How to PROPERLY use a LEASH

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The leash is your most POWERFUL training tool as it's a direct line of communication between you and the dog. Understanding how to use it PROPERLY is critical to your success as you progress through the training program.
FYI, this is the best leash I have ever used. Get the 6ft standard no traffic handle - atlaspetcompany.com/collectio... (not sponsored, plz sponsor me, Atlas)
In this video, you'll learn:
- What type of leash you should be using
- How to properly hold a leash
- How to correct your dog using a leash (to punish undesirable behaviors)
- How to reinforce behaviors your dog knows
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
00:22 - What type of leash should I use?
01:51 - How to hold a leash
05:16 - Different ways to use a leash
05:59 - How to correct your dog using a leash
13:03 - How to reinforce behaviors using a leash

[@handsomeharley4257]

Shut up 😂! How is this not viral? I’ve been using my leash wrong this whole time even after spending money on trainers. I just went out and used all your steps and I cannot believe the difference already. For the first time, we had a stress free walk (I have a reactive Frenchie ). I use to wrap the leash around my hand and keep him close which caused us both stress. Today I gave him the whole leash (totally scary btw) held it properly and did corrections as needed👏🙌 we had the best walk ever in the neighborhood. Thanks a million ❤ so grateful for this information and I will share it forward too.

[@jasonford6595]

I spent 20 years in force free training. About 8 months ago I started using leash corrections for very specific behaviors and I will never look back. Properly applied leash corrections have been so helpful and what's amazing is when really challenging behaviors get extinguished in days or weeks that don't ever fully go away with force free, you don't need corrections anymore and can focus entirely on P+. Again, never looking back and so glad to let go of all the emotional gaslighting, fear, shame and guilt from the force free crowd.

[@KainsFleshlight]

Awsome to hear man ,and you got it ...properly applied leash corrections..... for some reason positive only people swear we were like wrangling sheep when giving a correction

[@lukeryuzaki2328]

​@@KainsFleshlight The positive only training is very profitable for the trainers. It's a flawed system that would need constant patching/bug fixing when people get a head strong dog or with bad temperament (which is a lot more than well bred sought after dog). It sounds good enough to dupe naive people don't even know what expectation of a trained dog. Even dog physically corrects other dog, when the latter don't respect boundary. But they don't want humans to ever correct a dog. Follow the money. Money is root of all evil.

[@kevinh82]

So glad to hear this from someone so experienced in dog training like you. I was honestly very confused from all the different opinions on "positive only" and "all operant quadrants" theories. Now im very convinced "positive only" is great, but not the best way.

[@dmitrynikelshpur2245]

It’s quite basic: positive/negative x reinforcement/punishment - utilizing all four quadrants is better than utilizing only one. Just wait until you discover the e-collar (spoiler alert, same concepts but no physical leash!) ;) Positive only folks (I almost used the ‘cult’ word, but I won’t) manipulate peoples’ emotions and end up doing a great disservice to owners, handlers, trainers, and most importantly, the dogs.

[@ClaudiaCimenti]

Yes, they denounce you for correcting a behavior with a couple corrections, but have no qualms having their positive-only "trained" dogs misbehaving for years!

[@Slite]

you are pushing the next generation of transparent dog training content, this channel is going to do really well

[@Slite]

everything i see from haz from shield k9 and tom from upstate k9 and all the other great trainers i watch is all combined in the simplest and quickest form in your content

[@Spartacus4281]

@@Slite he worked at sheild k9. He’s doing all haz’s stuff. I recognize him from some of haz’s videos in the past. He’s one of the guys that worked for him, left and started their own business that’s he mentions in his podcasts from time to time.

[@Slite]

@@Spartacus4281 makes sense, glad to see more great trainers on youtube

[@kevinashley478]

I grew up watching my dad train every dog we had, and we had A LOT. At times, i would have nearly considered his tactics abusive. Yet, every dog would do exactly what he said, first command. And they loved him. They would literally go into depression whenever he left to go to work. Find their step to lay on, wouldnt eat or drink till he came back. I asked him about his tactics once, and his response was eye opening to me: "Son, a dog is an animal. You can never train an animal with only love and hugs. They have to learn consequences for actions. Some actions demand positive consequences and some actions demand negative consequences. That goes for ALL animals."

