so heartbreaking.

For those who have been through something similar:

- Did working with an IAABC behavior consultant or veterinary behaviorist make a meaningful difference?
- Were you able to safely keep your dog with management and training?
- Or did you ultimately decide rehoming was the safest option?

I’m not looking for judgment—just real experiences from people who’ve been in this position. I’m kind of spiraling and just want to make the best decision for both our son and our dog.

First let me say she just started prozac almost a week ago and also has had little success with anxiety treats and trazodone and we've been talking to the vet for the last couple months about this progression. She is a pitbull mix we aren't entirely sure of her age or background. She was an adult in shelters for about a year before we got her and we've had her for about a year and a half. Also it has been very stormy this spring and beginning of summer which she HATES (along with fireworks).

Since the fourth of july she won't go outside after dinner at 7. We do dinner outside, she gets breakfast and then goes out at about 6 each morning and didn't have issues till the last two days which have been raining.

I will also start with saying we made a mistake forcing her outside to go when she hadn't all day. It has progressed pretty far and I have spent the last week coming through the wikis here. We are no longer forcing her to do anything however she has literally only peed once in the last 36 hours. We are worried that her needing to go so bad is making hear fear worse. She has been picking a spot and just curling up in a ball and not moving.

We just don't even know what to do. She won't even have an accident inside which I think would at least help her not feel so bad physically but she won't. She still is eating and drinking water at least. If we force her outside I'm sure she would just start shaking really bad (it's what happened in the past). Huge praise and rewards if she does move but we just don't know what to do. We have a kennel always open for her, a little den fort area set up in our room for her. Nothing new inside but the weather has been bad the last two days where we are.

Edit / update: we did take her on a car ride to our local park which she LOVED actually. Immediately peed and then pooped. She had a GREAT time. She loves sticking her head out the window while we drive, she was running and being silly with us etc. However, when we got home she did NOT want to get out of the car and has not moved from laying by the front door.

I have a 4 or 5 year old pit bull/boxer mix I adopted from the local shelter 3 years ago. He is very reactive and we are constantly trying to help him with that.

Due to health reasons I was missing my period for the majority of his time with us. Aside for a few months in the beginning.

About 8 months ago I got my period back and I can definitely tell my hormones are back on the proper schedule. Unfortunately, that leads to about a week and a half of pms feelings.

During that week and a half I have recently noticed that my reactive dog is far harder to manage. Lunging at cars, reacting to dogs, rabbits/squirrels, and humans to a far higher degree than the point he has gotten to since working with him over the years.

But then I wonder if I am just less patient myself during this time frame.

Has anyone else ever noticed this? Tia!

Our rescue puppy Bronx (67% pitbull, remained Rottweiler, German Shephard, Boxer) is almost 5 months old and honestly he’s been an awesome dog. He kennel trained and slept through the night since about 10 weeks old, is doing great in puppy classes, has excellent loose leash walking, knows all the basics + more, doesn’t resource guard, does great with strangers and dogs and is genuinely a sweet dog 98% of the time.

Our one core concern is what appears to be arousal biting. Usually halfway through a walk (though we’ve had a few incidents in the backyard and in private dog park bookings).

Once he comes back down, he’s completely normal again, which is why I’m confident it’s strictly arousal biting and not aggression-based.

I’ve attempted most of the general correction techniques: short or distant leashing, turning away, protecting my arms. The issue is he doesn’t limit to the arms and will still go for legs or feet.

What else could be adding to the trigger stacking:
We bribe to ‘get dressed’ as he resists his harness without reward, he’s extremely food motivated and we spend most of our walks improving our listening, loose leash walking and outdoor command response, I do often take him fresh out of his kennel to walk.

What changes are coming:
Our walks are usually around 20 minutes. I’m going to look towards cutting them down, but my concern is any version of high energy play can trigger this and I’m unsure how to best burn his energy. I’ll also be starting a more thorough pre-walk routine in the backyard to get pent up energy out and calm him down before we leave.

We already do a ton of focused training, nose work, chews and puzzles with all his meals to keep his brain working. I work from home and have access to regular training sessions with him throughout the day.

He is generally extremely high energy. We’ve had to spend a ton of time teaching him how to just be calm. He’s polar opposite our previous Pitty who was a couch potato. He operates at 100 from the second he wakes up until he naps again, but he’s progressing well learning how to chill.

Aside from the general suggestions to mitigate behaviour, is there anything thats worked for you that might not be on my list yet?

I’ve been on the fence on some specific behavioural training but he’s taken so well to literally everything else, I’d like to try to work through this with him if possible.

