Training Bulldogs to Walk on a Leash

It’s surprising how many people are daily teaching their dogs to be the leader during the afternoon walk. How you walk your dog is very important in establishing pack leadership.

If you watch a pack of wolves in the wild, you’ll see that the leader always decides when and where the pack is going, and the rest of the wolves follow behind. None of them would even dare consider trying to walk in front of the leader. They know that’s not allowed. Your dog should always walk at your side or behind you, never ahead of you.

This is a vital lesson for every dog, even if you want your dog to be a guardian or protector.

It’s absolutely necessary that they take their cues from you and don’t act on their own. They should be relaxed and calm, watching your body language for the correct response for every situation.

If you are calm and relaxed, they know that there is no danger and they can be calm and relaxed. If you suddenly become tense or frightened, they will know to be wary. If you are attacked or threatened, they will respond by defending you.

Using these lessons will strengthen the bond between you and your pet making them a better dog in every situation. You will not have to fear them biting or attacking another dog or person, because they will see from your body language that there is no threat so they must remain calm also. Yet if there is an emergency they will understand the difference in your body language and respond accordingly.

Dogs absolutely require stabile pack leadership or they will be confused and unsure of how they should respond in new or different situations, often resulting in poor or even fatal mistakes

Practice: Using your training collar and a good leash take your dog out for a walk by placing him at your side and commanding “heel!”. Step forward and allow your dog to follow you. Imagine that there is a wall from your legs extending out sideways in front of your dog. His shoulder should never go ahead of this wall.

The lead should always be held long and slack unless you are correcting the dog. If your dog attempts to surge past you immediately snap the leash back, correct him with a loud forceful “BAH!”, and loosen the lead again. It should be one quick motion. The leash pulls him sharply back into position, a loud vocal correction explains his error, and the leash is released showing him that he is now once more in the correct position

You can make the correction stronger by giving him a foot of slack leash before sharply snapping him back into position. If you’ve been practicing the first two lessons at home, it will be easier for him to release that your leadership extends beyond the boundaries of the house, and he should learn quickly.

Watch his body language to see where his thoughts are. If his head is in a low relaxed position and his tail swinging low behind him, he’s learning. Particularly observe his ears and watch to see if one or both of them flicks back to check on your position every few seconds. That’s an excellent sign that he is recognizing you as leader and taking care not to move too far ahead!

If his head and tail abruptly jerk upwards towards another dog or other distraction, immediately correct him and snap him back into position. He should be paying attention to you and watching you for cues, not watching other dogs.

This does NOT mean that YOU should ignore the other dogs. Always be aware of who and what is around you. As pack leader it is YOUR job to protect your dog from non-pack members, including stray dogs or dogs whose owners think its “cute” to walk their dog right up to someone else’s dog without permission.

If a dog comes running out to where you are walking your dog it’s your job to protect your dog from injury. I’d recommend always carrying pepper spray or a heavy stick when you’re walking in an area you might meet unleashed dogs.

If you do get caught without a form of protection, and your dog is too big to pick up, start stomping your feet like you’re trying to power stomp right through the ground and make as loud and deep a “BAH!” as you can conjure up. Stand up tall and aggressively towards the stray and keep yelling at him as you try to keep yourself between the stray and your dog.

Unfortunately very aggressive dogs will not heed your warning and will race right around you to attack your dog. This is a danger we face every time we step outside our doors, and something that we need to prepare ourselves for. A dog fight is a terrifying thing to witness, and an even more terrifying thing to be involved in.

The best thing you could do in this position is try to prevent as much damage as possible to your dog, but in a manner that doesn’t endanger yourself! If you are by yourself it will be scary, but the safest way for you to separate the dogs is to quickly tie your dog’s leash off on something sturdy and then grab the stray by hind legs and jerk him backwards and into a swinging circle so that he can’t twist back to attack you.

If you let go of the stray he will run back and attack your dog again, so you have to keep moving him in circles and backing away from your dog until you can chuck him inside a fenced yard, or his owner comes and grabs him from you.

You could also pass him off to another person if he calms down enough to not be a danger to either of you. Have that second person hold him while you quickly retrieve your dog and get out of the area.

I can’t really give you any better advice than to never take your dog to places where you might meet other dogs that are not leashed, and ALWAYS carry a bottle of pepper spray with you when you go for walks. Just keep it next to your leash so it’s easy to remember. That way you can stop the fight before it ever happens!

© www.BulldogAbbie.com all rights reserved, reprints of this article must remain entirely intact and include this copyright statement.