what are your dogs leash manners like?

[Paige]

Are they good at loose leash walking? Do they rip your arm out of your socket? Somewhere in between?

Bandit used to keep the leash taught and only pull when he saw a squirrel or other dogs. I didn't want arya doing the same as I could not physically hold them both if they reacted like that at the same time so they are both being taught a LLW. Its day 4 and already they LLW about 90% of the time. Bandits reactivity is much more managable now that he isn't pulling.

I use an easy walk harness on bandit and just a normal harness on arya.

 

[Laurelin]

My dogs are pretty much perfect on leash. I can walk both of them anywhere through anything and they never pull or bark at all. They also are great at not tangling each other up.

 

[Linds]

My dogs have awesome leash manners as long as I don't have a leash on them.

Seriously though, my dogs have no LLW at all. I've taught both Traveler and Didgie a "With me" command that means until released walk at my side which is super useful for trying to get through crowds or anything but is totally not a LLW.

When I need leash manners I typically use a prong.

This is why I do very VERY little on leash walking

 

[*blackrose]

Neither one of the dogs walk on a loose leash, but they don't pull, either. They just keep the leash taut. I can shorten it however short I want and they will continue to not pull, but the leash is never loose.

Abrams can overpower me when he wants to, and while he is normally good on a leash, he wears a prong for his safety and mine when we go out.

Cynder likes to circle when she walks, which is super annoying. She was never really on a leash before I came along, so she doesn't understand the concept of walking on one side and staying there.

 

[Julee]

On duty, Em's an angel. Off duty, she likes to keep the leash taut. Bloo has the best LLW out of any of my dogs, she's fantastic. Shadow and Copper will usually LLW but occasionally keep it taut.

I don't put up with pulling.

 

[AllieMackie]

Finn has always kept a decent loose leash. He'll usually keep the leash pretty taut, but responds to pressure and won't pull. That's fine with me, that's the extent I taught him - I have no problem with him sniffing and exploring within the space of his leash. He has a "heel" command that I don't practice as often as I should.

 

[release the hounds]

My dogs have awesome leash manners as long as I don't have a leash on them.

Seriously though, my dogs have no LLW at all. I've taught both Traveler and Didgie a "With me" command that means until released walk at my side which is super useful for trying to get through crowds or anything but is totally not a LLW.

When I need leash manners I typically use a prong.

This is why I do very VERY little on leash walking

That's funny and I completely feel your pain. We never walk on leash, walking with me without a leash is 1000x's easier than with a leash. I bike them on leash and that is fine, but going for a "walk"?? yeah right.

Leash means i am restraining you telling them to walk with me is just asking them to come along for a walk. I think because the only time they were ever leashed was for bitework or tracking and the rest was done off leash.

walking just one is "ok" on leash, but both is a pita. We have to go about 40 minutes before they realize that I really mean we aren't going anywhere till they stay near me and quit pulling and trying to get ahead of the other needless to say i let them off leash quite often, though I still keep them at my side. if someone comes down a trail, i just stop and put on the leash.

 

[Ozfozz]

Rigby is nearly perfect. She walks in heel position, rarely stops to sniff and tries to keep eye contact which can lead to her occasionally tripping on something. If anything she is a little slow and lagging at times, but even then it's not by much.
A loud car coming up behind her will sometimes spook her, but we will be working on that a lot this summer living on a busy road.

She gets the weirdest look on her face when she's doing really well - especially if another dog is barking at her. Almost like a smug "look how great I am" look as she ignores any other people/animals.

Cobain doesn't necessarily pull, but he likes to be in front. No reaction to other dogs, but the occasional squirrel will peak his interest.

Oz and Ruby are just no. Oz is slightly better than Ruby, but both are pretty terrible.

 

[sassafras]

So, I will say... I don't really care that much about LLW, and I rarely leash walk my dogs. I don't mind if the leash is a little taut on a leash walk, I just don't want to be dragged.

