As mentioned it’s important to note that we should always look at the individual in front of us. For any individual, there’s tremendous value in considering what seems to be the most salient reinforcer for their pulling behavior? Possible reinforcers might be gaining closer proximity to an interesting odor, the reinforcing value of walking faster and/or access to another dog or person. If you can identify what’s of the highest value for your individual learning partner – including a consideration of this when designing your training plan is advantageous.
It’s also valuable to consider that the pulling on leash behavior can already have a significant reinforcement history.
Let’s see what all of the above might look like from an ABC perspective:
A – Leash attached to harness – out on the street
B – Dog pulling on the leash
C – Human slows down
A – Human slows down
B – Dog makes ANY movement that releases the tension on the leash
C – Human speeds up to normal pace & proximity to reinforcers is decreased!
The emphasis here is on accessing desired reinforcers as quickly as possible contingent on behaviours that result in a ‘loose leash’. And once again ideally we are starting in an environment where the dog has the highest chance of being successful before successively adding in distractions and environmental complexity.
Head movement, slight release of the muscle tension, paw movement in a different direction – all those small things can be the beginning points. We then can start to shape those small movements and eventually teach slowing down and keeping the slower tempo so the leash is loose and reinforcers are accessed in the fastest possible way.
How about you? What do you think? How do you train loose leash walking? We would love to hear from you!
Best Regards
Anna Bartosik (Blog Writer 1 & ATA Happiness Engineer) &
Ryan Cartlidge (Blog Writer 2 & ATA Founder/Connector/Founder) &
Josefin Linderstrom (Blog Writer 3 & ATA Happiness Engineer)