Your Walk Doesn’t Need To Suck-Fix It In 10 Minutes

00:00 — Kati Peppe introduces leash pulling as a common reason owners seek dog training.

Welcome to Off Leash and Unfiltered. Trigger warning. I'm Kati Peppe, delivering the truth in dog training.

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Off Leash and Unfiltered. I'm Kati Peppe of Diamond K9 Dog Training. So what do you do if your dog pulls on the leash? Um, that's not a common problem at all, <laugh>. So almost everybody I meet has a dog that pulls on the leash. So every once in a while someone will sign up for a training program or board-and-train, you know, and they say, oh, my dog doesn't pull too bad. But that's definitely the exception. Uh, the vast majority of people tell me their dog, uh, pulls on the leash all the time, constantly.

Um, and usually the best case scenario is their dog is pretty good on a leash until, until they see the squirrel, until they see another dog, that sort of thing. So if you're dealing with a dog that pulls on a leash, you're definitely not alone.

And if you have turned to the internet for some solutions, you're probably struggling and you're also still not alone <laugh>. So, um, like I said, this is a really common problem, uh, that a lot of my clients are dealing with when I first meet them. A lot of them, that's the reason that they called me. Uh, primary reason they call me is they want their, their leash behavior to be better. And I couldn't agree more because I really hate it when people hate their walk with their dog. I mean, it's one of the most primal ways we can bond with our dog, in my opinion.

So, and walking should be kind of like a, a team thing. You know, it shouldn't be like your dog is on their own walk and you're just like trailing along behind them, like hanging on to the leash so that they don't run away or run out in traffic.

That sucks. <laugh> To be a, just to be blunt. So, and you wanna enjoy your walk with your dog, you both should enjoy your walk. It should be sort of a team activity, I always say, and people kind of hesitate to make the walk like a job for their dog, but dogs thrive on having jobs to do. Guys, work is not bad. I don't know why we view work as such a bad thing. It's such a hard thing. It's good for us, it's good for all of us. It's good for your dog, it's good for your dog to have a job, something to focus on, something to work at, something to feel proud of doing.

Well, something, you know, not to humanize them too much, but a lot of dogs, they like that approval, right? They like the praise, they like the affection that comes with doing things well, and they do it, it does seem like a sense of pride.

03:00 — Kati argues stopping, changing direction, and offering treats often fail to resolve pulling around…

So work is okay and make the walk a job for your dog, and you're both fully engaged in walking together the whole time. And it's nice, it's awesome. So you're probably saying, okay, Kati, well how do I do that? Okay, well, I'm gonna tell you <laugh>, okay? So what you don't do is you don't take the advice you find on the internet about, you know, stopping and sitting or turning and going the other way, or, you know, dangling treats and rewarding your dog for moving back toward you. Now do those things if you want to, that's fine.

<laugh>, we're all on our own journey here, but they probably aren't going to work.

Or maybe they'll get you a little bit of traction. You know, um, you know, once you get your dog warmed up and into the swing of things, maybe they start responding and, and you feel like you're getting somewhere, but then they see another person or a squirrel or a dog and it all just kind of goes down the toilet or, you know, maybe they do okay, but then like the next time you go out, it's just the same business all over again. Like, so that's what happens to most people. And so it just doesn't work.

And you know, the, the answer to this is really, so I just, let me be clear. When someone comes to me with a leash pulling problem, this isn't something we work on for very long. So I know a lot of people and a lot of people when I've met them, they've been working on leash pulling for a long time. They've been putting in effort, man, <laugh>, they've been putting in blood, sweat and tears, putting in hours working with their dog, rewarding their dog, doing all these different protocols, trying all these things, and it's just not working.

So it's not for lack of effort, that's for sure. But it comes down to again, like they're being consistent, but they're consistently doing the wrong thing. It's not effective. So obviously you have to be effective. And the way we do that is we tell the dog, don't pull me <laugh>.

