Leash walking question

[Vela]

If your dog is well leash trained and does not pull then it is okay to let them walk in front but only when YOU allow it. You should always be in control and they should heel immediately upon command. If you have a puller then it's best not to let them walk ahead of you as it puts them in control and not you. If anyone has watched Cesar Millan (Dog Whipserer) he stresses the importance of these things. These same types of things are discussed in the book "The Dog Listener" by Jan Fennell. If your dog is submissive and sees you as the pack leader and responds to you right away, it's not as important to enforce the dominance all of the time and you can relax and let them go ahead of you, etc. If you have a problem dog it's very important to not even let them go out the door unless you tell them it's okay, especialy not in front of you.

"i don't think that matters at all. they can walk in front of you if they want to those ppl don't kno what they're talkin about!!!"

Personally, I will take the advice of Cesar Millan and various other dog trainers over your advice, as it appears you are the one who doesn't really know what you are talking about in this instance.

[tessa_s212]

If your dog is well leash trained and does not pull then it is okay to let them walk in front but only when YOU allow it. You should always be in control and they should heel immediately upon command. If you have a puller then it's best not to let them walk ahead of you as it puts them in control and not you. If anyone has watched Cesar Millan (Dog Whipserer) he stresses the importance of these things. These same types of things are discussed in the book "The Dog Listener" by Jan Fennell. If your dog is submissive and sees you as the pack leader and responds to you right away, it's not as important to enforce the dominance all of the time and you can relax and let them go ahead of you, etc. If you have a problem dog it's very important to not even let them go out the door unless you tell them it's okay, especialy not in front of you.

"i don't think that matters at all. they can walk in front of you if they want to those ppl don't kno what they're talkin about!!!"

Personally, I will take the advice of Cesar Millan and various other dog trainers over your advice, as it appears you are the one who doesn't really know what you are talking about in this instance.

The dominance pack theory junk is SO overrated. That was studied over thirty years ago..and people still by into all that alpha rolliing, scruff shaking, don't let the dog walk ahead of you junk?


BTW, Ceaser Millian guy ..well, not much to say about him other than he is a GREAT actor! Instead of that dog training show of his that he has he should really go into the acting business.

[Vela]

THe dominance pack theory junk is SO overrated. That was studied over thirty years ago..and people still by into all that alpha rolliing, scruff shaking, don't let the dog walk ahead of you junk? Well, if we still use ancient training methods, why not go back to medicine we were using 50 years ago. It certainly wouldn't do any harm. In fact, the medicine we used 50 years ago is BETTER than what we have discovered and researched now. (I hope you sensed that sarcasm.)

If we don't use medicine from 50 years ago, why should we still be using those training methods when more, better more effecitve methods have come along?

BTW, Ceaser Millian guy ..well, not much to say about him other than he is a GREAT actor! Instead of that dog training show of his that he has he should really go into the acting business.

Because your opinion differs from mine does not mean you ought to be rude and condesceding. I am as entitled to comment on how I think or feel as much you are and since you seem to know so much more why not tell her how to best train her dog. You didn't bother to offer up one helpful suggestion to her, you merely jumped in with your opinions on my comments, which were never asked for in the first place. Unless you personally know Cesar Millan, or Jan Fennell, or any of the other trainers then you can't say much about them except your opinion on the subject. This doesn't make it true or not true, it's simply your opinion. If you disagree fine, offer better suggestions, but you ought to treat others whose opinion may differ with more respect. If you have a better idea for her then why not offer that rather than simply trying to start a fight? That accomlishes nothing helpful to the OP. Have a nice day.

[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..

[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.