puppy walking
The sooner you start your puppy walking training the better because it will stop your pet from getting into bad habits. You can only do this after around 6-weeks after it has received all it's injections. Venturing outdoors for the first time is a real adventure and the puppy will get very excited about the new World that has just opened up for them.
First things first, you cannot go out of the house without a collar and leash. This may be new to your puppy so place the collar around the neck while you are still in the house. Make sure it's comfortable and not to tight that it can squeeze the neck, but tight enough so that it will not slip off. You should put the collar on well before you start to take the puppy out so that it can get used to having something around their neck. Let them walk around the house with it on. The natural reaction would be to try and take it off either by trying to chew it or by rolling around the floor. If the puppy can chew the collar then it is too lose.
Once your puppy has got used to the collar then now it's time to introduce it to the lead. The same procedure applies and the puppy may shake the lead a little and will definitely try and bite it but a firm command to stop should do the trick with a little perseverance. You are the master and the puppy looks to you for guidance. They need to understand the difference in your voice levels and tones so when you want to command puppy a puppy to do something then it should know and understand immediately.
When you first venture outside you may find that it pulls a little and veers to different sides. This is normal because it is looking at a wide range of objects and hearing noises it has not heard before. Don't expect too much in the early stages, this is the first time and puppies are not going to walk in a straight line and ignore everything around them. Let them be curious, they will soon get used to the new surroundings.
Even puppies will have a little strength in them and may well pull on the lead, they don't know where they are going, they are just very excited and want to get there as soon as possible. Now what you should never do with a puppy is yank them back on the lead. For older dogs with stronger neck muscles this is fine and is practiced by many dog trainers but for puppies you have to be a little more gentle. Yanking a puppy around the neck can cause them serious long lasting injuries.
When your puppy starts to pull, stop walking. Pat your leg at the bottom as a command for the puppy to come back to this area. When it does you can praise him. There is no need to give your puppy a treat when he does something you tell him. Puppies and dogs love praise so you can really reward him with this. If he will not come back to your side and keeps pulling then keep repeating the procedure. Puppies are quick to learn, so if they want to walk then they will have to do it in an orderly fashion. As soon as they pull you stop walking. They will soon get the hang of it.
When it's time to cross the road it's a good habit to make your puppy sit. You can train your puppy to do this by pressing down on it's bottom. If it lies down bring it back up again and try again. You want to be able to train your puppy in the future to lie down so never confuse the two by telling your puppy to sit down. The command is just sit. Practice makes perfect and you will need to be patient and keep persevering. Just think about the long walks you will be having in the future and it will make all the effort you put into training your puppy worth while.
By Vilma Ladaga
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