That's it. Tell the dog don't pull me. Not verbally. I don't mean literally say to the dog in English, don't pull me. You can. That's not gonna work either. You need a physical layer of communication with the dog that says, hey, I disagree with that. I'm gonna make it uncomfortable for you to pull me. Don't pull me. Okay? So when we attack leash walking, and it's the first thing we do, by the way, so I'm primarily an e-collar trainer. I'm doing e-collar programs with people, but on day one, the very first thing we do is I teach them how to walk their dog on a leash.

06:00 — Kati sets a no-pulling expectation after the first lesson and discusses choosing equipment.

Okay? So when they walk out the door from their first lesson, there cannot be any more leash pulling. It's not allowed. So right then and there we draw the line and we say, that's it. There's not gonna be any more leash pulling. And it is up to you, okay? Even if you don't feel like it is, it absolutely is up to you.

So how do we do that? Well, the equipment matters, right? So, and there's more than one piece of equipment you can use. A lot of people use head halters and those are fine. I don't have a problem with them. It's not my tool of choice. Um, I think they might be ideal for certain dogs and certain things. Uh, they might be ideal if you have an amazing skill set set with them. I don't, it's, it's not my tool of choice. Um, I also just, I don't really like having a thing on my dog's face. Now I'll do it if it turns out that like that really is the best tool for that dog for some reason.

Um, but it's not my preference. So, uh, the other thing, you know, some toy breeds we'll use a slip lead with, again, not really my tool of choice.

Um, slip leads as well as flat collars, um, can result in a lot of like gagging and choking if the dog is really trying to pull and that sort of thing. And your corrections aren't necessarily very effective, uh, with most dogs because it's just a flat collar, um, you know, or a big bulky slip lead. And all you're doing is just wearing out your arm and your dog isn't really responding, um, to the corrections that you're trying to give them. So those, those aren't my favorite tools. Um, but we will use them if they seem like the most appropriate one for some reason.

And if they're working, okay, my tool of choice for leash walking is absolutely 110%, hands down, a prong collar, also sometimes called a pinch collar. Um, they're called pinch collars, not because they pinch the dog, guys, but because you have to pinch the links in order to open and close the collar.

Um, unless it has a clip on it, a lot of them have clips nowadays so that they're easier to connect and disconnect. Now, I used to be one of those people that said, oh my God, those things look so barbaric and horrible. Like, who could ever put that on their dog? But this was long before I had any idea what it was, <laugh>. So, so I was just younger and I had seen them like, you know, in the pet store or something and you know, you just walk by it and kind of shudder and go, woohoo, what is—who, who would ever put that on their dog?

You know, looks so mean, right? And now here I am, I'm just the biggest advocate for prong collar use <laugh>. And so let me fill you in a little bit if you're not familiar with prong collars and what they do and how they should be used.

Now, it's gonna be difficult for me to teach you how to use a prong collar on this podcast for obvious reasons. So I'm not going to do that. Uh, but you can absolutely go to my YouTube channel, Diamond K9 Dog Training, and you can find videos there on how to properly fit a prong collar, where you should buy it, where to get it, what size to get, how to size it and how to use it. Um, very thorough. And there's a lot of other trainers on there too that provide, um, similar videos teaching you how to properly use a prong collar.

09:00 — Kati emphasizes leash handling and warns that ineffective use can teach dogs to ignore…

And I wanna stress, you do need to know how to use it. And this is not me fearmongering, I'm not worried about you damaging your dog or causing problems by not using it properly, which is, you know, I'm so sick of hearing the proper use of, it's like, yeah, all tools should be used properly.

Like we know that, okay, you should use a hammer properly, all right? You should use your blender properly. We don't need someone to tell us that <laugh>, this is no different, okay? But if you're not using it properly, if you don't know how to handle your leash because it is all leash handling, then what you're mostly at risk of is teaching your dog how to ignore it. And then it's not a useful tool for you anymore. So leash handling is really, really important, guys. So when you go to get a prong collar, okay, I usually use Herm Sprenger, Kimberland also makes a good prong collar.

Um, but they only make the smaller ones I believe. So you want a 2.25 millimeter, or if your dog is really, really big, a three millimeter, I never buy anything bigger than that because they just get ungodly bulky and it's just not necessary.