[@lorenachaveznj]

Totally agreed 👍 once your out on a farm and real life.. you get exactly the words your dad replied

[@Niviatab]

Your videos are so clear and the breakdowns you offer are so helpful to us new dog owners. Thank you very much.

[@JuliatteJ]

Who knew using a leash was so technical! 😱 Thank you for all the DETAIL 🙏🏻

[@patricedalton4024]

I appreciate the illustration of the “POP”. It really helped me understand the action

[@jairobighetti1517]

You give us the best videos on dog training by far. I have watched hours of dog training videos, from US, European and Brazilian trainers and none give clear explanations as you do. Very didactic, very clear and it just works. Congratulations.

[@pattyramirez4201]

😊😊😊😊😊

[@garya.2281]

Absolute Master Class in something thats so easily overlooked specifically just holding a leash. 👍

[@user-zd7wn8tb8i]

Thank you! I watched a ton of leash walking videos. My dog is a puller, and this video helped tremendously! I was so excited to finally be able to get my dog out of the backyard. I think the part about slack,no slack was the key. Being constant with the length made a huge difference

[@user-fo7dn7mu4d]

You are one of the best dog trainers. I’ve watched on KZbin and you explain your technique the best that I’ve ever watched on KZbin. Keep up your great work mate and thank you for all the great information. Please keep it coming And this is from a legally blind viewer on vision impaired, but just listening to the way you describe things helps me visualise it in my mind. I listen to your videos like the podcast you’re a great educator. Thank you very much.

[@thedoggieinnlisaannestella3478]

Love this video.. Its exactly what we teach . Your video is clear and understandable :) Bravo. Will be sharing

[@c.cooper9549]

Thanks for breaking things down so clearly!

[@tiffanecoe9060]

Great info! Thank you so much for this video. I’m working with a golden retriever who was a total nightmare when I first started walking with her. I have her heeling perfectly in the neighborhood, but last week I pet sat her for 5 days and I took her to a beach to go swimming. I always like to do something fun when I’m watching a dog (especially when it’s one of the dogs that I’m training). YOU ARE SPOT ON! The difference in the amount of pressure that you need to apply is greatly determined by the level of distraction. I am in my early 50s and as well mannered as that dog is when we are in her neighborhood… It took everything I had to control her in a new environment AND WE WERE STILL WALKING ACROSS 20 YARDS OF GRASS just to get to the actual beach. PLUS people were grilling and there were a couple of other dogs around as well. The pop/correction needs to match the distraction and intensity of the dog 💯💯💯💯💯🙏🏽

[@car2nerr]

I love a well supple leather leash because I can grab it any where and have a good grip. BUT it does take time to break in. New, they can be stiff.

[@Cathan1856]

This is great, best illustration of the pressure/release with a leash I’ve seen. Excellent breakdown of the technique.

[@katharinanoske6449]

Such a super video! I really appreciate how you break things down. Thanks a lot!

[@robbiesmith5169]

Thank you for this great informative training video for me, I’ve made several of the mistakes you outlined, no more- I’m practicing my training skills.

[@geoffhillier8738]

This is more important than I ever realized, it's definitely working on my Malinois. Thanks very much for the help.

[@kristyhong633]

This is exactly what I needed, thank you!

[@Wolfpack32-]

Love this guy.

[@nicksand5258]

I juts got my first dog, a purebred border collie (he’s 4 months). He’s been great so far. Of course there’s areas to work on. Leash walking is what I’m focusing on at the moment. Getting him into good habits early

[@BeegansDogTraining]

Hey man, thanks for the content. I'm starting my dog training business out of college and your list of trainers to study really helped me out.

[@hornet224]

Using the steel bench as a distracted dog really made it clear to me on the technique. A light tug on my Corgi lease is enough that he gets my attention. Reply

[@lauramastache9820]

Thank you, ima try this tmr . I’ll lyk how it goes .

