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Writer's pictureHannah Parrett

WHY does my dog pull on the lead no matter what I do?

Annoyingly, there are as many reasons dogs pull at the lead as there are dogs that do it - here I have a little look at the fundamental principles of pulling.


Dogs generally don't like and wouldn't choose to walk slowly in straight lines and have to be taught specifically to do so. When your new puppy bounces around from side to side, stopping, sniffing, peeing, eating, chasing etc, he is displaying very normal dog behaviours and telling you he has no clue what to do with the line attached to you, his person, and the collar attached to his neck.

Inevitably, he'll hit the end of the lead, which will go tight and one of two things can happen at that point - he'll either learn to back off the pressure and put the slack back in the lead, or, most likely, he'll lean into the pressure and learn to pull. Once he or she has learned to pull against the pressure, it will only take a few accidental rewards, like......he gets to a smell by pulling and then you wait for him, or......he drags you over to see a new person and then you stop and he gets cuddled, to really heighten 'PULL to get stuff you want' in his behavioural success bank. (Which incidentally will also teach him to PUSH to get stuff he wants - against doors, crates, people, other dogs, you name it.)


The best thing to do with puppies if possible, is to leave them off the lead and teach them to walk beside or behind you. This is simple out in the countryside, but impossible in the city, so load him or her into the car or onto the train and find a country path. You'll need to go fairly fast to keep him hustling to keep up, if you dawdle, he'll learn to ignore you. If the pup is older than about four months you might have to jog! Ideally a forest with multiple tracks that fork is the best place to teach your pup this - if he takes one fork ahead of you, you take the other, repeat until he waits at the next fork to see where you'll go. Confident dogs will wait ahead, timid dogs will hang behind you for fear of losing you.

Once he learns to stick to you without a lead, teaching him not to pull when he's wearing one is simple. But not easy! We'll address that in a short course I'm currently writing - watch this space :)


Another reason adult dogs pull is similar to why puppies pull, but tends to be more of an ingrained behavioural pattern - there is a discrepancy between your favoured speed and direction and that of your dog's largely with adult dogs because they are trying to get either towards or away from environmental pressures you, their person may be unaware of. If you take him unseeingly through and towards danger without reacting, he won't feel safe and he will take over leadership and try to drag you towards or away from his perceived dangers.


Ultimately though and fundamentally, if your dog is pulling against the lead, and is happy to yank you around without thought, it is clear feedback that he is leading the dance of 'dog and human walk through society', whereas ideally, the human needs to be the dogs mentor and guide, as the human knows the rules.


There is a super simple way to teach a dog that you are in fact, the mentor and guide and its this:

Simply simply, have a plan. Pick a route, a speed, a line (preferably with lots of changes of direction with a purpose), and ultimately don't deviate. Initially, with an overly confident or timid dog, you will have to deviate to protect society and your dog. TImid dogs will want a big space between them and other dogs and perhaps people - so ensure they get it. Confident dogs will want to interact with other dogs and people, you can safely keep to your line and speed plan, ignoring them as long as you ensure they get the social time they crave off the lead.


Dogs, like all animals, (humans included) adore comfort and harmony, they hate discomfort and will look for release of pressure both physical and psychological. The feel of the collar against their throat is not comfortable. It is uncomfortable, but if they cannot find a spot to be near you where the pressure is released, they will lean into it and habituate to the discomfort.

Unfortunately when being near a person is this uncomfortable, and the release of the pressure is guaranteed when the dog is let off for a run, dogs that pull on the lead are pretty much all likely to have an unreliable recall. They know how uncomfortable being on the lead is, and avoid it! Having said that, they're often better on the way home because they've had a run and are generally not in a rush to get there.


If you can get to the bottom of why your dog is pulling, and teach him that you are a place of physical and psychological comfort and will confidently guide him through human society, he will look to you in all circumstances to know what to do - you just need to be ready to tell him.


Watch this space for a guide to teaching your dog not to pull against the collar.


Thank you for reading! :)







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