Hey guys! I wanted to give you a few simple tips for leash training a young dog or puppy. First it's important for the animal to not fear the process. You want to give him a comfortable yet secure collar and let him spend some time getting used to it. Usually after a couple hours of scratching and rubbing, the puppy forgets it's there. Spending quality time with your dog during this process is essential as you never want to leave him alone with something strange around his neck! Next you want to begin by attaching a small,( Not scary or overly large) leash to his collar. Allow him to drag it around for a while and much like the collar, take his time getting used to it being there. As you walk around your new puppy will often follow you wherever you go. use this to your advantage! Let him drag the leash along while happily chasing you around. Now for the hard part. Pick up the other end of the leash. No it's not going to automatically end your leash training, but by now your puppy should be used to wearing the collar and leash as well as walking beside you. This is the hard part as often the puppy begins to feel restricted when he wanders to the end of the leash. Patience pays off here! Remember that you shouldn't have to pull or snatch the leash but just stop walking and hold firmly. When he again returns to your side, give him a little praise and begin again. I don't recommend yelling or tugging on the leash. I do however believe in firm one-word commands combined with hand signals and tons of praise when he does as instructed. In the picture above, Shotgun has a very wide collar and attached is a very long, thirty foot, lead. I wouldn't recommend either of those for training a new puppy. In fact, this picture was taken in a format we seldom ever use. While Shotgun always wears his identification collar, when tracking or even just taking walks we prefer to use a full body harness for comfort to the dog and security for the handler. Harness training will come easy to a puppy when leash training has been accomplished. remember patience is vital during any training. If you loose your cool, it's best to stop the training and come back later when you both will be open to listening to each other. Hope this helps on some small way!- Mark
This is Bryan Jasper, "BJ" pictured with a body harness, which we strongly recommend for bloodhounds. We skipped leash training with him and went strait to the harness. Although we've only had him a few weeks, he seems to be doing really well. We've allowed Mia to be in charge of his training thus far, and she seems to be doing great! Good luck with your puppy!