Have you ever thought that the way you are walking your dog could actually be the root cause of your dog’s irrational or aggressive behaviour?
A dog trainer has shared a big mistake you may be making on your daily walks with your dog.
The expert took to social media to share what he believes is the worst thing you can do with your go when you’re outside — walking them on a lead.
Canine behviourist, Will Atherton, posted a video on TikTok where he said: “As a canine behaviourist, one of my specialties is leash aggressive dogs — dogs that once out on a walk, react, pull, are aggressive towards other animals, other people, or other things.
“I see the mistake that people make time and time again that creates these incredible bad behaviours and that mistake is around tension on the lead.
“There should never ever, ever be tension on your dog’s lead unless you are putting tension on for a reason and that should be a tiny, tiny fraction of the time.”
Atherton said that as soon as you put tension to the lead, this communicates nervous and anxious energy to the dog which is the cause of many behaviour issues amongst dogs.
He added: “Remove the tension, remove the behaviour.”
The expert founded and runs the Will Atherton Canine Center which is a behaviour clinic and training center in Derbyshire.
Atherton also has an online training platform, the Will Atherton Academy and is the author of Raising and Training Perfect Puppies – The Missing Secret To Success where he shares his tips and tricks for dog training.
According to a study on 65 dogs by The Canadian Veterinary Journal, a significant portion of dog bites occured while a dog was on a leash, with about 30.7% being on a leash at the time of the incident.
Leash aggression is often characterised by barking, lunging, growling and even biting and can reportedly also be caused by a lack of socialisation, past negative experiences being on a leash or could reveal a underlying medical condition your dog may be suffering from.
