The Best Leash Training Equipment for Your Puppy

I'm Dale Buchanan, and this is Puppy Talk, the podcast that offers free advice and tips for raising a happy, healthy, and obedient puppy. For more information on this podcast, visit us online at puppytalkpodcast.com. Welcome to Puppytalk Podcast episode 148. I'm your host, Dale Buchanan. Today I'm going to talk about the best leash training equipment for your puppy. Let's get started. Many people would love to have their dog walk beside them on a loose leash, never pulling or moving from side to side. Most dog owners never achieve this goal for a variety of reasons, including the wrong equipment, no formal training, and bad habits started early. It takes skill and practice to get your dog to walk on a loose leash and never react to anything. In my book, Leash Training Your Puppy, I include a step-by-step process to achieve this goal. I'll put the link to that book in the show notes. The book also includes leash training drills like U-turns, figure eights, and much more. The first change is your mindset. Stop thinking of walks as just walks, and start thinking of them as leash training sessions with your puppy. Put away your phone and focus on staying in the moment with your puppy, watching every move they make. The equipment mentioned in this article is only part of the process to loose leash walking. The rest of the equation is training. I've already done numerous leash training podcast episodes and a variety of leash training videos on my YouTube page. I'll put links to those in the show notes. How to select the right equipment. There are hundreds of options for leash training equipment. Go to any pet store and you will find a large variety of harnesses and leashes. Browse on Amazon, and you can easily get overwhelmed by the choices. The best advice I can give when starting out is to keep it simple. No need for sophisticated equipment. Stay away from anything labeled tactical for now. The goal is to walk your puppy using a six-foot leash and a flat collar. The process includes a variety of other equipment and leash training instruction from a professional dog trainer. Here is a list of equipment that you should get and things to avoid. Stay away from marketing you see online that promises to stop the pulling. They won't work. A puppy pulling on the leash isn't stopped by the equipment alone, but by the training combined with the right equipment. The biggest equipment mistakes. Every day I see people walking their dogs using a rear clip harness and a 10 to 20 foot retractable leash. The dog does whatever it wants, and the owner is distracted by their phone. This is a big problem. There is no dog owner connection, and it is no surprise that the dog has developed bad habits while on a leash. Puppies in my puppy training program spend a lot of time learning proper leash training skills and manners. No pulling on the leash, no jumping on people, and no reactivity to other dogs. Here is a list of the equipment that you should get. 1. Flat collar. You can use a buckle or a snap variety. 2. Pet safe easy walk harness. 3. 6 foot snap leash. I use Mendota Pet. They are the best. 4. Slip lead to use in the house. And some dogs need a Star Mark Pro training collar. Do not use these. Rear clip harness, retractable leash, spongy leash. Those are good for runners, but the dog is not going to be running on asphalt until all of their joints are fused together. That's between 12 and 24 months old. A multi-handle leash. I see these leashes all the time. They've got a handle, a big handle down near the buckle, and you pull on that handle to stop the dog from doing something. All that does is stress out the dog and creates tension in the leash, which creates tension in the dog. Stay away from multi-handle leashes. A choke collar. Those might have been popular in the 70s. They're not popular anymore. Do not get a choke collar. An E-collar, which is a shock, vibrate, or a tone collar. You don't need those with puppies. Stay away from those. These are my suggestions for lease training puppies and dogs based on over 18 years of experience. You can use whatever you like, but I warn you that the worst combination for lease training is a rear clip harness and a retractable leash. A rear clip harness gives all the power to the dog and it takes it away from you, the handler. Think of a Siberian husky pulling a sled in the snow. Your dog should not be pulling anything while on a leash. They should be calmly next to you on a loose leash, meaning that there is no tension in the leash at all. I can't say enough bad things about a retractable leash. Every time I see one, I want to throw it in the trash. Every time I see a dog owner using one, their dog is way out in front doing whatever it wants. This isn't good leash manners, and it isn't leash training. Also, a retractable leash has a very thin leash that could break at any time. The leash rolls up into a spring-loaded handle and could easily malfunction. The buttons that allow the leash to expand and hold could also break. Too many moving parts. Like I said earlier, keep it simple. Watch some of my leash training videos on my YouTube channel and Instagram page for examples of good leash training technique. In addition, I want to note that dogs that sign up for the AKC K9 Good Citizen are prohibited from using a retractable leash. They have to use a six-foot leash and preferably a flat collar or a front clip harness. In my group training classes that are held twice a month during the spring and the fall, retractable leashes are prohibited. The dog needs to stay close to the owner because there are a lot of distractions around, and we want the dog to understand that it's teamwork between them and you.com. Have a great day.