Leash walking question

[ParNone]

Just my opinion, but to me there's one fundmental concept in dog training and even in child rearing, that makes common sense no matter how old. You need to be the leader, setting a path for your dog or child to follow. If you're gonna let them be the leader and you the follower, be prepared for the bumpy, hazardous path they drag you down. That doesn't mean you have to use violent methods to get there, spanking, alpha rolling or scruff shaking, etc and I didn't see anybody advocating that on this thread.

For dogs, one really easy method to show you're the leader and they are the follower, is to control where y'all go and how they will conduct themselves, when they're on the leash. If they're pulling you here and yonder, who do you think they view as the leader? Might be an old concept, but when something makes sense, it'll still make sense whether 50 years old or 100.

I have 3 dogs. They're trained and for the most part pretty well behaved, but when I added the 3rd dog, who is a bit more dominant, I started having a problem with them getting unruly outside. Barking at anybody passing by our fence. Although trained, I wasn't being very consistent with things that would establish me as leader.

I decided to institute 2 simple things for them to follow and be consistent about doing it everytime. One, they have to wait at all doors going outside, until I go through and then give them the okay to follow. Two, when walking on the leash, they have to heel beside me, until I give them a release command, that they're free to explore a lil'.

You'd be amazed at the improvement. If they start to show interest in anybody outside the fence, I'm now able to redirect them to something else, because they're following my lead outside. They're listening.

Par...

[Vela]

Very well put Par and exactly what I was talking about.

Just as a side note of interest, some older aspects of medicine are still used today...they use leeches on skin grafts to help restore blood flow to areas of burn vicitims or accident victims who need large grafts. Yes even today in the largest hospitals in the world, just typed one up the other day. So while some things change, some fundamental things do stay the same, and continue to be helpful.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

I prefer my dogs to heel when I'm walking them but occasionally I'll let them out ahead for a little while and eventually call them back to a heel. As long as they're still paying attention to what I'm telling them, then I don't have a problem with them being ahead unless they begin to pull.

ETA: As fa as the door thing goes, I do not allow my dogs to walk through a door way before me unless I ask them to. They all know that and will wait behind me until they here their release command. Same goes with stairs. I don't do it to prevent dominance though, I do it for their safety and my own. I hate it when I go to someones house and their dog bolts out the door before me or another person or practically knocks you down the stairs because they want to go first.

[Lori Jordan]

When i took my guys to obedience i was told they should walk by your side....but i have never followed that as long as they don'y pull me but as i have said before everybody has there own ways of doing things..With my bandit he would pull me so hard where i was near doing face plants..My intructor said get him a prong colar i was all for it till i seen the colar but i tell ya it worked!!!!! he was such a good walker after that and i only had to use the colar twice..

[mtblaura]

Thanks for all the input everyone. I definitely agree that dogs need a leader. I think that this makes all the difference in training. Personally I really like Cesar Millan's methods quite a bit.
Allowing your dog to be the boss does nothing good for you, or your dog, in my opinion. Those ideas may have originated in the 50's, but that doesn't mean they are no longer relevant. That is way we have been big with boundaries for miss Maddy. I do not think alpha rollovers, hitting, etc. are appropriate either, but firm leadership and house rules are.

Lately I have gone back to what I did before with Maddy - let her sniff around on walks, but if she pulls, or we cross the street, or I ask her to stop, we do not continue walking until she obeys. She always lets me go through doors first, and will not follow me in until I ask. So I would say that just staying in control but allowing her to do the sniffing thing on occasion has made us both very happy!

Maddy's favorite thing to do on walks now (when not heeling) is scoop up snow so that it sits on top of her nose. That always makes me laugh!

BTW, Lori- there is a plastic prong collar called the Good Dog collar that can work quite well for training. Our obedience teacher says they are more humane than chokers, because they pull evenly and do not require as much force. I have tried them on my own arm and find that to be true! They are considered to be very safe, and don't "poke" as much as the metal ones. Personally these have worked much better than Halti's or standard chokers for me.

[Dixieland Dancer]

This is not a one size fits all question. It depends on the dog and the handler and how there relationship is. In obedience training an instructor gives advice that is suitable for the majority of the class. They will give individual tips as necessary and as time in the class permits. However, it is the handlers responsibility to have control of their dog at all times!

So I believe the answer to this question of letting your dog walk in front of you during walks depends on your dog and it's relationship with you. If you have control of your dog at all times and the dog respects you as it's leader then letting it walk ahead of you could be a pleasant experience for the dog so why not let it enjoy his walk too. Just never settle for pulling or an uncontrollable dog.

On the other hand, if your dog is out of control on walks with constant pulling and doesn't respect you as the leader (a whole different discussion topic), then you need to make walks more structured and a time for learning along with the exercise it is getting. In this situation you may need to find a way of releasing the dogs pent up energy before the walk so it will be a more beneficial learning experience instead of a pulling contest. Some dogs have so much energy that they just can't focus on heeling unless some of it is expelled first.

The bottom line.... only you know if walking ahead of you on a walk is bad or not for your dog. I personally let both of mine explore as long as they keep my pace and heel when told to for their safety (ie.. a car coming). After all, I'm walking them for their benefit as well as mine.