Discussion: Letting Your Dog Lead On Walks And How It Affects Their Behavior

Doggo owners and lovers, we came across a discussion today that you might just relate to! Daily walks are a big part of the doggo training process. You give your dog both verbal and physical cues to help explain what you expect from them. A big part of dog training during these walks also come from you, the doggo owner, managing your dog's behavior by leading the walk. 

Reddit user and OP has decided that he's had enough with attempting to lead his dog on walks, and has decided to just allow his dog to do his thing and lead the walks. This involves lots of long sniffs, a good amount of roaming time, and exploring the neighborhood at doggo's pace. This works well for them, but OP is wondering if he is hindering his dog training process by allowing this behavior. Folks took to Reddit to discuss this dilemma. 

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  • 01
    Font - [Discussion] Letting your dog lead on walks [Discussion] Most, if not all training on dog walking is on how to lead dog on walks. Don't let the leash get too long, if you're dog is refusing to move, bore him until he does, teach him to heel, etcetc. After struggling with my stubborn dog, I've had it. I just let him sniff as much as he want, roam the neighborhood where he wants to go, and go home when he wants to. And honestly, this works best for us if he just leads. Does anyone have any
    via PsychWay6

    It's totally reasonable to be frustrated with your doggo. Owning a dog is hard heckin work! And don't let anyone tell you differently. Sometimes, you've just got do what works for YOU and YOUR dog. 

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  • 02
    Font - _Lucky_Devil · 3d Lakeland Terrier Honestly, as long as he's not tugging on the leash, or cutting me off by switching sides in front of me constantly, I don't care where he is. In front, behind, way off to the side... wherever you want dude - the walk is for you. That being said, I do have some cues trained: "let's go" if I need him to keep moving, "with me" if there's a lot a foot traffic and I need him to stay close to me, etc. 6 Reply t 42 +
    via _Lucky_Devil

    We definitely agree with this approach. It's important to remember that the walk is for your dog, not you, so you want to let him enjoy it as much as possible! At the same time, it is also important to maintain the dominance that you have established, so your dog knows who is in charge.

  • 03
    Font - jeanneW4 · 3d I guess where it makes a difference is if you have a reactive and/or scared dog. It can help them mentally if you are leading. They may feel relief that you are in charge, so to speak. I dogsat an elderly Chihuahua for a month and it was visibly more comfortable in a follower position on walks. It also makes a difference if the dog tends to pull on the leash or, because they don't know which way you intend to walk, gets in your way. If you don't have those problems, sounds l
    via jeanneW4
  • 04
    Font - Beansational · 3d If my unprofessional opinion... am teaching my dog to let me lead because he has to check in (look at me) before he gets to move forward. It's his signal to me that he is still listening to me if I have a command for him. I live in NYC and ALOT of people are scared of dogs. Like, a surprising amount. And if my dog is leading and pulling the leash to the end, I feel like it looks like I have less control. I want my neighbors to feel comfortable walking by my dog and I. G
    via Beansational

    Makes sense! There sure are a lot of distractions that a doggo could come across in a big city like New York! There is no one way of training that works for every dog, nor is there one dog walk technique that is superior to others. It's all about knowing your dog and what works best for them personally.

