During our walk yesterday my dog Ellie stopped suddenly and started pulling on the lead. I immediately stopped (tip: never fight against your dog if he’s pulling on the lead, the resistance will cause him to pull harder) and saw that she had spotted a cat.

I didn’t have time to react. She wanted to investigate. She pulled a little harder and the lead snapped. However, she didn’t get very far, I called her name and gave the “come” command and she came running back to me.

Let’s take a detailed look at how I reacted:

Don’t Panic

First and foremost, you must remain calm. No matter how angry, frustrated or downright scared you are feeling you cannot show it. Even when you have regained control of your dog, lavish great praise on him, never reprimand him for he will believe he’s being punished for coming to you.

I remained calm albeit more from the shock of the lead breaking than anything else!

Don’t Run After Your Dog

Dog’s love to chase, running after your dog encourages this chasing instinct.

Another natural response would be to chase after your dog, to try and catch up with him and regain control. Dog’s love to chase, running after your dog encourages this chasing instinct. Take advantage of that instinct instead. Get his attention and then run away from him (in the direction you want him to go).

Alternatively if you are feeling somewhat lazy, take advantage of your dog’s curiosity and sit or lie on the floor! He’ll come running over to see what your doing.

Ellie is 9 months old, I could never have caught up with her even if I wasn’t a wheelchair user!

Always Reward Your Dog For Returning

Most dog experts agree, you have about one second to react to a dog’s behaviour. This is where a lot of dog training can fail; owners “punish” their dogs long after the fact (where “long” in this case can literally be more than one second!). When your dog does come when called you should reward him rather than reprimand him for running away in the first place.

Conclusion

Teach your dog to come when called. Teach it from an early age / as soon as you get your dog. It could be the difference between losing and keeping him.

Feed yourself before you feed your dog.

In the wild the pack leader gets to eat first. This enables him to choose the finest, tastiest pieces and serves to enforce their status as leader of the pack.

At home you can do the same.

• Sit down to eat your meal before you give the dog his food.
• Never give him food directly from your plate, the pack leader wouldn’t do this in the wild (and not because they don’t have plates!) so neither should you.
• Alternatively, if you have your meals separately from your dog, pretend to eat from his food bowl before placing it on the floor.
• In addition get him to sit before you place food in front of him. This reinforces your status as pack leader as he doesn’t get to eat until you say so.

During your everyday life with your dog, whether you’re playing, feeding or training you must assert yourself as leader of the pack. Here’s why…

Imagine your a dog living with humans. You are the pack leader. You are stuck in this place called a kitchen.

give your dog a stress free life; be the pack leader.

How can I go hunting for food? How can I feed the pack?
Oh no one of them just left through the back door. Where has he gone? How long will he be? Is he safe? Is he going to come back?

As you can imagine this quickly leads to anxiety and stress. Whereas a human may bite their nails to relieve stress, dogs will chew things - things you don’t want him to chew.

So give your dog a stress free life; be the pack leader.

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