[@CentredTraining]

You are amazing with your concise presentation.. no bullshit but still very pleasant energy. Destined for great things, you could be #1, keep up the good work. The general public need this level of dissection, and also the knowledge of canine/human psychology. Turn the fur baby train back around because so many are causing passive damage with ignorance.

[@christymboyce]

Is your pup wearing a corrective collar as well? What do you recommend?

[@user-zc5rn8xy6u]

How are you attaching the leash to the dog. (Are you attaching to a collar or to the leash its self?).

[@blackyoshy]

Thank you, this was helpful! I guess I often change the length of my leash which makes it harder for the dog. But sometimes it's necessary to shorten it, for example in big crowds...?

[@lukeryuzaki2328]

Yes. Shorter leash in the crowd. The most important thing is training with long line first (where there is no distraction) then gradually shorten the length of leash over time, before attempting to walk into big crowd.

[@marymcdonough1390]

Where do you buy this training lead?

[@yeseniarodriguez8806]

Is the leash held different when correcting the behavior?

[@judyrapp238]

What about if you're using the prong collar, do you pop the leash?

[@elierry]

This is border collie? What a unique colour!

[@omeokate3459]

Would you please make a video for walking with a power wheelchair user with only one functional hand? I like your attention to detail. I currently walk my rescue Golden Retriever with a 3 ft leash attached to my chair and am unable to correct him effectively with the leash. TY

[@deanne.m.sanderson]

Miles may have different advice, but my input would be to have someone do the training to stop pulling and then you introduce walking alongside the chair.

[@denisseypieces]

Does it matter if the dog walks in front of you? Or should they always walk next to you?

[@KainsFleshlight]

13:09 ...Orbit : yes I know that

[@TheLordFollower]

Please help me as my dog eats and break his leaches What should I do to correct this behaviour

[@csrnibbler9912]

Great explanation my man. I like your thorough breakdown of the correction snap. I think that I usually do too much of a pulling motion for the corrections because I have my arm extended during the walk and I am unable to get the correct slack to do a proper snap. I'm gonna go out this afternoon to practice this with my GSD's.

[@1wascallywabbit]

Perhaps you've already addressed this in another video, it seems equally appropriate to ask your preference on what type of collar to utilize? Using the advice given here on this video about not added anything that may interfere with or transmit unintentional messages to your dog...do you recommend a plain, flat, buckled (static) collar or is one that is a flat collar, but with a tightening loop that the leash is attached to that adjusts the tightness to tension (for the lack of a better way to articulate it) a softer version of a prong collar or choke chain your suggested preference?

[@deanne.m.sanderson]

He uses prong collars. He has great videos explaining prep for the prong collar.

[@deepalisingh1194]

How can I do this..if my dog is pulling hard..😐

[@weeneeps]

Yeah, when the dog is pulling it's almost impossible to keep your hand close to your body because you have no leverage with you're hand there. Also, my dog anyway, when you pop and try to go back to slack he just takes all that slack and so now i've got my arm out like you're saying not to, with tension on the leash. Plus popping the leash just gets him more riled up.

[@JuliatteJ]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@ArnoldGamboaPH]

Anywhere (online, like amazon perhaps) can I get that type of leash?

[@lukeryuzaki2328]

biothane dog leash. The trainer said his is 6 feet long model

[@watchmoivies123]

This was excellent thank you very much I’m hoping maybe you could do a little series on a new adult dog with these training techniques so we can really watch an untrained adult dog. Thank you again.

[@lukeryuzaki2328]

I don't think it's possible to really have an untrained clean plate adult dog for demonstration. Adult dogs who know no command is not really untrained, in a sense that they learned to do it its way. Since dogs have their own characters, adults dogs can be million way different. Using a well raised, good temperament dog in demonstration wouldn't help if viewers have headstrong dogs. There is no one fit all approach since adult dogs have strength and weapon that can hurt you if you do it wrong. So you need to be able to read the dog, and then adjust training how it fit with. This channel pretty cover all the basic obedience concept from old video. It's now up to application, and if you need help with reading your dog and approaching training , perhaps you need in person trainer to help or wait for this channel new interactive training program where you're receiving feedback.