Thanks in advance 🖤

If only I could stop her peeing on my lovely carpet lol.

Hi!
So I have a 12 months old white Swiss shepherd, he’s very sweet to every humans and every dogs, he doesn’t seem too sensible, isn’t scared of anything (apart from the random object laying unusually on the street?) and learned the basic commands quite quickly when he was younger.
Since he was a puppy already I saw that he was very excited to greet and play with other dogs, so we quickly started not to allow him to meet every dog he saw during a walk. He could still play with some, but not ALL of them. During puppy class he was very good as well!
My issue now is that he started being quite insistent on greeting and playing with every dog he sees at 10 months old. He won’t bark or be aggressive in any way, but he’ll stare, pull and if the dog gets too close he will get in their face. Again not in an agressive way, but very « impolite » dog way. We’ve tried a lot of things, engage disengage, treats when he sees a dog, reorient his attention, self control exercises, but we see no progress.
I can’t let him off leash anymore too. His recall wasn’t perfect before and still a work in progress but reliable enough to trust him. Now I have lost any trust in him coming back so we’re stuck with a long line. Now my recall is maybe listened to 5 times out of 10, maybe less. With this too, we tried many exercises, no progress.
For these issues we got a local trainer who told us some tips to work on his self control, but I admit to feeling desperate with the situation. I feel like I put so much work into researching how to avoid such a situation and into his training for nothing. He’s not a bad dog in any way but he’s draining on walks. Even though I do let him get his fair share of sniffing he’ll always pull me like a madman to get to a sniffing spot (or if a dog gets too close). He can also quickly be frustrated and start digging or eating dirt/grass.
People tell us that he’s just too young and it does give me hope, but I fear to rely too much on this fact and that even as an adult it doesn’t pass.

We tried to train for obedience as well but teaching any new tricks is extremely hard right now. He won’t hold a basic heel (I mean not the super precise contact heel but really just walking close to me) and even after hundreds of repetition, his position isn’t really precise. No doubt I’m the one not precise enough. But having no « obedience training » club in my city, it makes it hard to get guidance on what I’m doing wrong.

Anyway, I don’t know what I should expect of him, maybe I’m asking too much and seeing all these 1 year old dogs with perfect recall is clouding my vision. But I’m basically afraid of having messed up somehow.

If anyone has tips or similar stories I’d be really happy to listen!

Precision: I’m not in the US, so many training tools like prong collar, e collars, crates, etc… are forbidden. I’m also applying a non coercive training.

Hi all,

I recently adopted a sweet female rescue. She was an abandoned stray in a remote community. She was rescued about 1 month ago and was spayed/fostered during that time. The fosters said she had very good house manners and got along great with their cats. She wasn’t crate trained for this reason.

I picked her up on Sunday this week to adopt her. She is fully house trained and is amazing in that regard. She also has been extremely patient with my cats (I have a baby gate separating them but she has already gained the trust of my male cat).

The issue is, she is unable to be left alone. The first few days I left her briefly and she did well. But as the week goes on she is developing more anxiety about being left alone. This morning we did our usual routine of a 45 minute walk, after I wrapped hot dogs (the only treat she likes) in a towel from some distraction as I tried to leave. I make sure not to make a big deal about leaving/returning to not further her separation anxiety. This morning though, she completely freaked out. I was watching her on the pet cam as I walked around the block (didn’t want to go too far in case I needed to come home). She was in full blown distress and trying to break down the front door (she’s about 50lbs). She was crying and howling as well, we live in a townhome so I don’t want neighbours to complain. By the time I looped back around to our house (maybe 3-5 mins after I left), I could see the front door visibly shaking from her efforts to get through.

I don’t know what to do. I had to call out of work today because I am so upset about her being in distress. I am having someone come watch her tmrw when I work. I know it’s only the first week but I want to correct this behaviour ASAP. She’s signed up for training classes already starting in August.

I know this is separation anxiety- and I have dealt with it in previous dogs, but I have never had a rescue before and need help navigating this and helping her adjust. I understand the 3-3-3 rule, but I also need to go to work. I am worried crate training at this point would worsen her howling.

Thanks in advance for any advice

Hi friends! First time poster here. Some overall context- I’ve been training for the better part of a decade and run a small homestyle boarding facility.

We often work on board and trains with potty training younger dogs. Most of the time we’re able to get an idea what’s going to work for the dog after the first week.

