If your dog cannot walk comfortably at your side,
there is no way youˆ‚re going to teach him anything about
being obedient. He must learn to heel properly and focus
his full attention to you.
You will be using a six-foot leather training leash
for this phase. During this stage of training, you will
teach your dog to walk beside you like a gentleman.
He will learn to automatically sit at your side when
you stop.
No Punishment Needed
The right attitude cannot be achieved if your dog is
mistreated or abused. To restrain or choke the dog on
a short, tight leash, to hit him in the chest, or to
smack his face with the end of the leash while trying
to teach him to heel will result, among other things,
in a completely negative attitude in the animal.
Starting Position
To begin, you will notice that your leash has a loop
in one end. Place your right thumb through that loop.
With your left hand, grab the leash at the middle section
and place it in your right hand. Notice that the dog
is on your left side, but that the leash is held in
your right hand. This will seem a little awkward at
first, but your left hand will be doing other things.
Do not form the habit of trying to restrain your dog
at your side by holding him up close with the left hand
on that leash. Remember, you want to train your dog,
not restrain him. Forget about everything that you were
told or read about restraining a dog tugging at your
side in the hope that he will get the idea that this
is where you want him to walk. That idea will never
occur to him.
There is an important characteristic of an untrained
dog on a leash that will become obvious to you during
this stage of training. This dog wants to feel a tight
leash! If thereˆ‚s a slack in the leash, he has no way
of calculating its exact length. On a tight leash, he
can lunge and pull and go through all kinds of twists
and turns, because he has the security of feeling where
the other end of the leash is. Therefore, it is very
important that you donˆ‚t give in to your dogˆ‚s wishes
by walking him on a tight leash.
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