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  • 05
    Font - telltal • 3d I think it's a great idea. Dogs should have time to do what makes them happy when they're outside. They don't have the freedom we do to go out whenever they want and amuse themselves. Most of the day, they are pent up in the house while we do people things (like work, errands, etc. that we have to do). Let your dog enjoy his outside time the way he wants to. It will make him happier.
    via telltal
  • 06
    Font - floofelina • 3d It's what I do. I use Let's Go when she's sniffing the same blade of grass too long, and Leave It when she's headed to something that she shouldn't. But she's a small dog, so I could pick her up if she was really not listening. I don't ever let her pull me backward tho, and I do click for when she's walk quickly next to me. Trying to work toward Heel but I really only need it for crossing big roads. But the trainer did say to let them sniff because it's the most stimulatin
    via floofelina
  • 07
    Font - CinnamonNoodle · 3d I do this too with my 18 Ib pup! The only thing I really focus on is stopping at curbs and waiting for me to say ok before we cross a street. I also have a rule that we can only go forwards. Other than that, if we have the time I pretty much let her go where she wants! She can definitely get stuck on a single blade of grass as well so let's go is used often.. and leave it.. I haven't seen any issues with this, although I am working on a heel command separately for crow
    via CinnamonNoodle
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  • 08
    Font - Childisheye · 3d I second this. I have a 75lb German Shepherd and I find that we both enjoy if she leads. The only place I lead is when she's backtracking, trying to chase after a squirrel/rabbit, have someone approaching and need to give them space to pass, or she's leading me to the park when we aren't trying to go there (lol she's a smart one). I'm 100lbs give or take, and this works for us. She is extremely obedient and has excellent recall. Also, when she sniffs, sometime 20-30s on o
    via Childisheye
  • 09
    Font - Mbwapuppy · 3d I let my dog lead most of the time. Our default walk on a short leash is him about a foot ahead of and slightly to the right of me. On a longer lead, he can go wherever and at whatever pace he wants. I do have tucking in and walking tidily beside me on cue, though. Where I live, it's kind of a must for navigating through crowds, signaling to oncoming parents pushing strollers that the dog is under control... stuff like that. G Reply 4 4 . + ...
    via Mbwapuppy
  • 10
    Font - oiseaufeux • 3d For me, it depends. I loosen the leash if there no motorcycles or other dogs around or even geese poops in the grass or bike. If there are any of the thing I mentionned above, I grab the second handle on my leash and I lead her. I often have to grab her collar in a certain area because of geese poops since she wants to eat it for an unknown reason to me. Reply 1 5 {
    via oiseaufeux
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  • 11
    Font - throwawayfinalform56 · 3d Rotties My dogs don't even pee without my approval, but when they're off leash they're allowed to free range when I tell them "ok go". But if they fall behind they get told "let's go" and they run in front of me, or in the direction I point at I would get a trainer since it's a really bad idea to let a dog dictate the terms of your relationship G Reply +
    via throwawayfinalform56
  • 12
    Font - hoovesnyourface · 3d That's what I do. I completely let my dog lead the way. He has a couple different walks he chooses. I keep him out of people's yards, but he's welcome to smells all the smells for however long he wants. He likes to poop twice and doesn't appreciate waiting for me to pick it up... but I don't appreciate him making me do that. Haha. Save your poop for our backyard! G Reply
    via hoovesnyourface
  • 13
    Font - showmeyourbirds · 3d Leading is fine for me as long as she's not pulling. I have verbal commands and a gentle leash tug if I need her to move on or stop. The only time she doesn't get to be hanging out where she wants is if she gets excited and starts trying to drag me places. Then she has to follow, which she hates.
    via showmeyourbirds
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  • 14
    Font - Corflakes · 3d My girl used to pull me around like a cart for her sniff- craze, now she walks behind me. I tried a lot of things, put a lot of training and muscle into it but nothing really worked. Then one day out of frustration I let her do her mad sniffari and man, it was an eye-opener. We met half-way: she could sniff whatever as long as the lead was loose. This means extra time on our walks but she is happy and that makes me happy. We reached the point where she walks behind me 90% o
    via Corflakes
  • 15
    Font - WillemDafoesHugeCock · 3d My pup is a little less than four months old but that's exactly how I do it. He knows when he's tired better than I do, so if he stops and turns back I'm happy to end the walk for him. If he wants to sniff a lamppost I don't care, he's doing what he wants to do and that's literally the point of walking him. The only things I will interrupt is him trying to eat stuff on the sidewalk or laying down in the grass purely because he'll do it for absolutely ages.
    via WillemDafoesHugeCock

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