I also think they tend to be a little less effective as they get really big. Um, so, but I see some people come in here with prong collars on their dog that look like they're for silverback gorillas or something. I mean, they're just huge and gnarly, right? So those are the sizes I generally use. And it should be pretty snug on your dog. It shouldn't be like pressing into their neck really hard or anything, um, when it's just sitting there. But it should be snug, uh, preferably sitting a little bit higher on the neck, again, not life or death.

Uh, if it slips down a little bit, that's okay. Some dogs are kind of in between sizes, but you don't want it hanging way down like a necklace. Like a lot of people do that. And that's a mistake. Uh, you are not getting the full value out of your prong collar.

It is not being used properly. If you do that, uh, it won't work as effectively. And there's also a higher risk of it getting caught on things. So you don't want it hanging down like a, a necklace. That's not correct, okay? And what these do is they operate like a martingale. So it puts pressure all the way around your dog's neck when you pull on the leash or when they pull on the leash, okay? So they get that pressure all the way around. Now because of the prongs, the prongs actually, their function is to lift the collar up off the surface area of the neck, which is super cool because that is why your dog doesn't choke in a prong collar.

You cannot choke a dog in a prong collar, okay? Which is one of the big advantages to a prong collar. So if you do have a dog that has a pulling issue or reactivity issue, right?

And they start pulling towards something, or you have to give them a leash correction, you're not just crushing their trachea. Now this has points of pressure all the way around instead of flat pressure right against their throat. It's fantastic, um, for serious pullers for that reason, okay? But it's also a very novel sensation for your dog. So most dogs, when you first put it on, they're not used to that sensation. It feels different to them. And so it has kind of a startling effect. Um, and that enables you to get their attention much, much easier and they can feel every little motion you do with your leash, right?

So I always tell people when they first sign up to do a program that it's, it's a lot like putting a microphone on your leash now, right? So when you have the leash on a, a flat collar, they can't really hear what you're saying very well.

If you put your leash on a harness, they can't hear what you're saying at all. If you put your leash on a prong collar, your dog can hear everything very easily. And with just a little bit of work, you can get your dog responding to the slightest little bit of pressure. Move left, move right? When I apply pressure straight upwards, I want you to sit. Helps your dog settle. So I teach all dogs that the first time I work with them. And this is gonna get your dog responding to pressure so light that you're gonna be able to walk your dog holding the leash with just a couple fingers, right?

And obviously if you have a wild dog that goes crazy when they see triggers, you're probably not, not gonna wanna do that. Keep ahold of your leash, right? We don't want your dog to get away or anything.

14:00 — Kati describes maintaining steady leash pressure until the dog follows, then releasing pressure and…

But my point is we're not manhandling these dogs, we're not yanking them around, not once they understand it and they understand the pressure and how to respond to it. It's actually a very, very smooth and effortless result that we get. And the dog knows exactly what to do and they, we just wire their brain to move with that pressure instead of to fight it. 'Cause their instinct is to fight it. And that's normal. So, and that's what's happening when I meet people is their dog is just fighting the pressure. They pull back, dog pulls forward, they pull to the left, dog pulls to the right, that's normal.

You have to rewire that. And there isn't a better tool in the market to do that than the prong collar. So highly, highly recommend. Okay? The two ways you can use your prong collar are pressure and pops.

So pressure is when you tighten up your leash and then as soon as the dog moves with you, you instantly relax it, right? So that's getting your dog to move with pressure. And that's what we practice the first time that we do these lessons is getting the dog to feel the pressure and you just keep the pressure on steady. That's really important. So a lot of people will apply pressure and the dog doesn't do anything, so they relax it, okay? You're teaching your dog to ignore it, you don't wanna do that. Your pressure needs to stay on until the dog finally moves with it and then relax the pressure and praise your dog.

So that's like guidance, right? That leash pressure is like guidance for the dog. It teaches them what to do and where to go.