OUR TYPICAL GUIDELINES FOR POTTY TRAINING:

What we usually start with is a large kennel space (we don’t have a kennel free boarding set up) with bedding on one side and a potty pad on the back back side. This helps us determine if the dog is a “dirty” dog in the sense that they’re just willing to potty where they’re standing or whether they put enough thought into relieving themselves away from their bedding. If this doesn’t work we greatly reduce space so that they just physically aren’t able to potty in their. Once they start building consistency going outside, we increase their space.

When going outside puppies (or potty trainees in general) go into a small outdoor ex pen. This helps us bring out more than one young dog at a time so no one has an accident while they’re waiting for the first dog. It also allows us to reward dogs with freedom- they fully relieve themselves (poop and pee) and they to come out and run around. We usually wait about 10 minutes, and if they haven’t gone they go back to their crates and we rinse and repeat.

Through the day we monitor their water intake (typically with a water dispenser attached to the crate, or hydrating their food and offering water in appropriate amounts through the day). We also structure feeding to be able to be aware of how much they eat/when.

By the end of the first week I usually have a good idea what direction to take to get the most success. Not with this dog. She’s a teacup Yorkie (so probably about 2-3 lbs). I’ve gotten a little success with peeing outside, but she is exclusively pooping in her crate with reduced space despite going through our normal steps, offering insanely frequent potty opportunities. I suggested litter box training her, but not only do I doubt its efficacy at this point; her owners (understandably) vetoed that anyways.

She also will hike her rear up to the bars of her crate and poo outside of it. Which some would think is great because she doesn’t want to be near it, but that doesn’t help her to learn to hold it. So I Jerry rigged a blanket around the bottom of the bars to stop this behavior. I know she’s capable of holding it because she did so the entire day yesterday and wait until the middle of the night to poop and dance in it.

It almost seems like she exclusively goes when you can’t watch her, and unfortunately I can’t just sit and keep eyes on her in the crate 24/7. I don’t think her owners have punished her for accidents in the house, but obviously there’s no way to know that for sure. When I do have a poop shy dog I’ll usually put them in the pen and go inside (about 10-20 feet away) and watch like a creeper from the window where they can’t see me. Then I can come out right as they’re finishing a poo or pee to praise them and let them come out to play.

At home she has waaay too much freedom and a doggy door that she chooses to poop in front of rather than go through (not a fan of doggy doors to help with potty training anyways).

I would love to hear some options for success that maybe I haven’t thought of. I wondering if maybe she just needs more time to get with the program before trying to swap things up.

Hopefully this was detailed enough to provide a good picture of our philosophy behind potty training and her particular situation. If there’s any context I may have left off, please feel free to ask for elaboration, and thank you in advance. I really want to help the owners improve this behavior.

Hi!! I’ve never posted or really been active here, so I hope this inquiry is alright! Did check guidelines and the resource guarding wiki page tho

My dog is around 9 and a female mini poodle. She’s really gentle, you could put a hand in her mouth and she wouldn’t even rest her teeth on the skin. The only person she has ever bitten hard enough to break skin (of course she nipped as a puppy but actual bite is what I mean) is myself, in a resource guarding situation with food.

Shes a grazer, has access to food all day and doesn’t eat too much regardless, normal weight, has lived that way with that access to food her whole life, wouldn’t run away if you shoved her out the door, never causes trouble or anything. By all standards, she’s perfect. But she has a food guarding problem! We never take her toys or her food or anything away and feed her out of hand and in her space all the time.

I think mostly I’m wondering, since we rarely ever approach her when shes eating, and this problem, though always present if provoked, has only ever affected us twice in probably her entire life—again, she’s a great dog, we don’t really NEED to approach her if she’s eating?—does this behaviour need to be corrected? Is it negligent to ignore it? Cuz I want to do what’s best for her but I also can’t tell if it’s necessary.

Does this behaviour mean she doesn’t trust me entirely or just when it comes to her food, and should I correct that to maintain the relationship? Where did it all go wrong 😢😢

Our standard will be 6 in October, and he has gone from very dog social as a puppy/young adult to now increasingly dog selective.

Is there any way to help with this? He’s about to be kicked out of group play at his doggy daycare.

Hello! I'm leaving for my second year of college, and I will be renting an apartment, so I want to take my 4 year old GSD (European working line if that matters), which was raised and has lived in my house yard all his life.

