# Dog scared to death of leash



## DrFixit (Sep 28, 2008)

I have a 1/2 poodle 1/2 chiwauwau or however its spelled LOL She was born and grew upon a horse ranch and had free reign of the place. She comes when called will sit , stay etc fairly well and is a lovely dog......however, we had to move to the city and I want to walk her but she needs to be on a leash. The first time I put a collar and leash on her she ran around whinning and flipping over. I got a harness and put it on her and she pees all over herself as soon as you put it on. I tried putting the harness on her without usine a leash so she could just get used to it but she ran to her bed where she stayed for 3 hours without moving. Wouldnt accept treats or anything. As soon as I took the harness off and called her she was back to being fine. I know I should have leash trained her as a puppy, but I didnt. She has never been hit, spanked or beaten but acts like she has at times. What do I do to teach her to go for a walk on a leash. BTW she hasnever had a collar on either except when I first tried to to leash train her.


----------



## TooneyDogs (Aug 6, 2007)

Introduce one at a time. First the collar. Make it lightweight. Put it on and don't make a big deal of it. Leave it on, walk away and go about your normal routine. If she hides for 3hours ignore it. It may take a couple of days to get used to it. 
For the leash, do the same thing...lightweight...let her drag it around the house or use a piece of string first but, watch so she doesn't get tangled or hungup.
When she seems to have settled down, pick up the leash and walk just a couple of steps in the room...praise and treat for walking nicely. Obviously, don't tug on the leash.....keep it loose.


----------



## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

I would even break it a tad more 1st collar, then just a light dog lead snap(can be picked up any hardware type store) then add light string/cord etc. and you can add longer lengths. Takes time with a 3 yr old non-leashbroke dog. I had a customer with 2-8 mth old labs that when she dropped dogs off for board had to carry dogs about 50 ft to kennel bldg and put in kennel run. When I asked, she said they did not believe in leashes on dogs. I told her that was fine but I don't carry strange dogs to kennels. At pickup she returned with husband to help her carry dogs back to car. I suppose this is not the best way to impress new customers but I was not interested in their return to kennel for new business.


----------



## MeganFex (Sep 27, 2008)

My puppy had the same problem. She hated the leash so much that whenever I put it on her she would flip around and whine so much! I decided that I would just put the leash on her and let her run around with it all day. After a while I thought it just wasn't working, but I noticed that she was getting used to it. I hadn't taken her for a walk, or attempted I should say, for a long time so finally I decided to just do it. And at my amazment, she barely tried to escape! So now she loves walks!


----------



## Curbside Prophet (Apr 28, 2006)

Click on the video titled "Conditioning an Emotional Response". You'll want to do the same with the collar and lead. 

http://abrionline.org/videos.php


----------