Maisy is an incorrigible puller, and honestly I am fine with that. It's a trait I've come to value a great deal with her and I don't really care to discourage it. On the rare occasions I leash walk her, I only walk her in her x-back attached to my skijor belt because at least that way nobody's going to get hurt by her pulling.

Pip is pretty good. He stays out in front and will get to the end of the leash, but he rarely actually pulls and if he feels any leash pressure he will adjust quickly.

With Squash it depends on what I ask/expect of him on any given outing. He CAN heel, LLW nearby, walk ahead without pressure on the leash, or pull. Usually he's in his x-back and I pretty much let him do what he wants unless I'm practicing heeling or on-bys.

 

[krissy]

Summit is virtually perfect on leash. Now that I walk both dogs together he occasionally annoys me by trying to stop to sniff something... but it is only annoying because now my attention is mostly on Kili and I don't see him eyeing something and can't tell him "leave it".

Kili... well, I would say that by most people's standards her leash manners are good. She doesn't pull and rip my arm off. However, she irritates me because she tries to take any slack in the leash. She doesn't pull, but she walks ahead until it is taunt. I hate that. And then she also sometimes will try to dart off to the side to a patch of grass if she needs to go to the bathroom... don't like that either. And she gets all prancy and annoying if she sees another dog, a cat, or a squirrel. That also bothers me. So mostly it's me that's the problem because she's quite good. Just not good enough. lol

 

[*blackrose]

I think the only time I've ever had a dog walk beside me with an actual loose leash was when my senior dogs were beat and just didn't have anyone energy, and when I fostered a Basset, because his quick trot was the same pace as my "walk the dogs" stride.

I really don't care if the leash is taut or not, as long as the dog isn't pulling and walks with me (as opposed to not paying any attention to me).

 

[Slick]

Oy! It's a work in progress.

If Leo has nothing to sniff or he has burned some energy, he is the angel dog on leash. He will walk very nicely right by my side with no distractions Otherwise he definitely pulls. I employ the "You pull, I stop walking" strategy, which works but sometimes in the morning he needs several reminders before he will walk nicely. He has an awesome and focused heel IF I have treats in my hand, otherwise forget it.

The worst is walking to the gate of the dog park. We look ridiculous. It's literally SLAM the end of the leash, slam into a sit (since I stop)...I make the first move...SLAM into the end of the leash, slam into a sit (as I stop again). We get there eventually, but obviously that strategy doesn't really work in that situation :rofl1:

When I don't want to deal with his shenanigans, I use a gentle leader, and that works perfectly

 

[JacksonsMom]

Jackson's pretty perfect on leash. He understands when he's allowed to go out further or when he has to stay at my side without me even saying anything.

Example today I had on a flexi (oh the horror) and he was all the way out on the 16ft of it, but not pulling. Once his leash slack ends, he's respectful of it and won't pull to try and get further.

And even when he occasionally 'pulls' he's not really... pulling. He's usually when he wants to sniff or pee on something and then he's done.

He's great with city walking and country walking and has a variety of leashes... ranging from 5ft to 50ft lol.

 

[BostonBanker]

Meg walks mostly on a loose leash with me. Generally there is slack in the leash laying over her back. If she does hit the end of the leash, she backs off pretty fast.

Gusto likes the leash taut. He doesn't pull really - I can have the leash hooked over one finger with no problems. But he must be in the lead, unless I'm asking for actual attention, where he's in a modified heel (ie most obedience people would probably throw me out a window, but it works for us).

They both wear Freedom No-Pulls for my mother, who walks them during the day, because they pull on her. I have no idea how she gets Meg to pull on a leash.

 

[Toller_08]

Keira: She is good. Sometimes I need to remind her to walk politely, but not usually. She used to be a tyrant and I thought she'd be impossible to walk, but then one day it was like a switch flipped and she went from horrid to an angel haha. Not sure why. Maybe just age/maturity.

Ripley: He is good too. He can be a little bit dog reactive on leash, but is easily redirected. Sometimes he'll forge ahead, but mostly he is nice and polite.

