There’s a sentence I hear constantly, and it’s almost always said with real frustration:
“He knows better. He’s just being stubborn.”
He doesn’t, and he isn’t. And as long as that’s the explanation you’re working from, the pulling will never stop — because you’re solving the wrong problem.
Your dog pulls on the leash for exactly one reason: it has worked every single time he has ever tried it.
Think about it from his end of the leash. He wants to reach the mailbox. He pulls. You take a step. He gets closer to the mailbox. He pulls harder. You take more steps. He arrives at the mailbox.
From his perspective, that’s a system with a 100% success rate over his entire life. He would be irrational to abandon it.
He is not defying you. He is not dominating you. He is not being stubborn. He is doing the thing that works, which is what every animal on earth does, including you.
If pulling is a behavior that works, the fix is to make it stop working.
That’s the whole rule. The instant the leash goes tight, you stop moving. Not a correction. Not a yank. Not a word. You simply become a tree. The moment there is slack in the leash again — even for half a second — you walk.
Tight leash: the world freezes. Loose leash: the world happens.
You are not punishing your dog. You are giving him information he has never had before, and you are giving it to him with perfect consistency, which is the only way information gets through.
I want to be honest with you about this, because most articles skip it.
Your first few sessions will be absurd. You will spend fifteen minutes traveling forty feet down your own street. You will stop and start so many times you’ll feel ridiculous. A neighbor will drive past and you’ll want to explain yourself.
Do it anyway. Do it in your driveway if you have to — this stage isn’t about getting anywhere.
Then, usually somewhere in the first week, something clicks. It clicks fast, and it clicks hard, because you’ve finally made the two options unmistakable. Dogs are excellent at figuring out contingencies. They’re terrible at figuring out inconsistent ones.
Which is the real reason most people fail at this: they hold the line for four days and then let the dog drag them across the street on day five because they’re running late. One inconsistent session doesn’t cost you a day. It teaches your dog that pulling works sometimes, and intermittent rewards are the most durable kind there is. Ask anyone who plays slot machines.
Everything above is true and it’s enough to get most dogs started. But it’s an article, and articles run out of room right where the real questions begin:
So I wrote the long version
Stop the Pulling! The Pet Parent’s Guide to Loose-Leash Walking is a 36-page guide that answers all of that.
Inside:
It’s written for pet parents, not trainers. No jargon, no dominance nonsense, no equipment you have to buy from me.
→ [Get Stop the Pulling! here]
One important caveat. If your dog is lunging, barking, growling, or fixating on other dogs or people while on leash, that isn’t pulling — that’s reactivity. The advice in this post won’t touch it, and in some cases the stop-and-wait approach will make a reactive dog more frustrated.
Reactivity needs a person who can watch your specific dog in your specific environment.
Our trainer Katie offers a free 15-minute consultation to help you figure out which problem you actually have. No pitch, no obligation. If it’s something outside our scope, she’ll point you somewhere better.
→ Book your free 15-minute consult Call or text 770-695-3096
2 Paws Up Inc. — Professional Pet Care, Not an App. Dog training serving Snellville, Lilburn & parts of Gwinnett County.
https://2pawsupinc.com/
770-695-3096 Call or Text
[email protected]
The post Your Dog Isn’t Stubborn. He’s Just Winning. appeared first on 2 Paws Up Inc. | Pet Sitting, Dog Walking, and Dog Training.
Read more...
“He knows better. He’s just being stubborn.”
He doesn’t, and he isn’t. And as long as that’s the explanation you’re working from, the pulling will never stop — because you’re solving the wrong problem.
The reframe
Your dog pulls on the leash for exactly one reason: it has worked every single time he has ever tried it.
Think about it from his end of the leash. He wants to reach the mailbox. He pulls. You take a step. He gets closer to the mailbox. He pulls harder. You take more steps. He arrives at the mailbox.
From his perspective, that’s a system with a 100% success rate over his entire life. He would be irrational to abandon it.
He is not defying you. He is not dominating you. He is not being stubborn. He is doing the thing that works, which is what every animal on earth does, including you.
The one rule
If pulling is a behavior that works, the fix is to make it stop working.
Pulling never, ever moves you forward.