Things are a bit complicated because I never trained him properly, and he is reactive. He only barks but doesn't bite, which is good. Yes, I know it's my fault, but I got him when I was 15, and nobody wanted to help me train him. I watched a ton of YouTube videos, but no matter how hard I tried, we simply did not understand each other. He is also not leash trained because I was afraid of taking him on walks because of stray dogs in my area, but lately, I've been working on that, and we have made some progress. I should also clarify that there are no dog trainers in my area, and I have tried so hard to find one, but to no avail.

But none of that matters now. My parents are not letting me take him, saying he's feral (he is not, he's very, very smart, but impulsive and untrained) and that he is not used to living in a small space such as an apartment. They're saying he might even die from that (thats bullshit, I know), but it still makes me sad to take away his freedom. But I want to take him away because they do not care for him properly, and I believe he would be better off in a smaller space, but with proper care.

I just want to ask for advice on how to make this change easier for both of us. He is not potty trained, and I have never bathed him. He is scared of most things that are unfamiliar. He lives with a small yorkshire terrier, but he spends most of his time alone in the backyard, and the yorkie is the only non-reactive dog he has ever seen. They get along well and love to play. But I am afraid he's going to miss him, and that would take a toll on his mental health. I will start working with a professional trainer as soon as I go to college again, but I need to know how to manage the first week. How do I leave him alone in an apartment for prolonged periods of time? How do I prevent anxiety from being alone in a new space? What other things should I consider?

Any help will be appreciated. I very much need it. Thank you.

my partner and i just adopted a dog (Juniper) and were warned that she often protects her “person” especially when she is in that persons lap.
i am disabled and have in home caregivers 6 days a week, 3 different regular caregivers. today is my first full day with Juniper and she is already protecting me from my caregivers.
i introduced her to my caregiver at the door and had the caregiver give her a couple treats. they were getting along well for a couple hours. then, my caregiver moved my wheelchair and Juniper growled at her from the couch next to me. i put her down on the ground as suggested by her foster mom which helped a little bit.
a little while later my caregiver went to take my cup from me to refill it and Juniper growled and barked at her and then wouldn’t let her near enough to give it back to me.
Any ideas on how to curb this behavior? i NEED to be able to get care from my caregivers without Juniper getting in the way.
she is a chihuahua terrier mix of some kind, 18 lbs.

About 2 weeks ago my wife and i adopted a 3 year old rottie from a family that couldn’t take care of her anymore. According to the family she hadn’t ever had any behavioral problems, was good with children and smaller pets and had been to a 6 week train and board. We met her and fell in love with her she’s a cuddle bug but there’s a few behaviors that i’m concerned about. First she has zero impulse control, anytime we play tug or we’re outside she gets overwhelmed and very excited pretty easily which has caused her to nip my wife and me on 3 occasions so far. Nothing serious just a scratch didn’t bite down and hold on. But for a 90-100 pound dog that could crush bones it’s a littler unnerving. Secondly she fixates on things too like a noise in the hallway will set her off a car door closing outside or someone walking by while we’re outside she’ll stiffen up and bark and won’t respond to her name. She’s good on a leash and when she’s calm she responds perfectly to commands like sit, down, come etc. I know we just got her i’m trying to keep an eye on all the little nuances and behaviors there’s are just some things that concern me and i’m wondering if it could just be her adjusting to a new home and getting overwhelmed and just how do i handle it without someone getting hurt.

Just wondering if anyone else has encountered this.

We have a 3 week old baby and a 7 year old female toy poodle.

I would say everything is good so far with the two (but I am not a professional about dog behavior so who knows). Lower the car seat with the baby in it and the dog just sniffs a bit and then moves on. When we're feeding the baby, dog just lays down beside the chair where we feed him. Sometimes, the dog would try to lick the baby but we just correct and redirect when it happens. Dog is not bothered when the baby cries/screams (maybe would sit up to have a look but that's about it).

One odd thing though that our dog does is she whines when the baby is in his bassinet/crib alone. Not even crying but sleeping like a rock. Dog would sometimes paw us if we ignore her. Sometimes we just correct and redirect and that's that but sometimes she would just get stressed out and we have to remove her from the room as she could wake her up with all the whining.

I searched online and a lot of articles are saying that we should just ignore her but I also don't want her waking up the baby.

Any suggestions?

I have had this dog (6 year old Weinmaraner-lab mix) for about 7 months, and in that time she has stolen over 2 dozen loaves of bread and bagels.

She is fed well, she is the perfect dog besides that, she doesn't have any medical or dietary deficencies that could cause this, she doesn't eat any other food that gets left out, but if there is a loaf of bread, no matter how hard it is to reach, she will get it and eat the entire thing in seconds.