[@watchmoivies123]

@@lukeryuzaki2328 oh, I thought this was the trainer getting back to me the owner of this KZbin So I am a seasoned trainer but a lot of people that watch KZbin’s. They know nothing and they would say this looks so easy with a train dog I just thought maybe if he would do a untrained dog maybe four or five different weeks of helping another train dog thank you for your help anyway.

[@jesperandersson4684]

yea i do need both hands to correct my sturdy european dobeman who btw is big even for the breed standard, when i use wrist or even one whole arm he acts like he dont even know im there.

[@glim6453]

but what happens if the dog lunge pull? Hard to do the leash pop

[@lukeryuzaki2328]

You should train with a long line. Loose leash walking training (allow the dog with a comfortable distance away from you with leash length). When dog lunging, step on the leash. This would do the correction. When dog stop lunging but still pulling, now you can do the pop correction, and walk the opposite direction dog pulling. When the dog stop fixating on whatever causing it to be reactive and follow you, reward to reinforce compliance. Train over time, the dog would like stop being reactive, and focus on the walk with you, before you attempt to walk you dog past what cause it to be reactive.

[@mrzooty4841]

Nice shoes leonardo 😂

[@klfweirdalfanfrombirth]

The socks have toes!

[@jasonford6595]

I handle 2 poweful dogs together, multiple times a day. Having 1 leash with a knot and a extra handle in it is actually super helpful. Just saying. But yeah, not so necessary with just one dog at a time.

[@KainsFleshlight]

Haha same ...I love those leashes with the built in short leash handle option ...definalty necessary when walking a Caucasian ovcharka and a German shep mix at the same time .....unless your built like John cena ...which I am not hahah

[@ItsMeShrimpy]

Poor bench 😆

[@andrewiyer]

wish you'd make these more concise or use timestamps to find the points. otherwise really good content

[@joeker418]

What do you recommend if your dog does not respond to any “pops”

[@VypeReaper]

Aye, my dog is the same way. He responds the first time but goes back to it OR I do the pop but he is persistent on wanting unwanted attention from other dogs/distractions. I would advise having your dog sit, and stay so that they can look at the distraction for a moment, and then walk away. At least you are giving your dog the time to look around and be comfortable with his/her surroundings. The first thing of dog training is ensuring your dog also feels safe with you, while walking with you. The pop/jank/jerk motion should only be done if the dog is walking doing its own thing without paying no mind to you at all. If your dog is not constantly checking on you, waiting for you or walking behind you, it just means they need more training. Lastly, I am unsure if Hamilton explains the different collars you can use for training, but if you dog continues not paying attention to you, I would suggest buying a "gentle lead."

[@VypeReaper]

I wanted to reply more but I didn't want to create a wall of text. The other thing I learn is that training starts in your house and before you and your dog go outside/walk out. You have to teach your dog that before walking out the door (to go outside), your dog should learn to have patience and always "sit" and "wait". Just because you open the door, does not mean your dog can fly-out or pull you out. I can understand being in a hurry some days, but teaching your dog manners inside your house and before going outside will make your dog better anywhere you go.

[@kennethguerrero6802]

@@VypeReaperthis 100%! Just that routine alone does wonders to set up your walk. But positive with negative reinforcement. If the corrections arent working, move to a prong collar and start from scratch with low pressure on the leash until you get a better reaction. Hermsprenger is apparently the best. Worked with my GSD. But that only helps you get their attention. Once you have their attention, you have to capitalize with reward. Make sure the obvious choice is to look to you for guidance after you correct them. Its a small window to capitalize on or else they forget why you corrected them. A big thing i was missing was the high pitch voice reward. I was always very monotone. Showing obvious affection with the praise word of your choice (mine is “yes”) helps them understand what it is that you want. Which is to watch me. Not the distraction

[@lukeryuzaki2328]

@@VypeReaper Gentle lead is a very bad leash for training. Dogs generally don't like thing on their faces and heads. Gentle lead actually apply pressure to the nose/snout area. Putting it on is constant stress to a dog despite you don't apply pressure to make correction. For horse, that is not problem. For dog, you're restraining your dog, not training your dog to respect you, and learn thing. Without the respect, it's much more difficult to advance to higher training like off leash with E-Collar giving the dog more freedom to make it own choices. Making good choice = more freedom. It means building confidence in the dog. Not so much building confidence when you restraining with tool like gentle lead/halti.

