Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
If you have a dog who walks nicely on leash but suddenly has started to pull again, here are two exercises I tell clients to work on when this happens.
--- Exercise 1
How to teach a puppy or adult dog to be calmer and listen in new places.
This video goes over how to lower arousal and reduce stress for dogs and puppies when visiting new locations. When a dog is stressed or over-excited it can make a dog unable to take food and less likely to be able to listen to cues and start pulling on leash. So by teaching dogs to be calmer when out and about it makes training easier as well as makes listening to you more reliable. This training will make it much easier to work on loose leash walking as a lot of the time dogs who have a hard time walking on a loose leash are pulling because they are over-aroused or stressed when in new environments.
Calm settle: youtube.com/watch?v=yr1olzgidMw&vl=en
The moving settle: youtube.com/watch?v=gFCjS3D3fTw
--
The leash pressure game:
If there were one exercise I think every puppy and dog should learn if they have to abide by leash laws, it is this one. If you want to know why some people struggle with a dog who pulls on leash, besides the issue of over-arousal, it is because they haven’t yet trained and proofed this behavior.
The giving into leash pressure game teaches your puppy what to do when he hits the end of the leash, which is to turn around and come back to you. By training and conditioning leash pressure in small enough approximations it is possible to turn what is usually a frustrating and aversive experience into a cue that has a positive association to the dog that simply means “move with me”. A lot of people believe certain stimuli are “intrinsically” reinforcing or punishing. But this is simply untrue. It is possible through training and conditioning to change an animal’s emotional response to a certain stimuli. Instead of just relying on habituation, where dogs learn over repetition that being moved by you on leash isn’t terrible I suggest playing these training games to make it an experience where the dog doesn’t feel like it’s some sort of intimidation game. I also suggest doing the same with teaching a dog to be picked up as well as handled and groomed.
Video tutorials mentioned:
Attention Game- youtube.com/watch?v=HiziN7mluz8
Recall- youtube.com/watch?v=rjd99MlmqqI
Leash walking reinforcing for standing next to you - youtube.com/watch?v=voW2Vkq0u6Q
Direction changes- youtube.com/watch?v=Eo-L2qtD7MQ
Step 1
Add light pressure on the leash as you lure your puppy forward and then feed a treat.
Step 2
Put a distraction down on the ground that makes the puppy pull on leash. Use your attention noise or treat lure to get your puppy to turn around and come back to you.
2 Use a lower value treat as the distraction and a higher value treat as the reinforcer.
Step 3
Put a distraction down on the ground that makes the puppy pull on leash. When the puppy is on a tight leash, move in the opposite direction of the puppy without jerking him. Mark and reinforce when you see your puppy turn in your direction. If the puppy doesn't turn toward you within 2 seconds, use your attention noise or treat lure to get your puppy to turn around and come back to you.
Step 4
Practice with different distractions in different situations
What to do if your puppy doesn't turn around:
1 Practice from further away from the distraction (You can have a helper put down the distraction to make this easier.)
If you're doing the exercise correctly, you will find that your dog will stop pulling all together. This is a good thing! If he keeps trying to go for the distraction it means the distraction is too difficult, too close or you need to spend more time marking and reinforcing him for staying with you after he comes back. In real life situations if your dog starts pulling on leash you can simply back up until he is on a loose leash then wait a little bit until you have made a connection with him again before walking forward.
If you have a dog who walks nicely on leash but suddenly has started to pull again, here are two exercises I tell clients to work on when this happens.
--- Exercise 1
How to teach a puppy or adult dog to be calmer and listen in new places.
This video goes over how to lower arousal and reduce stress for dogs and puppies when visiting new locations. When a dog is stressed or over-excited it can make a dog unable to take food and less likely to be able to listen to cues and start pulling on leash. So by teaching dogs to be calmer when out and about it makes training easier as well as makes listening to you more reliable. This training will make it much easier to work on loose leash walking as a lot of the time dogs who have a hard time walking on a loose leash are pulling because they are over-aroused or stressed when in new environments.
Calm settle: youtube.com/watch?v=yr1olzgidMw&vl=en
The moving settle: youtube.com/watch?v=gFCjS3D3fTw
--
The leash pressure game:
If there were one exercise I think every puppy and dog should learn if they have to abide by leash laws, it is this one. If you want to know why some people struggle with a dog who pulls on leash, besides the issue of over-arousal, it is because they haven’t yet trained and proofed this behavior.
The giving into leash pressure game teaches your puppy what to do when he hits the end of the leash, which is to turn around and come back to you. By training and conditioning leash pressure in small enough approximations it is possible to turn what is usually a frustrating and aversive experience into a cue that has a positive association to the dog that simply means “move with me”. A lot of people believe certain stimuli are “intrinsically” reinforcing or punishing. But this is simply untrue. It is possible through training and conditioning to change an animal’s emotional response to a certain stimuli. Instead of just relying on habituation, where dogs learn over repetition that being moved by you on leash isn’t terrible I suggest playing these training games to make it an experience where the dog doesn’t feel like it’s some sort of intimidation game. I also suggest doing the same with teaching a dog to be picked up as well as handled and groomed.
Video tutorials mentioned:
Attention Game- youtube.com/watch?v=HiziN7mluz8
Recall- youtube.com/watch?v=rjd99MlmqqI
Leash walking reinforcing for standing next to you - youtube.com/watch?v=voW2Vkq0u6Q
Direction changes- youtube.com/watch?v=Eo-L2qtD7MQ
Step 1
Add light pressure on the leash as you lure your puppy forward and then feed a treat.
Step 2
Put a distraction down on the ground that makes the puppy pull on leash. Use your attention noise or treat lure to get your puppy to turn around and come back to you.
2 Use a lower value treat as the distraction and a higher value treat as the reinforcer.
Step 3
Put a distraction down on the ground that makes the puppy pull on leash. When the puppy is on a tight leash, move in the opposite direction of the puppy without jerking him. Mark and reinforce when you see your puppy turn in your direction. If the puppy doesn't turn toward you within 2 seconds, use your attention noise or treat lure to get your puppy to turn around and come back to you.
Step 4
Practice with different distractions in different situations
What to do if your puppy doesn't turn around:
1 Practice from further away from the distraction (You can have a helper put down the distraction to make this easier.)
If you're doing the exercise correctly, you will find that your dog will stop pulling all together. This is a good thing! If he keeps trying to go for the distraction it means the distraction is too difficult, too close or you need to spend more time marking and reinforcing him for staying with you after he comes back. In real life situations if your dog starts pulling on leash you can simply back up until he is on a loose leash then wait a little bit until you have made a connection with him again before walking forward.
