By Fran Jewell
Seems like an unlikely duo, really. However, I have observed this for so long, and then all of a sudden I had this epiphany!
I tell my clients over and over to make sure their puppy learns to go potty on a leash. It is critical to being able to travel with your dog. Some dogs will hold urinating for up to 12 hours—or MORE—when travelling if they have not been taught as a puppy to potty on a leash. This can lead to lack of drinking, dehydration, and bladder infections.
What I failed to mention was that while potty training, you must take your puppy to the spot where you want the puppy to potty, on the leash, carrying your puppy if necessary. Then, you must stand there and not move or let the puppy go potty outside the range of the leash. The end of the leash is the end of the leash. The owner must act like a post and not let the puppy drag them where the puppy wants to go. In the real world, there may not be options to find a large space for your puppy or dog to go.
The first advantage to this training is that your puppy will learn to go anywhere you need her to go when you need her to go. This is wonderful when you travel!
The second advantage is that you can actually teach your puppy WHERE you want her to go in your yard or nearby areas off of your manicured lawns and gardens.
The third advantage is that you teach there is an end to the leash. Your puppy can then learn that pulling while learning “heel” gets them nothing. There is no advantage to pulling to get somewhere. It is so easy to just stop moving while leash training if your puppy has figured this out during potty training. No pulling means going forward at the heel. If you follow your puppy around while they find a place to go, they learn that pulling on the leash has lots of advantages. They can sniff, and they get to go where they want, and your puppy also learns that she can potty wherever she wants!
If you allow your puppy to take you places to potty at this very young age, it is called imprinting. When this behavior is imprinted, it is VERY hard to stop leash-pulling during the heel. Pulling becomes a very big problem. YOU have unintentionally taught your puppy to pull while potty training! YIKES!!!
I am a HUGE proponent of prevention, and leash-pulling is something you can prevent in the very beginning. How you potty train is a major influence in teaching the heel. Sometimes, even the simplest things can have amazing good or bad long-term effects. So, GO FORWARD, but don’t!
Fran Jewell is an IAABC Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, NADOI Certified Instructor and the owner of Positive Puppy Dog Training, LLC in Sun Valley. For more information, visit positivepuppy.com or call 208-578-1565.