Dance: Dance was born a perfect loose leash walker. I honestly don't recall ever teaching her to walk on a leash. She just never pulls and never has. She's wonderful to walk.

Journey: Journey is a brat. I am hoping she'll magically get better like Keira one day lol. She can be really, really good. But she has moments of randomly pulling, and she just is obsessed with being in front of me. Which is fine if she paid attention, but she doesn't always and then trips me. I like my dogs to walk beside me unless they're on a flexi. But she is certainly not horrible and most days she'll walk perfectly for me. She just has her bratty moments. She is currently learning "close" so that she knows when I want her beside me nicely and when it's ok to walk ahead (with a loose leash).

With that said, this just pertains to me walking them by myself (either solo or taking the whole crew myself). Except for Dance, none of them are great for my family or other people, and forget about going for a relaxing leashed walk with friends and their dogs haha. Then they act like they've had zero experience LLW at all... again, except for Dance. The Dobermans and Journey are too excited if we try to walk on leash with friends. They can, however, walk appropriately around strange dogs.

 

[Elrohwen]

Somewhere in between. When he's excited he pulls and it's annoying. Most of the time he walks ahead but with a loose-ish leash (often taught but not pulling). It's enjoyable to walk him on a daily basis so I don't care enough to really fix it. I also don't care if he sniffs the whole walk as long as he keeps moving. He pulls a bit at other dogs but no lunging or noise so again, not a big deal. He's gotten much better over the last year.

 

[Oko]

Feist's LLWing is an ongoing battle that we are ever so slowly improving. The other day she walked on a flat collar and didn't pull at all, and I about cried from excitement. So that sums up where we're at.

 

[LostAndConfused]

Freedom No-Pull, that sums up his walking skills.

 

[Torch]

Henry is an angel on leash. Anyone can walk him. He can walk at a formal heel or a nice loose leash beside you. Mostly he stays on my left side on a loose leash and rarely, rarely pulls. When he does pull, a quick yank will stop him instantly. The first month or so that I had him he had horrible leash manners, so I walked him constantly and constantly corrected and redirected him. For years now he's been pretty perfect.

Rhys is a totally different story. As a young puppy I walked him on a harness because even from a young age he was very strong and I worried about him injuring himself. Once he got a little older and could wear a wider collar, I starting trying to teach him LLW. But I also still let him pull in a walking harness because I do want to cultivate pulling since I plan to weightpull with him.

So I currently switch between the two and he seems to have no problems differentiating between the two kinds of walking. But we still struggle with a flat collar because he is so strong and so reactive. Oddly enough, he's pretty well behaved on a choke chain and a flexi (horror!) Our really early morning potty breaks are done on that combo and he's an angel. Go figure. Oh, and a thin show lead with a tiny chain? Again pretty darn angelic.

I hope I won't have to go to a prong but I may need to for situations where I need a high level of control.

 

[SpringerLover]

Growing up, the dogs just didn't walk on leash. We lived on a farm so they were unnecessary. Somehow, Buzz has/had really nice walking skills. He was never a dog to venture far away while on a leash and he never did the "dig in and pull" maneuver that grates on my nerves. I would put a gentle leader on him if out in a crowded area with another dog, just for ease of control. He never wore it any other time.

Bailey was impossible to walk on a leash and I "tried" every tool out there, even a prong. She pulled right through. Then I actually taught her to loose leash walk and she became SO GOOD, SO GOOD! Living with my mom the last year, she's re-learned the "dig in and pull to get where/what I want" thing and it is SO annoying. My least favorite thing. So I did a lot of reinforcing for giving in to pressure while she was with me for a few days. She's pretty terrible on a leash in general for my mom.

Gabby still doesn't necessarily walk in a straight line, but she does walk nicely on a leash. She will still hit the end of her leash, but it's a million times better than when I got her and she just didn't even care/realize I wasn't just a dead weight at the end! A lot of times I really don't care, so I put her in a harness with my waist belt and the bungee absorbs most of the pulling.