[@VypeReaper]

@@lukeryuzaki2328 I believe you just contradicted yourself in your comment. You stated "Gentle lead actually apply pressure to the nose/snout area. Putting it on is constant stress to a dog despite you don't apply pressure to make correction." Does it apply pressure or not? Either way. Agree to disagree. Gentle lead has worked wonders with both of my large doodles. And from my perspective after using them, the gentle lead does not apply any pressure to the snout nor neck and face. It simply leads the neck, jaw and face towards you instead of letting your dog consistently wander; allowing the dog to pay attention to other distractions. I firmly believe the gentle lead is way better than causing unnecessary harm using E-Collars and Prong collars. As those 2 options should only be used as a last resort. You have to start from normal collars, to gentle leads, to prong collars and then e-collars. I am unsure where you read that it causes pressure. I would advise watching Beckman's training to learn more on them.

[@dekbrisbane7294]

But that is gonna work when your dog not pulling the leash

[@luanvu8717]

The leash in your video must be longer than 6 feet? You can’t be that short? If I hold my 6 feet leash as high as you during the 4th and 5th minute, I would create plenty of tension on the leash and my Malinois is a bigger taller dog.

[@bryant2672]

Great Video! Do not approve of the toe socks with sandals tho lmao! new ninja dog training wear

[@VypeReaper]

Lmao, I thought the same. I do think they are cool tho. He looks like a ninja.

[@paritejdan]

I'm really scared of doing this because I don't want to ruin my relationship with my dog! I'm afraid that we would associate me with the pain I caused to his neck and gets scared of me! Plus I'm afraid that this would cause problems with his neck in the long run! We currently have an amazing relationship and he listens to me with enthusiasm but he has a hard time listening to me when he sees another dog on the street!

[@fairytale777]

You are absolutely right about everything! Please trust your instincts. There’s no need to correct your dog this way. I wish you and your dog the best. ❤

[@paritejdan]

@@fairytale777 Thanks for the positive reply! I'm not claiming that I know more than a dog trainer for sure! I'm just verbalizing my concerns as a dog mama! 😅 Maybe it is the right way of doing it (considering that he is the dog trainer and probably knows what he is doing) 🤷🏼‍♀️ I’m open to do research and learn how I can fix the reactiveness toward other dogs with no physiological harm to my furry friend. Hopefully I find a way

[@kylebeasley6111]

If you do the corrections correctly like he shows and make your communication with the dog very clear, you won't damage your relationship. These corrections are for the instances where your dog is not listening to you and high distraction environments. More specifically it should be used for things that your dog already knows, but is choosing to ignore you for something it finds more interesting. The dogs need to know that you're the most interesting thing and that they should be focused on you or their owners first and then the exciting thing second. When done correctly, it shouldn't cause any damage to their neck. People will typically switch to a prong collar to even out the pressure and allow you to communicate with the dog better with less pressure on its neck. If you watch any video on dog training with Tom Davis, you can get a good idea of how to properly use leash pressure and perform corrections for actions that we as humans know aren't acceptable but the dog doesn't quite understand.

[@kylebeasley6111]

​@@fairytale777corrections are important in order to communicate with the dog that what they're doing is not acceptable. And then of course using play or treats in order to reinforce actions that are desirable. Corrections don't need to be used all the time once the dog understands what's expected of him, but are sometimes necessary to help shape behaviors.

