Dog Leash Tips
My most important leash tip is this: for busy sidewalks your dog’s leash should be short enough that when you raise your hand all the way above your head it brings your dog right up against your leg.
This leaves plenty of slack for a comfortable walk when your arm is swinging lose. But no matter what your other hand is doing, no matter what happens around you (skateboarders, joggers, other dogs, children) you can, with a single, quick, one-handed motion, bring your dog safely into your personal space.
In my personal opinion, this is a good rule for almost all walks with your dog — either your dog can be off leash, or you need this level of safe control. Many many times I have seen near disaster from a long leash getting strung out in front of a biker or jogger or child. I have additionally witnessed a couple of actual accidents, as well as bad and potentially dangerous dog-meets-dog interactions that all could have been avoided by simply having a reasonable leash.
When leash training your dog, I recommend alternative control styles instead of choke chains, pinch collars, or prong collars. A harness with a leash ring on the back will have the opposite effect than what you want, but one with a leash ring on the chest can often greatly improve your dog’s leash behavior. If that isn’t enough, you might try a head halter, which is a leash that attaches around your dog’s muzzle. These designs create an effect where if your dog pulls hard it makes them turn toward you, negating their ability to move in the direction they were trying to go, and it gives you control of them in a way that does not involve pain.
When I was working with Badger on leash training, there were two things that really helped.
One was a backpack harness, with a pouch on both sides. When you put some weight on your dog, it gives them a job, something to focus on besides a desire to pull you off to see interesting things. Also if you or I are carrying weight, we are much less likely to want to jog or run, and it appears to have the same effect on dogs.
When acquiring a backpack, find a one with a good fit, you don’t want it sliding around on your dog, chafing and putting the weight in awkward places. Get a pack with the pouches up near the shoulders — you want to avoid putting weight near the center of your dog’s spine, especially on longer dogs like corgis.
The amount of weight that is good for a walk or hike is about 10% of your dog’s weight. Badger weighed 20 pounds when we were doing leash training (he’s at 30 lbs now that he’s all grown up) so we put two pounds on him. We just used cans of beans for weight, because they are cheap and easy and we already had them around the house. Plus, they weigh half a pound each, so it was easy to portion. Two pounds doesn’t sound like a lot, but it made a huge difference in his behavior from the very first day. If your dog is under two years old, make sure you only use a weighted pack for short walks, as extended use can negatively impact joint and muscle development in growing dogs.
The second thing that was very helpful was exercising him a lot right before working on the leash. It makes a lot of sense if you think about it — you want your dog’s leash behavior to be fairly low energy, so you need to use up most of their energy before you start training on it. Remember, it is always easier to ask a dog to DO an action that it is to ask them to NOT do an action. Avoid having to train your dog to not pull; set it up so that they succeed in doing it right the first time, so you are training them to continue doing what they’ve already done, a much easier ask.. For leash training, this means getting them nice and tired first, so that they don’t want to run, they don’t want to pull, they are tired and just want to walk along with you… the behavior you want from them.
Now for my favorite leash hack: a belay clip (or carabiner) hooked to your leash handle is super useful! I use it four different ways almost every time I’m out with Badger
1: Clip it to your belt loop for hands free walking!
Pretty self explanatory, but very useful; you can even adjust the length by threading it through one or two additional belt loops before you clip it. For me, it is especially useful when I want to walk home but have grocery bags, or walk to the car but have two cups of coffee, or I’m walking Badger and I want to do something with my phone.
2: create a handle for keeping your dog close and exerting more control
Going inside somewhere or need more precise control of your dog? Clip to the same ring the other end is attached to on your dog’s collar or harness to make a short leash that creates a handle similar to those you’ve seen on some service dogs. If your leash is the length advised in the opening paragraph, this creates a convenient half-length that keeps your dog comfortably at your side without leaving anything dangling. Additionally it is consistent; when I clip the second end of the leash onto Badger’s harness, he knows exactly how much slack he’s going to have, because it’s the same every time — there’s never any sliding a few extra inches out from my grasp. Some harnesses have rings on the shoulders, and if yours has one on each shoulder, you can even steer your dog like a bike by attaching one end of the leash to each side.
3: Tether your dog in two seconds by looping around any object and clipping the leash to itself
Headed into a store and leaving your dog outside? I used to do this awkward thing where I would have to unclip my dog from his leash entirely so I could thread the tip through the handle around something. I hated it because I had to have my dog briefly off leash while my attention was on something else and I was using both hands — plus, unclipping my dog often means he is free to run around, and it seemed to sort of get his hopes up only to be disappointed when I left him tied up outside. Now, I just loop and clip, it takes literally two seconds, and it’s super easy on both of us.
4: (my favorite) Clip the leash to your shoelaces for public lounging!
Sitting outside at a restaurant or cafe with your dog? This trick is one of my favorite configurations allowed by the extra clip on the leash handle. Usually, what do you do, you loop the leash around the table, or chair, right? And then your dog can give a tug and knock over everything on the table, or jerk your chair while you’re drinking and give you nice coffee shower. This removes those scenarios; even if your dog tugs suddenly on your foot, it just moves your leg, not your whole body — your dog would have to really take off running or jump in a big lunge to pull enough to move more than your leg. Also, it gives you a hands free no-eyes connection to your dog’s behavior. When your dog starts trying to visit the next table over, you feel it immediately. The best thing though, is that it automatically adjusts your dogs freedom of movement to mimmic your own situation. If it is a crowded space and you have your legs tucked primly under the table, you dog is also tucked in close. But then if it clears out and you turn your chair sideways with your legs stretched out, your dog also gets a lot more room and range of movement.