That’s the whole rule. The instant the leash goes tight, you stop moving. Not a correction. Not a yank. Not a word. You simply become a tree. The moment there is slack in the leash again — even for half a second — you walk.
Tight leash: the world freezes. Loose leash: the world happens.
You are not punishing your dog. You are giving him information he has never had before, and you are giving it to him with perfect consistency, which is the only way information gets through.
Yes, the first walks are terrible
I want to be honest with you about this, because most articles skip it.
Your first few sessions will be absurd. You will spend fifteen minutes traveling forty feet down your own street. You will stop and start so many times you’ll feel ridiculous. A neighbor will drive past and you’ll want to explain yourself.
Do it anyway. Do it in your driveway if you have to — this stage isn’t about getting anywhere.
Then, usually somewhere in the first week, something clicks. It clicks fast, and it clicks hard, because you’ve finally made the two options unmistakable. Dogs are excellent at figuring out contingencies. They’re terrible at figuring out inconsistent ones.
Which is the real reason most people fail at this: they hold the line for four days and then let the dog drag them across the street on day five because they’re running late. One inconsistent session doesn’t cost you a day. It teaches your dog that pulling works sometimes, and intermittent rewards are the most durable kind there is. Ask anyone who plays slot machines.
Three things that make it stick
- Pay the position, not the absence of the problem. Most owners only engage with the leash when it’s tight. Flip that. When your dog is walking near you with a loose leash, mark it and pay it — a treat, a “yes,” a quick scratch. Loose leash has to become the thing that earns something, not just the thing that isn’t punished.
- Stop using the walk to burn energy. A dog who’s been alone all day, released from a crate, and hauled straight out the front door is not in a learning state. He’s in an explosion state. Two minutes of sniff work, a few sits, a little food scattered in the grass after the leash goes on — take the top off first, then train.
- Fix your gear. A flat collar hands a determined dog leverage against you and puts pressure directly on his trachea. A well-fitted front-clip harness redirects his forward momentum sideways instead of letting him pull straight through. To be clear: gear is not training. It doesn’t teach your dog anything. But it makes training physically possible while you’re both learning, and it protects his throat in the meantime.
The thing this article can’t do
Everything above is true and it’s enough to get most dogs started. But it’s an article, and articles run out of room right where the real questions begin:
- What do I do when he pulls toward another dog?
- What if he’s fine on my street and impossible at the park?
- Which harness, specifically?
- What about a puppy who’s never learned anything else?
- What about a 90-pound dog and a 130-pound owner?
- Why does it work with my husband and not with me?
So I wrote the long version
Stop the Pulling! The Pet Parent’s Guide to Loose-Leash Walking is a 36-page guide that answers all of that.
Inside:
- The complete step-by-step protocol, broken into sessions you can actually do
- An honest gear comparison — front-clip, back-clip, head halter, martingale — with what each one does and doesn’t fix
- Troubleshooting for the specific ways this goes wrong
- What to do when your dog is reactive or lunging, which is a different problem than pulling and needs a different answer
- How to keep the whole household consistent, which is usually the real obstacle
It’s written for pet parents, not trainers. No jargon, no dominance nonsense, no equipment you have to buy from me.
→ [Get Stop the Pulling! here]
When you need eyes on the dog
One important caveat. If your dog is lunging, barking, growling, or fixating on other dogs or people while on leash, that isn’t pulling — that’s reactivity. The advice in this post won’t touch it, and in some cases the stop-and-wait approach will make a reactive dog more frustrated.
Reactivity needs a person who can watch your specific dog in your specific environment.
Our trainer Katie offers a free 15-minute consultation to help you figure out which problem you actually have. No pitch, no obligation. If it’s something outside our scope, she’ll point you somewhere better.
→ Book your free 15-minute consult Call or text 770-695-3096
2 Paws Up Inc. — Professional Pet Care, Not an App. Dog training serving Snellville, Lilburn & parts of Gwinnett County.
https://2pawsupinc.com/
770-695-3096 Call or Text
[email protected]
The post Your Dog Isn’t Stubborn. He’s Just Winning. appeared first on 2 Paws Up Inc. | Pet Sitting, Dog Walking, and Dog Training.
Read more...
