Effortless Leash Training for Your Dog
Five months is great age to start training your Puppy. Some people cringe at the word “training” but it is actually very simple as long as we are consistent. It is actually fun and rewarding.
Let’s look at “Jumping” on people. It drives some people crazy, especially when guests arrive at your front door.
Because jumping is a natural act (they want to get up close to our faces where the sound that comforts them comes from {mouth} as well as an area of comfort {our arms} , they know other immediate dogs {other people} have the same source of comfort and they receive a lot of joy from being pampered.
We need to take control of it and now is a great time.
Your leadership as the Male/Female Alpha pack leader must be asserted and defined for them. She cannot understand what we don’t show them. She is not respecting you or other humans by jumping on them, so before any training starts, we need to undertsand the Psychology of her behavior, because more often than not, it is a learned behavior that we have allowed to continue.
Purchase a Nylon leash (you may have seen them on a Dog Show on TV, where they are 4 ft. long, and it rides up behind the ear, that’s what you want) or let me teach you a trick. Remove the collar your puppy has now, it does absolutely nothing for them. The leash your dog already wears, has a loop to hold it by and a clicker at the end that attaches to the collar. Take the loop (hold it open) and push and then pull the end where the clicker is at. You’ve just made your own Training Leash! No money spent.
Before you ever train your puppy to do any type of obedience training, yes even to stop jumping on command, you must Master the Walk, which Very Important. This will establish you as the Pack Leader and she will be second.
Being a Pack leader is what she wants. She wants a Confident and Assertive, yet Calm Leader. Show her the way.
Introduce her to the “new” leash and place it around her neck. If she has not started to take walks yet, let her walk around the house or yard with this leash on, so that she may get acclimated to it. We do not want to force her to equate the leash with something Negative, otherwise you will have a dog that pulls, bites, even chews their way out of a leash…and then become aggressive.
When you walk out a door, always have them wait until after you walk out first, then they follow. Repeat whenever you are ready to walk back in.
Pick up the leash and start walking slowly and allow her to follow you. Do not pull roughly, just enough to use encouraging words and allow her a chance to hear your happy tone…”come on” , “good girl” and “good puppy”. Of course you would use her name instead of puppy, and continue that way.
Because some puppies are small, she may not want to work for more than 15 or 20 minutes, especially if it’s warm outside.
Wait an hour or so, leave the leash on her and supervise her and then try again. This may take some time and maybe not, some dogs pick up rather quickly. Practice these steps for about a week or so, before continuing with a structured schedule.
Take her for several walks a day (morning before you go to work) and evening after you have dinner for about 30 minutes, no more.
She needs to burn off energy, anxiety, boredom, and frustration. If it’s warm enough, her REWARD for taking a walk with you is: FREEDOM and AFFECTION. She gets to go loose in the yard and play along with hugs and kisses from you.
Never give affection to her until she has completed a command you have given her. Use these steps:
1. Exercise (walks)
2. Discipline (training)
3. Affection (“Good Girl!” “Good Job!”)
She is first to exercise, then train for 15 minutes then she becomes your best buddy in the world. After a week or so of this along with consistency on your part, you will see a difference.
Once you have established your Leadership role (Calm and Assertive) THEN you can start to train her to stop jumping. Yelling and getting upset doesn’t help. The people getting jumped on are not to say anything. They must avert their eyes from them not pay them any attention until the dog is calm.
Once she stops her jumping (train her to sit) DO NOT Praise her, simply ask the people to go into the house and put her up (Kennel), you should find some at a local store (the wire, see through ones) if you keep her inside. She needs to see and hear what is going on.
Remember, this is not cruel, you are showing her boundaries and limitations, so that she can start learning that she may not continue to have this behavior unless you allow it. One example is “Up!” and she jumps up at your chest level or gets on the sofa or lap, or bed. It must be on YOUR terms and ONLY when you allow it.