[@jasonford6595]

Leash corrections properly applied don't ruin your relationship. That's a myth. The dog associates the correction with the stimuli and the behavior, not you. There's a lot of nuance to unpack but don't buy into the shame and guilt and appeals to your emotions. Many dogs benefit from leash corrections when they are reactive to stimuli in the environment. They learn not to react and then you don't need corrections anymore. From that point you can focus entirely on positive reinforcement and this is exponentially more efficient than spending years struggling with counter conditioning methods exclusively.

[@obiblooze5902]

This looks horrific

[@jenrassy]

Wow! I don't know about that violent pop of the leash. I don't want my dog flying 10 ft behind me.

[@juanfrancisco3401]

Amazing video! So the main takeaway from this video is when you want to discipline your dog just resort so animal abuse, great!

[@michelewood925]

Is just a leash pop. It’s not always necessary but sometimes they need told no. It’s not gonna hurt them to have a side pop on a leash. They do it to themselves.

[@kevinashley478]

I suppose you never spank a kid either?

[@violetakartus2429]

Can't believe people are still using so outdated methods, unsubscribed

[@hamiltondogtraining]

✌️

[@okcomputr]

How do you think service dogs, police and military dogs, and others are trained? Treats and positive only training always fail as soon as you encounter a distraction, this is the type of training that actually works

[@user-lt2vl9zb6y]

I have been trying to use the leash this way on my GSD who is a puller, however, I find it a bit hard to pop the leash as he’s always at the end of the leash already creating pressure/ stress on the leash as well as himself. Even I create space as showed in the video to get that popping motion, once it’s in a slack position, he would already be ahead and quickly bring the leash back to the tight position. Let alone when he lunges at other dogs/ people… Anyway to solve this issue? This is quite annoying because if I can’t get his loose leash walking right I cannot move on with other obedience trainings as suggested in your video🥹

[@VypeReaper]

Thank you for the video. I freaking do the correction/discipline at 7:00 but my damn dog just goes back to it, lmao. I'll let yall know that this is not the first place/time I have learned of that correction. I also follow Beckman's Training videos. Hamilton Dog Training and Beckman are on par with training styles. I enjoy both trainers, and I appreciate Hamilton's videos.

[@lukeryuzaki2328]

Before you actually walk your dog. You need to do some private training first and long line loose leash walking. These regular length leash works after dog learn some basic default manner if being corrected by leash pressure. Without the conditioning training with longline, dogs don't know better would fight back, biting the leash...

[@VypeReaper]

@@lukeryuzaki2328 What? Private lessons? I have trained my 2 dogs alone. You don't even know what you are saying. Please show me a video of your training. What do you mean there's no such thing as "letting them do loose leash walking first"? That makes absolutely no sense. They will pull if they don't know how to walk in a loose leash form. Dogs older than 1 year old need to be trained first on how to loose leash walk. After reading both of your comments, I see that you are either a troll or uneducated regarding dog training methods. With the exception of dogs younger than 1 year of age, you cannot have a dog in "loose leash" form or they will pull just as how they pulled when they are puppies. The older the more difficult and harder it is to train them to stop pulling. Dogs will only pull and keep on pulling if you don't train them how to walk loose leash. Also, if they are too old, it will be too difficult later on to teach them to not pull, and you will only be able to resort to harnesses, prong collars and e-collars. I doubt anyone outside of professional dog trainers will want to start there and would even know how to use those collars. Lastly, training with E-Collars and Prong Collars is challenging since most people are not trained professionals. You have to apply the correct pressure at the right time or shock your dog at the right time.

[@Hbryry]

What collar is your dog on? The correction might not be high enough if the dog is going back to it

[@Hbryry]

@@VypeReaperI am not a professional trainer but I just watch a bunch of KZbin videos and I’ve got so much more success with prong and ecollar with my almost 2 year old Klee Kai People over complicate everything when it comes to what works and what doesn’t. Each dog is different and dogs that are older isn’t necessarily harder to teach loose leash. As long as you have skills, and try different methods, it’s doable.

[@VypeReaper]

@@Hbryry That was the issue. The correction wasn't high enough. I tried yesterday, and he responded better.