Took my 4 month old Cairn puppy out today on the lead for the 1st time and he hated it!.

He has had the lead on for a while - just allowed to run around dragging it behind him to get used to it. But when I took him out he refused to move. So I dragged him and he squealed , and jumped and bucked - it was no fun for him or me.

Please help.

Can i ask why it was the first time he has been out on a lead?? I think you should just take it slowly at first if he is not sure. Definately DONT pull him.

Take some tasty food with you and let him have some.  Just go up and down your pathway at the start and see how he does.  Good luck, they get there in the end :d

Get him used to the idea in the house and garden first - show him a tempting tit bit, and give it to him when he comes to you dragging the lead, then, when he's used to that, hold the lead and reward him just for taking a step or two.  Slowly ask for more steps before he gets the reward - you'll soon find he wants to go further and faster -then you'll have to start about thinking about teaching him to walk on a LOOSE lead ;)

Hi Janeatt,
I too have a 19week old puppy who hates lead walking, he just plain refuses to move once we are outside the door!! Let's just say I have tried a multitude of things and taken a multitiude of opinions on board, all of which have failed although I have been persistent. I have been told by his previous trainer to pull him and keep walking- I totally disagree with this method and vented it- I got a look of disgust from her - Opps- bothered!!. Have changed puppy training school now as I couldn't agree to her methods and now am at one of the school's run by www.puppyschool.co.uk. Her methods are all reward based and kinder to your puppy. I am not sure if the first set of training classes that insisted on pulling him have caused my pup to hate lead walking. So at this time I am really taking things at his pace. Still getting him used to all outside noises etc. Although I did seem to work out that , just like a toddler, he was throwing himself flat out on the floor as I was using treats as an incentive to get him walking, Throw myself on floor = treats ,clever little bugger!!!! !! Talk about being clever with the reverse phsycology!!! Not sure which route I should take with him at this point. He is fine in the park and recall is now really good. Socilaizing your pup with others is another important task you should encourage too. You seem to be doing ok with getting him used to having the lead attached so he gets used to it. I have found that some days are better than others, sometimes he will walk but if he has made his mind up not to there's no way I am going to persuede him!! I did however find that if I carried him (Luckily he's a small breed) to the turn around point in our road, he would turn around and almost run all the way home. I think I may have an agraphobic puppy!!! I really would reccomend puppy school traing classes as a first port of call, there great for both training and socialization. Any info regarding how to get puppies to road walk on tarmac pathways, would be greatly appreciated.

I have a 15 week old westie and he hated going for walks too at the start. Some things which helped have been taking him to puppy classes so that he gets used to other dogs, walking him somewhere quiet at first i.e not near a main road, treats to bribe him to walk - hold the treats out ahead of him and when he takes a few steps give him the treat and praise him. Gradually increase the amount of steps he takes before giving him the treats. Also check that he has a comfortable collar. The real breakthrough came when I used an extendable lead, you have to be careful about the length because if they can run out onto a main road the consequences are obvious but my pup preferred the slacker lead and he now walks by my heel! I also enlisted the help of my friends 2 year old westie. They played together in the garden and then we took them for a walk and my pup trotted along behind her. So if you have a friend with a friendly older dog this may help.

Just use the Hansel and Gretel approach....

Don't feed from a bowl, scatter the food on the ground gradually getting longer and longer so that the dog forgets about the lead and is hunting for food, gradually you can stop scattering and drop occasionally and then give from your hand..........

Give the dog a choice, walk forward = get food, stay still and starve......... :D

Tams , the pulling is actually not cruel or bad advice at all. My most recent pup Max will sometimes not want to move but i give him a small tug and have my back towards him and he will follow. Facing your pup and trying to coax him to come won't work in most cases unless your dog is suffiecient with recall. By letting your puppy stop the walk it's letting him get his way , give him a small tug and continue walking (make sure he didn't stop because of sore joints or just plain tired). By any means don't drag your puppy off his feet but you will know your own limits. Yes this does work when they jump and buck , look straight forward and walk , they will follow.

Before you start this , let him lead you so you know his limits. Take him infront of your house or onto a busy street and sit with him, ignore his attempts to cower from the noise and treat for confidence.

Yes treats work to but some puppys just ignore all attemps at coaxing with any method when they are outside , they'll reach for the treat but won't follow forward.

Extendable leads are dangerous for larger breeds , smaller dogs are fine on them because you have much more control.

JuneH - Great advice , walking with older dogs boosts confidence. Max is learning everything by just watching how my oldest walks, all his fears just seem to wash away.

I would reward with treats when the dog does come along with you, but I would NOT bribe by feeding the dog first and then getting the behavior. In your house will your dog come along with you when you walk? Try without the leash first and playfully entice your pup to come along. I use the command, "let's go." Pat your thigh, make squeely, silly noises, clap your hands, hide behind something....make a game and get your pup to come along with you. Try it out in your yard if you have a fenced area. At other times let the pup drag the leash around the house, but supervise pup so he doesn't get hurt. After a few days of doing this without the leash, put on the leash. Don't cause ANY tension in the leash. Do what you did without the leash to encourage your pup to come along. When your dog does come right along, praise very happily and give a special treat. (just tidbits) Just do this for a while in your own yard or for a very short distance wherever you like to walk. Don't go very far at first. Make it lots of fun, make sure puppy is a little bit hungry and bring treats. Just gradually work up to a longer distance. Don't pull, punish or otherwise associate the leash, walking or you with a rotten time. Make it fun. Act confident around him, not tenative....like it's no big deal. "Let's go! Yeah, woooo hoooo. We're going to have fun!"

At other times, work on other obedience skills like sit, down, come etc. You can also ask for a sit (for instance) each time you give your pup a toy to play with or before he gets dinner. Does he want to go outside? Sit first. Does he want to play fetch? Sit first. Show him that you control his resources and you are taking care of everything. He doesn't need to worry or call the shots.

That's a great idea...if you have a doggie friend that could walk with you and your pup. They often will join the fun if they have another dog to walk with.

When you're working with him at home alone, and you want him to come along with you, is there a favorite toy you could toss ahead a little ways and keep playing and tossing so he keeps moving ahead? He'll get onto it in time. Don't worry.

Hi mannyg,
Thanks for your good advice. The good news is over the last 2 days my puppy has walked really well. if I felt the lead tighten i would carry on giving him lots of praise and saying "walk on good boy". Seems to have worked. Hooray!!
The reason I did not like the training method of the first trainer was that she would insist that i drag my puppy flat out, off his feet, along the floor and ignore him. A gentle pull is infact what I agree with. Apart from the fact that I think this would have put him off lead walking even further, I may even have been reported to the RSPCA for being cruel!!! Let's just say each to their own methods, with patience and time , wev'e got there in the end!!! Thank goodness.

Glad to help , anytime! I agree with not dragging your puppy off his feet , i think this is more of a concern in bigger dogs , 80 pounds of body weight being pulled by the neck is no fun at all. Smaller dogs like your cairn will give into the "keep walkin'" tug easier :p