Once you have gained on-lead control of your dog, the transition to having the dog walking correctly by your side off-lead will be easy—for both you and the dog. The only condition for success is that you should maintain exactly the same body language as you used in the earlier exercise.

If you have been holding your hands a certain way when grasping the lead, then they must be in exactly the same position when you are doing the off-lead training. There are two reasons for this. Dogs learn by association. By seeing you in the same position as you were at an earlier stage, they will respond to you as they did previously. Also, if your hands are in a different position now that the dog is off the lead, it may soon realize that you are no longer holding the lead.

You should also leave the check chain on your dog, and detach only the training lead. Attach, instead, a very short version of the lightweight cord that you used for teaching your dog to come when called. This shortened cord can be used as a safety net, so to speak, in case you need to gain control of your dog quickly.

Start off with your dog sitting by your side. Step off on your left foot, and say “Walk” in your normal speaking voice. If your dog just sits there or lags behind, then, with your body still facing forward, crouch down, and encourage the dog to follow. Most dogs will approach you faster if you decrease your height.

Never reprimand a dog for fagging either verbally or by checking it. If you do, you will only make it drop back further. Start patting your leg instead— this gesture is seen/by a dog as encouragement/Praise it as soon as it comes up beside you. Say “good dog” in a very pleasant voice, using a high-pitched tone.

There is no need to pat your dog while praising it. You want the dog to get used to being voice-praised, as you are preparing it for those times when it will be working off lead at a distance from you. If you had to run up to it and pat it at this time, it would mean both a big distraction for your dog and unnecessary exertion for you.

Once you have your dog walking well at your side and in the correct position, voice-praise it and keep walking. If the dog races ahead, passes you or deviates to the side, growl your reprimand word, and then praise it the instant it responds.

Be sure that, when you are walking in one or another direction, you move in a straight line. Do not just amble about – if you do, your dog may bump into you while it is walking.

Now introduce some turns to your pattern—say, a right turn, followed by a left turn, followed by a right about-turn, and a left about-turn. On all left turns and left-about turns, lift your right knee as you turn, gently guiding your dog out of the way. Do this until the dog gets used to these turns.

Continue with these new walking patterns for about 10 minutes, using your one-word reprimand each time your dog steps out of position or makes a mistake. Voice-praise it as soon as it corrects itself. During this time, have a friend walk alongside and try to distract the dog in a pleasant way, by crouching down and encouraging the dog, saying, “Nice dog, good boy,” in a high-pitched voice. This will be sufficient distraction for it at this stage. Rapid movements could unsettle or upset it, making it feel threatened.

These initial distractions are important, as you need your dog to be able to concentrate on you no matter who is around, and no matter what other people are doing. Many people tell us that their dogs are very co-operative at home, but as soon as they are taken out they refuse to do anything. This is because these dogs’ owners have not incorporated distractions into their training.

After a couple of sessions with your friend distracting your dog, try to arrange to have a session with another person who has a friendly dog you can use as a distraction. This will help to make your dog calm around other dogs, so that it does not bound around trying to approach, play with or attack any dog it sees.

Our technique for training a dog to walk correctly off-lead is based on the principle of getting the dog to use its brain as early as possible in the training process. In this way it will learn more quickly. And so we introduce distractions very early to the novice dog—as many distractions as possible, and as early as possible.

We have had much success with this method. Many untrained dogs that would not do anything they were told were reconditioned using the one-word reprimand. Then they were introduced to distractions, and in this way learnt to concentrate from the outset. Within a few minutes all were sitting and staying as required.

Related posts:

1. Dog Training – The early basics of Dog Training – preparing for Independence
2. Dog Training – Teaching the “sit” the easy way
3. Dog Training – Teaching your dog the “Finish” command
4. Dog Training – Using a Collar and Lead
5. Dog Training – Train your Dog to Sit Stay when Feeding – Good Table Manners