Do you have a brand new puppy that you want to become a well behaved adult dog?  By leash training your puppy at a very young age, you can get a head start. When my puppy was only six weeks old he could already walk with his leash.  He was already heeling at eight weeks old like an old pro.

Try this simple and easy technique to quickly get your puppy used to the leash.  My neighbor has an older dog that is scared at just the sight of the leash.  If their first experiences with the leash were negative they won’t be happy to see the leash come out.

Use this easy method to begin leash training your puppy with positive reinforcement.I start the leash training of my puppies this way, and they never undergo any negative experiences with the leash. In fact, they get excited when they see the leash, because they know they are about to go for a walk with Dad.

• Just put the puppy’s little  flat collar (not the choke collar  yet) on first of all, of course. That in itself is no big deal and the puppy shouldn’t even react. After that  attach his leash, but let it just trail behind him.  Don’t hold on to the leash at this time. Let the puppy walk around the area you have chosen for the leash training without any restraints. Walk along behind your puppy, making sure that the leash doesn’t become tangled in anything.  By keeping the leash from entangling, your puppy will cruise around stress free, hardly noticing he is trailing a leash.

• The next step to leash training your puppy begins once he’s become used to walking around with his leash dragging along behind him. Pick up the leash end, but be sure to not let it tighten up-you still want to keep it slack.  Now you can walk with your puppy but let him keep walking along without your controlling him.  After he is used to walking about loosely on his leash,  you can start the next step in leash training your puppy.

• It is time to teach your pup to walk along with you and not to be pulling you with his leash.  Use treats as a reward to encourage your puppy to learn a loose heel while you walk together. Put the reward in your left hand, so the puppy learns he wants to be close to your left side. The left side is the side he will be when he learns to heel. Try calling your puppy to come to your side offering a treat and lots of praise and affection. Positively reinforce this correct behavior each time it happens.

• If the puppy is not listening, try to give him a very gentle pull on the leash to get him to look over and see the treat he’s about to get.

• Give him his reward and lots of praise for coming over for his treat and listening to you. It won’t be long before he gets the idea. Puppies at only six weeks old are capable of learning the basics. Be sure not to let yourself become upset or impatient when beginning his leash training. Don’t make it an unpleasant experience for him to learn. Use only positive training techniques to leash train your puppy, (or for any further obedience training). By making the training a positive experience the puppy and you will have more fun and get better results. This seems to apply to people too.

• Continue the training several times a day until the pup is comfortable walking alongside you with his leash loose. Now that he has learned to do that, he is on his way to learning how to walk in the “heel” position. That should be all there is to get started with leash training. Follow this simple lesson, starting with a very young puppy and you will never have a problem putting your dog on his leash for a fun walk.

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