Now the other way we use a prong collar is we pop it, which is a real snappy—you've probably seen leash pops before. Um, it's important to have a little bit of slack in your leash and then just very, very snappily pop your leash. Uh, you can pop your leash in any direction. It kind of depends on what's happening, but you pop your leash so that your collar engages firmly. Um, and then you immediately release. So that immediate release is important. You don't wanna hold that tension at all, not even for a split second. It's just quick snap release, quick snap release, okay?

So that's very startling. It's very attention-grabbing and it's more on, on the corrective side most of the time. Now you can adjust your intensity to the dog. So you can actually do a very gentle snap, maybe just a little tiny wrist motion, or you could do a very firm snap, okay?

Depends on the dog, depends on what's happening. So if my dog just decides they're gonna go off, you know, in left field and start sniffing things instead of walking with me, I might just give him a little wrist flick, just a little, "Hey, we're going this way," and he'll just come with me, right? But if I have a reactive dog who sees another dog and I see him looking and I see his ears coming up and I go, "Oh my God, he's having bad thoughts, he's <laugh>, he's gonna explode." I might give him a very, very firm pop and say, "Hey, don't look at other dogs like that," right?

17:00 — Kati recommends correcting each instance of leash tension and adjusting correction intensity according to…

Or if you have a dog that barks at people or, or something like that where you need to say, "Don't do that." And pulling is the same thing, guys. You need to tell your dog not to pull you.

So now that I've gone through all that, you understand now you have a tool where you can kind of snap your wrist and give your dog a leash pop that says, "Stop putting tension on the leash." Now you do have to be consistent. You can't let 'em pull for a little while and then pop it and let 'em pull for a little while. You have to really wire both your brain and the dog's brain. There can't be tension anymore. There can't be tension anymore. So every single time there's tension, you just wanna go ahead and pop that leash, right?

And if there's tension because the dog's ahead of you, then pop your leash toward the back, very, very quick snappy pop. So every single time the leash gets tight, give your dog a little pop. And guess what? If they keep doing it, then you probably need to increase your intensity a little bit is what that means.

Okay? So the dog will tell you what intensity is, right? Some dogs are very, very sensitive, guys, and you're only gonna need the slightest little touch. Now that's pretty rare. Some dogs are very, very obtuse. You're gonna need both hands and you're gonna have to pop with all your strength. That's also pretty rare. Most dogs are are somewhere in the middle, right? But just listen to the dog. So if they keep forging ahead and making the leash tight and I pop it, I snap it back and then they do it again and then they do it again.

They're telling me that that snap isn't really working, it's not enough. So just bump up your intensity a little bit. The other thing that's worth mentioning here is you're gonna make your walk a lot neater, a lot cleaner. And you're gonna struggle a lot less with pulling if you keep a very short leash.

So too many people are giving their dog like four or five, six feet of leash and the dog is just way out ahead of them sniffing the ground, wrapping them up, crisscrossing behind them, and it's just messy. So it kind of comes back to what I said about it's okay for the walk to be sort of like a job for your dog. And that doesn't mean you can't take breaks or give him any free time, but it's like when we're walking, we're walking. So you're gonna have, and this is especially true for reactive dogs, so none of that with reactive dogs, guys, <laugh>, if you're, if you're walking with your dog and you're trying to teach 'em to walk nicely, keep your leash short.

So that also gives you more control and it's much easier for you to talk to your dog. So it's gonna be difficult for you to really give your dog proper pressure.

And proper leash pops. When your leash is six feet long, you are gonna be flailing your arms all around like an idiot. Um, it's gonna be difficult and you're gonna look stupid <laugh>. So, um, we've all been there, but shorten your leash right up so that we want it to be loose, right? 'Cause we can't have leash tension. So you should see a little bit of a J in your leash. Relax your arms right down to your sides, okay? And make sure your leash is nice and loose, but that you can very easily pop it or snap it without flailing your arms up over your head.

Okay? That means you have the right length leash. So obviously how long that is depends on how tall your dog is, right? If you have a dog that's really low to the ground, maybe your leash is gonna be a foot and a half, two feet in length, maybe, you know? And if you have a taller dog, your leash might be like only eight or 10 inches. It depends on how far the dog is from your, your leash hand, obviously. But the point is it's a very short but still loose leash. And this will keep the dog next to your side.

