01/06/2026
There's no better feeling as a dog owner than walking your puppy down the street on a loose lead.
No aching arms.
No being dragged from lamp post to lamp post.
No over-stimulated puppy bouncing at the end of the lead.
Just a calm, relaxed puppy who is engaged with you and able to navigate the world sensibly.
My puppy is now nearly 8 months old and can walk beautifully on a loose lead, even in new environments with distractions around her.
But this didn't happen by accident.
I wasn't lucky enough to get a puppy who naturally walked nicely.
I started teaching loose lead walking from 8 weeks of age.
Not by marching her around the streets for miles, but by building value in staying close, rewarding engagement, teaching her how to respond to gentle lead pressure, and gradually introducing distractions at a level she could cope with.
One of the biggest mistakes I see owners make is waiting until their puppy is already pulling before they start teaching lead skills.
By then, pulling has become a habit and now you're not training a new skill, you're trying to undo an existing one. That's much harder.
Another mistake is expecting a young puppy to walk perfectly all of the time.
Puppies have short attention spans. They're building confidence, learning about the world, exploring new sights, sounds and smells, and developing socially. Pulling at times is completely normal.
That's why I like to separate training walks from exploration walks.
When I'm actively teaching loose lead walking, I use a collar in a low-distraction environment where my puppy can be successful and learn that pressure on the collar means returning to me rather than pulling forwards.
When we're exploring, socialising, or I simply don't have the time or energy to focus on training, I use a harness instead.
Why?
Because I want to protect the collar.
If my puppy is going to pull, I'd rather she pulls into a harness than practises pulling through her collar. Every repetition of pulling on a collar teaches a puppy that tension is something to lean into and push through.
Using a harness for exploration allows my puppy to investigate the world, build confidence and enjoy being a puppy, whilst keeping the collar as a clear training tool.
Having realistic expectations doesn't mean allowing pulling forever. It means recognising that learning takes time, setting your puppy up for success, and understanding that not every walk needs to be a training session.
The reality is that loose lead walking is a skill. Just like recall, settling, or staying.
And skills need to be taught, practised, and reinforced consistently.
The puppies who walk nicely aren't usually the lucky ones. And even if your puppy walks beautifully today, those skills will often be tested when adolescence arrives.
Future you will be incredibly grateful for every minute you spend teaching these foundations when your adolescent dog can walk past distractions without towing you down the road.
If you want to teach your puppy how to walk nicely on lead from day one, don't wait.
I help overwhelmed and confused puppy owners raise calm, confident dogs they can take anywhere using kind, effective methods.
For more information, drop me a message.
