Why Dogs Pull or React on the Leash
One of the main behaviors that a lot of people come to us for to help solve with their dog is leash pulling or leash reactivity. Many people do not know that dogs are natural pullers and lungers. They need to learn to be on a leash and what to do once on a leash. Mostly what causes a lot of leash reactivity and pulling ahead is the wrong tools.
If you're using a collar or a harness that's causing too much tension, what's happening is the dog is going immediately into fight or flight. That fight or flight response is causing them to break free of that tense feeling that they have on their chest or their neck.
If your dog is in a constant state of adrenaline, they won't be able to focus on you. They won't even be able to really pay attention to where you're going because they're constantly trying to break free of that feeling.
The Bark Busters Solution to Leash Reactivity
Tools and training that promote calm, loose-leash walking
Bark Busters has the solution to leash reactivity - a mixture of the perfect communication tool that doesn’t cause any pain or discomfort and exercises that get your dog more concerned about you than any other distraction outside.
Our WaggWalker harness is the first of it’s kind in the industry, getting rid of tension and allowing for a loose leash walking experience. It's going to allow your dog to walk with you opposed to walking against you. It's a great communication tool that can be used for training and just as a general everyday harness.
The proper tools also allow you to keep control of your body language, which is the main way that dogs communicate. In the above video, you’ll see a demonstration of the WaggWalker being used by a few of my clients. You’ll see that the harness has two loops that fit on the chest of your dog. You’d clip your leash to the furthest ring from you.
When you need to issue a refocus or a correction to your dog, you simply just give the dog a little bit of a tug and release, moving your hand quickly back towards the tail. You’ll then hear it make a corrective noise.
That corrective noise is simply refocusing your dog to get them back into a relaxed state. The Wagg Walker Harness and the WaggWonder Collar come with our training packages and our programs.
Get Help with Your Dog’s Leash Behavior
If you need help with leash reactivity around dogs, people, whatever it might be, give us a call. You can also fill out a free behavioral quiz that will give us some insight into your dog, and then we would love to schedule either consult or book a lesson with you. Thank you so much.