The reasons for pulling are unique to each dog and could include a variety of causes…..

Walking Speed‍

This is a biggie! Dogs tend to walk faster than us because they have 4 legs. It likely feels completely unnatural for them to walk at our pace. Have you ever been stuck behind someone on the pavement, unable to overtake and their walking speed is slower than yours? It requires constant conscious effort to walk slower than your natural speed. It’s frustrating. We expect our dogs to do this constantly for us whenever they are attached to a lead.

The Lead Is Too Short

We do of course need to consider safety but many dogs are being walked on leads that are too short. The shorter the lead ;the more likely your dog is to reach the end of it. I recommend using a 2 metre lead (unless you are on a narrow pavement) as this allows your dog to move around a little more. However, if your dog has some deeper issues going on (such as reactivity) this may not be safe and it’s important to consult a qualified professional to assess your individual situation and provide tailored advice. I also recommend allowing your dog plenty of opportunities to stop and sniff as this is good for their mental health and helps to slow them down. This can even be used as a method of positive reinforcement for walking on a loose lead. Integrating training and games into lead walks is a good way to increase engagement and make this time enjoyable for them.

Fear

Fear is an “in the moment” emotion. It’s a surge of panic from a perceived threat to your dog’s safety. It doesn’t matter whether there is a real threat to your dog or not; the feeling of fear is real to the dog experiencing it.

How can this cause pulling? When the fear response is triggered this can be expressed in a few ways; fight, flight, fool around and freeze. Many dogs will freeze or stop on their walks because they are fearful, and many will pull on the lead for the same reason. All dogs will be scared of something at some point in their lives but when it’s frequent this can lead to anxiety on walks.

Anxiety

Anxiety is an emotional state where dogs are worried about what might happen. If your dog is fearful of certain things (such as traffic, or other dogs) then they may feel anxious as soon as they leave the house because they are worried about feeling fearful. When in a state of anxiety dogs are less likely to walk in a slow and relaxed manner and are often trying to move forwards faster, scanning around for potential threats.

Pain

Pain is not usually obvious in dogs; especially when chronic (long term). Dogs are very good at adjusting the way they behave in order to alleviate their pain. Dogs will frequently use their body differently in order to feel more comfortable and this can involve changes to their gait (the way and speed they move). Many dogs need to move faster because it is less painful for them. Some dogs that are experiencing pain prefer to run rather than walk because this produces adrenaline (a great pain reliever) which helps mask their pain. This is why it’s important to not assume that an active or playful dog is not in pain because it can actually make them more active; not less!

Reactivity

As reactivity has lots of root causes (including anxiety, fear, frustration, pain) this is a common cause for dogs pulling on the lead. The root emotion behind the reactivity needs working on before the lead walking can improve.

Breed Tendencies

This isn’t a sole reason why dogs pull onlead, but certain breeds can find it more difficult due to breed specific tendencies; often spaniels and hounds find it very difficult to resist scent and walk in a nice straight line beside you.

Unmet Physical, Emotional and Mental Needs

Be honest - what does your dog enjoy most in life? What was your dog bred to do? Are these things available to your dog when walking on a short lead? A lot of dogs are pulling on their lead because they are desperately trying to meet their own behavioural needs, to do all the things that are completely natural for a dog and things we likely bred into them over tens of thousands of years. Things like sniffing the messages left by other dogs, following the scents left by other animals, changing speeds and directions, play, social interaction with other dogs, social interaction with other people, approaching and exploring novel items, getting space from certain things, chasing, stopping and observing their environment. The list is never ending. Not everyone can give their dog off-lead exercise each day and being attached to a short lead prevents all of this natural behaviour from being possible. It’s easy to see how you can end up with a dog that is pulling as a result of unfulfilled needs, and this can lead to chronic frustration. For many dogs the daily walk is sometimes their only opportunity to exercise, have fun, sniff and explore. Is their walk on a short lead providing them with what they actually need? It’s so important to ensure that your dog is able to express normal dog behaviour daily and has plenty of opportunities to move around freely. Use of the fields at Martham Paw Ground is a great way of allowing your dog safe time off-lead to explore, sniff, run, climb, roll around and do normal dog things. You can build other things into daily life to helpmeet your dog’s needs by getting creative with training exercises, games, scent work and other enrichment.

Frustration

Frustration is an unpleasant feeling for dogs caused by being prevented from doing or accessing something. This could be absolutely anything; inability to access other dogs and people, inability to access wildlife to chase or to track their scent, wanting to run free. These feelings of frustration can easily become “classically conditioned” (see previous blog!) to being attached to a lead; meaning as soon as the lead is attached the dog can feel overwhelmed with feelings of frustration beyond their control which then lead to intense pulling from the onset. It’s very difficult to train dogs in the moment they are experiencing these feelings

Lack of Training

I’ve left this one till last for a reason!

Some dogs pull on lead because they simply want to move forwards but have not been taught how to walk on a loose lead. Training is important, but other underlying causes need to be addressed separately. If your dog is anxious, painful, fearful, frustrated, unfulfilled…..your training is likely to be unsuccessful and this can lead some people to the use of unpleasant methods and equipment in order to regain control. Most dogs with a simple pulling problem learned to pull on lead when they were a puppy. This is because puppies are taken on walks before they have learned how to walk on a loose lead and when the lead goes tight many people will accept this because the puppy is small and not yet strong. This easily escalates and becomes a bigger problem as the puppy grows stronger and pulling cannot be allowed. With other underlying reasons addressed; you can gradually teach your dog that it is worthwhile to walk on a loose lead. Training a dog to enjoy walking on a loose lead requires consistency, time and a lot of patience. This is not something that is “done” after a single training session. Puppies have a very short attention span and need plenty of time to explore the world around them at their own pace. Walks on a short lead should be kept to a minimum. Trying to train them for an entire walk is going to be too much for them and can even have a negative effect on their future confidence levels if they were encouraged to pay too much attention to you rather than processing the world around them while young. Older dogs that pull have a longer history of pulling so you can expect to need to train for much longer before you’ll see a difference. If you are starting again with training, or are at the beginning of training your puppy; it’s important to build up the training gradually and begin in locations where your puppy or dog IS able to concentrate and to do this training when your dog is already exercised and fulfilled. I recommend teaching them indoors at home first, before progressing to the garden, front driveway, residential street and then increasing locations of distraction. Each time to increase the level of distraction you will need to provide your puppy or dog with more help. Make it worthwhile for your puppy or dog to walk beside you on a loose lead with the use of positive reinforcement and build up your distances gradually. Training with food is effective but you can get creative with your training rewards such as playing a fun game or giving them opportunities to sniff or even run free. I think it’s really important to understand that your dog doesn’t understand that walking on a loose lead is important. It’s not important for them, it’s important for you. You need to make it worthwhile for them so that it becomes easier for them to do, and eventually a habit.

Did you know that the Educating Paws “Pick NMix” course which takes place at Martham Paw Ground includes an entire class of loose lead training taught as fun games? This course also teaches other important skills which are an integral part of loose lead walking such as recall, calmness and self control. If you’d like to book a space on the course you can do so at https://educatingpaws.co.uk/marthampawground

Blog written by Claire Mcknespiey of Educating Paws

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