Dogs who have to stay on lead for all of their walks surely can't have as much fun.... right?
I mean, we all know that
“They can’t get enough exercise as they can’t run around enough”
“They can't sniff and follow scents”
“They can't play with other dogs”
“It's NO FUN on lead!”
But I often hear owners complain that
“My dog won’t come back when called”
“My dog wants to play with every dog he sees”
“My dog chases birds, squirrels, deer etc”
“My dog gets SO excited he pulls all the way to the field”
It's a common misconception that dogs have to spend their entire walk running, chasing, going crazy, playing with other dogs and having THE BEST TIME ever ALL the time to make it a good walk!
Don’t feel guilty for keeping your dog on a lead!
Keeping your dog on a lead ensures you are in control, you can always train and ensure you appropriately manage all situations. We all know how easy it is to pick up bad habits, but it is so much easier to make good habits than it is to break bad ones!
Get a long line
One of the most useful tools to ensure you can get the best of both worlds is a long line, which is simply a fixed length long lead. It gives enough freedom to explore, play, and have fun but ensures the dog stays on lead with the owner.
You have the space and distance to practise training exercises that require some distance between you and your dog, like recall or a stay, but you can remain calm and relaxed knowing there is no risk of your dog running off!
My dogs stay on lead
People are often surprised to hear that my own dogs spend the majority of their walks ON LEAD.
WHY? Because I don’t want my dogs to practise unwanted behaviour and I only want them to learn/practise the things I do want!
When Dave became a teenager he began to want to say hi to every dog he met, even if that meant running over to meet them, but not every dog wants to say hi back. Being on a long lead means we can practise NOT saying Hi as he has to stay with me and we can work on his feelings towards other dogs and learning to ignore them.
Spending more time on lead doesn't have to mean a boring walk for your dog!
By keeping dogs on lead, we can prevent all those little things we normally moan about... 'no recall', 'too playful' and encourage all the FUN things that are the reason most people get a dog 'we enjoy walks together' and 'he's the best company'
What are the benefits of staying on lead?
You can prevent unwanted behaviours:
- Your dog can't run off
- Your dog can't annoy other people
- Your dog can't chase wildlife or other dogs
- Your dog can't ignore you
- being more relaxed
- enjoying the walk without worrying
- engaging with your dog
- making your walk be more interesting
- exploring TOGETHER
- have FUN together
- interact and play together
Let us help you
Potter Paws is a Dog Trainer in Buckinghamshire. If your ON LEAD walks are no fun, we can help make them more enjoyable for you both, either through one of our courses or our social walks. If you'd like to ENJOY your ON lead walks, get in touch to see how we can help!
My dogs spend a lot of time on lead BUT they are WELL EXERCISED, they SNIFF, they EXPLORE, they PLAY, they have FUN but importantly we do it TOGETHER!