How To Train a Golden Retriever To Walk on a Leash

Your puppy may be an example of angelic behavior at home, but the great outdoors bring many distractions, leading to leash pulling or refusal to move.

However, no dog walks on a leash properly from the first try. Walking on a leash requires training, and every dog learns it eventually.

The key to leash training success is being patient, maintaining consistent reactions, and avoiding common mistakes that set the puppy up for failure.

When To Start the Leash Training

As a rule of thumb, the earlier you begin training a puppy, the quicker you’ll see the results of your efforts. You can start leash training when you bring the puppy home, around six weeks old.

Teaching an older dog already used to walking without a leash can be challenging but not impossible. With enough dedication, patience, and treats, there are no age limits.

Choose The Right Leash

Before you begin the training, choose the right leash. Although retractable leashes are handy, leave them for when your puppy grows up. For the training phase, choose a traditional six-foot-long leash.

Retractable leashes teach puppies bad habits because a puppy quickly notices that pulling extends the leash length. On the other hand, the length of a traditional leash is limited and remains unchanged.

You will also need to get a collar and a harness. The harness shouldn’t be too tight – you should be able to fit two fingers between the harness and your dog’s body.

There should be no indentations left after you take the harness off. Choose a full-body harness with a front hook to prevent your puppy from escaping. Avoid narrow collars that can choke your dog.

Additionally, you will need your dog’s favorite treats as a reward and an optional clicker to facilitate easier memorization.

How To Introduce a Puppy To a Leash

First, introduce your puppy to the harness and leash. Don’t throw a harness on your puppy and take it out to the local park right away because you can scare your dog and create negative associations with the process.

Instead, take baby steps. Let your puppy sniff the harness. Then, slip it over your puppy’s head, but take it off instantly. If your puppy shows no signs of distress, put on the harness fully but don’t buckle it.

When your puppy gets used to the harness, put it on and buckle it, but don’t attach the leash. Play with your puppy while the harness is on to distract it.

After each step, reward your puppy for good behavior with a toy or treat to build positive associations with the harness. Once your puppy feels comfortable walking in a harness, attach the leash.

How To Train a Puppy To Walk On a Leash Step-by-Step

One may think that once a puppy gets used to wearing a harness, it can start walking on a leash like an adult dog, but the challenges only begin.

Choose the right moment for your leash training. Don’t put a leash on a puppy full of energy because this way, you’re setting it up for failure.

Put the leash on your puppy after a playing session to make your little friend calmer. Start by walking with your dog on a leash inside the house because a familiar environment has fewer distractions.

Attach the leash to the harness and walk with your puppy back and forth. Whenever your puppy pulls the leash, stop, and don’t move until it stops pulling. Then, continue walking.

When your puppy gets comfortable walking on a leash at home, you can go outdoors for your first real walk. Don’t go to an entirely new location but walk in your backyard to minimize the distractions.

Note that you don’t have to wait until your puppy learns not to pull the leash – this will take a while. However, you should ensure that your puppy doesn’t whine, shiver, bark, bite the leash, or try to remove it before you head outside.

Ten to 15 minutes are sufficient for your first walk. Walk briskly to prevent your puppy from picking up many smells and getting overly excited.

Increase the walk duration gradually. When your puppy learns not to pull the leash, you can start talking in more exciting locations.

Reward Desired Behavior

When training your puppy to walk on a leash, combine two strategies: proactive and reactive. The former strategy requires you to react proactively to good behavior. Whenever your puppy walks without pulling the leash and looks forward, reward it.

To speed up the training, you may also mark the reward verbally, either using a clicker or by saying “good boy” or similar. Rewarding good behavior works because it prevents pulling and keeps the dog close to you.

Only reward your puppy when it looks forward and not if it gets distracted by a squirrel or another dog, even if it doesn’t pull the leash. But once your puppy looks away from the distraction, give it a treat.

Of course, you won’t have to reward your puppy for walking on a leash correctly forever. As your puppy shows progress and pulls the leash less frequently, you can gradually start rewarding it less.

Don’t Reward Pulling

To teach your puppy to walk on a loose leash, you should understand why dogs pull on a leash in the first place. Firstly, a dog that is used to running around freely as fast as it pleases is not accustomed to restrictions.

Secondly, puppies are curious, and wherever they sense a new smell or see so something new, they excitedly run to explore it. Trying to keep a golden retriever puppy from adventures is tricky, and here comes the third reason.

Inexperienced dog owners may see nothing wrong in letting their puppy smell a leaf or run after a butterfly. Unfortunately, by allowing the puppy to smell that leaf or chase that butterfly, owners teach their pets that pulling gets them what they want.

Here’s where the reactive strategy of leash training a puppy comes into action. Whenever your puppy pulls the leash, react to undesired behavior by stopping. Don’t continue walking until your dog loosens the leash.

This way, you show your puppy that pulling doesn’t get things its desired way. Additionally, you can turn around or say “no” in a stern voice when your dog pulls the leash, but don’t use harsh punishment.

If your puppy is an intense puller, you can get it a harness with a front clip. When your puppy pulls the leash, its body will forcefully turn back, pulled sideways.

If The Puppy Keeps Sitting Down

Most golden retriever puppies are fearless and curious, actively pulling the leash in an attempt to reach their goal. However, some golden retriever owners face a different problem – a puppy keeps sitting down while walking.

If your puppy lays down on a leash and refuses to walk, it may be anxious. Such behavior often occurs when owners rush the training and throw a leash on a puppy before it gets used to it.

If your puppy refuses to walk on a leash outside, it may be afraid of an unknown environment. In this case, spend more time walking in your backyard or find another quiet space with minimum distractions.

If your golden retriever refuses to walk because it’s tired, try to walk with your puppy after it has woken up from a nap rather than after a playing session.

You may also try to lure your puppy to walk with treats or toys. If nothing helps, consider having your puppy checked for an anxiety disorder.

How Long Does It Take To Teach a Puppy To Walk On a Leash?

There’s no universal answer to how long it takes to teach a golden retriever to walk on a leash. The training success depends on many variables, including the dog’s age, personality, training frequency, and response consistency.

Ensure that every member of your family reacts to your puppy’s leash pulling the same way and rewards it for walking correctly. Walk with your puppy as frequently as possible and be dedicated.

Some puppies learn to walk on a loose leash in two weeks, while particularly stubborn ones may refuse to walk correctly for months.

Mistakes To Avoid

Practicing long-term heeling is among the most common mistakes in dog leash training. Extended training is tiresome both for you and your puppy, so allow your dog to relax and sniff around instead of suppressing its movement entirely.

Don’t use prong collars and choke chains because they are plain dangerous and create negative associations with walking. Don’t let your puppy run towards every dog or person it sees because it may get used to greeting everyone in adult age.

Lastly, walk with your puppy regularly. Puppies have a short memory and need frequent training sessions to memorize how to walk correctly.

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