Aimi has been to a puppy class prior. She did not know leash pressure but she could sometimes perform the “sit” command when food/treat was presented in front of her.
I have taught her the concept of leash pressure, which simply put, means “please yield to leash.”
This is how she learned to stop pulling on the leash. The leash pressure concept is the foundation of everything that l do here.
In this clip, you can see me using food to built the “sit” and “down” command.
Since she knew how to be lured into a “sit”, I used food lure to get her into a “sit” as l also applied gentle leash tension upward.
Once she sat, leash was released and tension would disappear. Food lure was used to explain to her what to do when she felt a gentle upward pressure.
Leash tension was layered on top of food lure, which was something she understood prior.
“Down” was introduced the same way. I lured her down with food, and applied gentle downward pressure to let her understand that downward leash pressure equaled food lure going down equaled the down motion.
Then l faded the food lure and only used leash pressure. Upward meant “sit” and downward meant “down”. I marked it with “yes” once she got it.
Leash pressure then became the main means of communication as food lure was faded out.
After she could go into a “sit” and “down” pretty consistently on leash guidance, l layered the actual verbal commands on top.
Verbal commands were my third layer of cues.
I would say “sit”, then applied upward leash tension, then marked with “yes” and reward. “Down” was introduced the same way. Only difference was the leash would go down instead of up.
This is done so eventually we can get her to sit and down without using food nor any hand signal. All we really need are the verbal commands, with leash guidance as a reminder, if needed.
source