21:00 — Kati separates structured walking from sniffing breaks, using a release word before allowing exploration.

When they start to forge ahead, you'll snap back.

So that way you can keep them right next to your side. And you can also ask them not to sniff the ground anymore, right? So they can sniff later. They can sniff in the yard, they can sniff when they're off leash. Um, they can sniff when you tell them that you're taking a break, right? So if your dog dips their head to the ground, just give 'em a little tug, pull their head up. We're walking right now. You don't have to sniff everything, especially if you have a reactive dog or an anxious dog. 'Cause they like to feed all these problems they have by smelling the environment. Eats up the whole brain.

So again, you want your dog walking with you. You don't want them mentally just engrossed in the environment the entire time. So don't be afraid to tell your dog to just walk next to you and not sniff the ground for now.

And then when you're ready to take a break and let your dog sniff around and potty and all that stuff, go ahead and give your dog their release word. Most people have a release word for their dog. They say, okay, you're free. I use the word break. Whatever you use, go ahead, let your leash out and let your dog sniff around and, and potty and be a dog. And, and then say, okay, we're, we're gonna go back to walking now. Right? And maybe you use the word heel, maybe you don't. Um, but then you know, it's back to walking next to me politely.

Just wanna remind you, we accomplished this in our first lesson in just a few minutes with most dogs. Okay? We're talking 10 minutes, maybe some dogs faster than that. Five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes. This isn't something we're working on for six weeks.

So you're in full control. That's another reason I use the tools that I use, is you're in full control. So tools that are uniform for every dog, like you have one like vibrate, vibrates very monotone. You can't change it. It just is what it is. Okay, well that's no good because I need to be able to adjust my intensity based on the dog, the dog's personality and what's happening in that moment. So my dog might need something low sometimes and something higher other times. And I can't do that with vibrate. So I never use it.

It's stupid. It's like a broken clock. It might be right twice a day and the rest of the time it's wrong. You need to be able to adjust your intensity. And that's why I use these tools, right? So the e-collar I use has a hundred levels. I can't feel the first 12.

So I can whisper super low and I can yell and I need that to be effective. And I can adjust based on the dog in front of me. Super easy, total handler control, prong collar, same business. Okay? I can be super, super gentle. I can whisper to my dog, I can give them guidance, I can help them settle or I can tell them to knock it off, right? And you need that. You need to be able to do all of those things with whatever tool you're using. And people screw themselves because they insist on using a harness or using a flat collar.

And you are SOL. You cannot do any of this stuff with those tools. Your dog can't hear you. They don't know what you want. They don't know what you're saying. They don't care. Okay? And you're monotone, you're monotone. So you might as well be talking to a brick.

Wall's not gonna work. So these tools are fantastic because they put all of the control in your hands. And I mean, if you're gonna be efficient and effective, isn't that what you need? Absolutely. That's what you need. So go out and get yourself a prong collar. Just learn how to use it so that you don't teach your dog to ignore it and you don't cause yourself extra headaches. 'Cause we don't need that. Okay? But so the moral of the story here, guys, when your dog pulls, you put an effective tool on your dog that you can correct them for pulling.

Just tell them not to do it anymore. I know I make it sound so simple. Just tell your dog not to pull anymore. But really you think you're telling them not to pull you, but you're not. You're not. And by using like rewards and bribes and that stuff, you're not telling them not to pull. You're telling them things you do like, which is good. That's a fine thing to do. There's nothing wrong with that. But you're skipping the step of telling them what not to do. So just like everything else I talk about, you're only giving your dog half of the information.

So I wouldn't expect much. That's not your dog's fault. I wouldn't expect much from that.

Check out my social media, check out my YouTube, check out my Facebook. You can see the training with these tools. And I answer questions. If you guys have questions, you can submit your questions. I'm happy to answer them. But that's it for today's episode. So go out and get yourself a prong collar. Get to work, fix your walk. Happy practicing. Don't forget to hit subscribe so that we can do this again real soon. And I'll see you guys on the next one.