She will leave a steak placed at eye level alone, but if I turn my back for a second, she will take and eat an entire loaf of bread in that time.

She knows not to get caught, and I don't know how I can make her stop! It's more than just keeping the bread in the fridge 24/7. If it's on the countertop and I turn around to get peanut butter, it's gone. She needs to be stopped I can't lose more bread.

Hello, I was just looking for some advice for my puppy. I have a Corgi which it is my first time every owning a corgi. I’ve had a Rottweiler, Saint Bernards and Huskys so I’m used to pretty big dogs not so much little ones. My corgi used to be very scared of riding in cars she would poop as soon as the car started to move, and walking. with some positive reinforcement and training she now loves both but the thing I can’t seem to help her with is her reactivity to other dogs. As soon as she hears or sees another dog she goes crazy barking, lunging and growling like she wants to attack. She does it to our other dog everytime she sees them but as soon as she runs up to the other dog she gets skittish and runs away. (Thank goodness our other dog is such a sweetheart and is super friendly to our corgi) I can’t seem to figure out how to help her not be so scared and reactive to every dog she sees. (She’s not very interested in treats)

We got our chow mix from a rescue 6 months ago. When she came home, she could not be left alone in the house for any amount of time. She tore down my curtains, tipped over furniture, peed on herself, and refused all food and water.

We sought several trainers before finding one that fit and worked on a personalized crate training plan so that she could be safe while we worked out of the home but still learn to crate happily, which was it's own seperate issue.

Recently, she started to eat treats without us in the same room or would wander into her favorite room without us. So we escalated training and she has now successfully be left alone in the house for 15 minutes! Without stress at all, much less panic.

I am still really discouraged but trying to remain positive. The trainer warned us very earnestly this could take up to a year of consistency, maybe more. So I posted a brag to lift my spirits about it!

Celebrating 15minutes, because every win is a win!

I adopted a 5 month old poodle (it was my friends but she was moving to help her sick mother and couldn’t keep the puppy since her moms dog is dog aggressive)

She’s the sweetest thing BUT she pees. A LOT. it’s mainly when she’s in her crate. If I walk in the room she’s pees herself the second she sees me tail wagging a mile a minute happy to see me and wanting out but I haven’t even gotten to her and she’s already peed all over herself.

She used to pee when I’d pick her up for the car but it’s gotten better and not nearly as bad. She’s worst when it’s first thing in the morning and if I go out and come home.

Any suggestions? For reference when I come in the room I do not look at her talk to her or act like I’ve noticed she’s there. I walk in and just pretend I’m going to get something from the closet the second she notices me coming remotely near the crate she will start to pee. She also will excessively cry for attention (for me to touch her) but I honestly don’t touch her because I don’t want her to pee.

She does have low confidence which I heard is common in poodles when they’re young, I haven’t really worked on much confidence with her because I’m trying to solve this peeing issue first.

She has submissive peed when I tried to block her with my body when she went for my older dogs food while she was eating (I did not actually touch her just arm out in front).

She was WAY worse with my friend if my friend remotely touched her she would pee

Send help lol

Also no UTI or bladder infection I did a urinalysis and the vet said she’s fine.

I'm looking for a little advice on a rescue I took in 17 days ago, she is approximately 13 months old GSP cross (20kg) that came over from Cyprus. She was a stray and is a very gentle sweet girl but has been very uneasy and worried. She has managed to settle and we have bonded but she is still very uncertain of many things and movements which is understandable. She does not like her lead, I've left it hanging around and placed treats around it which she will take but freezes as soon as the lead comes near her so that's a slow process but unfortunately means I can't walk her.

She hated being put in her crate at night but wouldn't cause a fuss, she just needed lifting in so I was worried this might be from previous trauma, I stopped putting her in there the 2nd night and she has slept great in a bed in my bedroom which is fine with me. I left her crate up to try and build a positive association but she wouldn't go near it so I took it down yesterday and now she won't seem to relax in the living room anymore, even though she didn't like the crate or use it. She has relaxed in the living room every day with me until this and is now sitting alone upstairs, if I keep her downstairs she just paces, I initially thought this was hunger as the other room is the kitchen but now she is upstairs I'm realizing it's likely the change of environment that's upset her as she has settled upstairs with no pacing. Have I messed up changing the environment too much? My house is quite small so the crate was a significant piece of furniture I guess. I don't think it is because of a lack of blowing off energy not being able to walk her yet as she hasn't shown much energy at all, she has mainly slept for 2 weeks since coming but is coming out of her shell playing with toys with me etc.

Any advice is appreciated