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Do you want to know the easiest way to leash train your new puppy?  By leash training your puppy at a very young age, you can get a head start. By six weeks of age my young puppy could already walk on a loose leash.  At 8 weeks old, my puppy walked with his leash like he’d been doing it all his life.

If you use this easy method you should  get very good results without causing the puppy any anxiety.  Some puppies and  dogs hate the very sight of the leash.  A dog or puppy that is afraid of the leash probably wasn’t given the right exposure to it at first.

You only want your puppy to have positive results with leash training, so use this simple tip. Here’s how I  start leash training my puppies now- and never have any problems with the puppy being scared to be put on their leash. In fact, they get excited when they see the leash, because they know they are about to go for a walk with Dad.

• Begin with placing the puppy’s flat collar around his neck (the choke collar shouldn’t be used at this time). The puppy should have no problems with the flat collar being put on. Attach the pup’s leash to the collar, but let it lay loose on the ground.  You won’t need to keep ahold of the leash at this point. Just let him cruise around the house or yard checking everything out and going about his puppy business. Stay close behind the puppy so you can free his leash if it gets caught up in anything.  You puppy probably won’t even notice he’s on the leash if you keep it from getting caught on something.

• The following leash training step starts after the puppy is accustomed to cruising around dragging his leash along. You can now pick up your end of the leash, keeping it slack at all times.  Walk along with your puppy, letting him explore what he wants to-don’t try to control his position at this point.  Once he is thoroughly used to walking with the loose leash, it is time to begin the second step.

• Now your puppy is reach to learn walking with you without pulling on the leash.  Use treats as a reward to encourage your puppy to learn a loose heel while you walk together. If you hold the treat in your left hand it will get the puppy used to the idea of staying by your left side. The heel position asks your puppy to walk at your left side. Call your puppy over to your side and when he comes over give him lots of praise, affection and a tasty treat as a reward for paying attention. Positively reinforce this correct behavior each time it happens.

• If the puppy isn’t paying attention when you call him over, just give a gentle tug on his leash to get his attention, and let him see you have a treat for him.

• Once you have his attention  using a happy tone of voice he’ll come over and you can reward him for  listening. It won’t be long before he gets the idea. By the age of 6 weeks old, puppies can already learn so much. Stay calm and don’t get frustrated as you begin leash training your puppy. Don’t make it an unpleasant experience for him to learn. Only use positive reinforcement techniques when leash training your puppy, or with any other training you will be doing later. Dogs will learn a lot faster if you make it fun and rewarding for them while they are in training. I think even people learn things a lot quicker with this method also.

• Continue repeating this training frequently on a daily basis until your puppy walks comfortably at your side with a loose leash. By the time your pup is comfortable walking on a loose leash, he is halfway there to learning how to “heel”. That’s all there is to it. If you have followed this easy plan, you should have nothing but fun when taking your puppy for a walk on his leash.

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train a puppy

The shy puppy may very likely try yourpatience, but his worries are at the opposite end of the spectrum from his pack-leader littermate. This puppy seems to react in fear to almost everything – littermates that play too rough, loud noises, strange people, etc. This little guy needs a slight different set of puppy training tips. People who are not aware of what the situation really is are apt to assume that the puppy has been abused, when that is not the case at all.

I can remember one occasion in particular in which I had a shy puppy born to a litter in which all the other puppies had absolutely delightful temperaments. He evidenced this behavior right from the time his eyes first opened and he began walking around the whelping box. His treatment and experiences were no different than those of the other puppies. Try as I might, I was never really able to conquer the puppy’s unfounded fears.

Fortunately, I was able to come across kind and sympathetic owners for the pup. They were mature people with no children who understood the temperament difficulties and yet were happy to provide a home for him. They had experience with training puppies and so the puppy was placed with the family under the provision that, in the event a problem arose that the new owner was not able to cope with, the puppy would be returned to us. In this particular case, however, the puppy grew to adulthood as a quiet, devoted pet While he did improve in his shyness, new situations, strange people, or sudden loud noises were a problem throughout his entire life.

Puppy Temperaments

There are a few puppy training tips or techniques that can tell you a great deal about an individual puppy as well. Cradling a puppy in your arms and holding him on his back can tell you how willing the youngster is to comply with what you want him to do. Checking ears and feet can bring a number of different reactions. Some pups will easily comply; others will offer mild resistance.

The puppy to avoid is the one that becomes terrified at the occurrence of something strange or the one that snaps at being intruded upon. No puppy should be anything less than happy, friendly, and reasonably able to cope with your little experiments.

There are more formal tests that behaviorists can give puppies that can reveal significant details in regard to their potential temperament as adults. These tests begin as early as three weeks and continue on up to three months.