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Five Minute Dog by Personable Pets Dog Training
Quick, practical dog training tips in under 5 minutes—because training your dog shouldn’t take all day.
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Five Minute Dog by Personable Pets Dog Training
#173 Leash Feel: Your Hidden Connection
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Walking your dog should be enjoyable, yet those moments when your dog suddenly lunges or pulls can be jarring and frustrating. What if you could anticipate these movements before they happen? That's exactly what "leash feel" offers – a skill professional trainers rely on that most pet owners never develop.
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Have you ever walked your dog and suddenly they were pulling or darted off to the side and you didn't see it coming? That moment where the leash tightens and you're like wait, what just happened? Trainers almost never have that moment. Why? Because we've developed something that I like to call leash fill, a way to read what the dog is doing through tiny changes in the leash, often without even looking. When I'm walking my dog on a long line and he could be behind me and I can still usually tell when he shifts directions or starts trotting or slows down or even hesitates, and not because I'm watching him, but because I can feel it through the leash.
Speaker 1:This isn't magic, it's just a skill learned over time and it's something that every dog owner can learn and should. And why does it matter? Because the leash is more than just a safety tool. It's one of your clearest communication lines. If you only notice it when it's tight, you're missing 90% of what your dog is telling you.
Speaker 1:Learning to feel those little micro movements helps you. It helps you catch pooling before it starts, helps you understand when your dog's focus shifts, it helps you feel hesitation or curiosity and it helps you stay connected without micromanaging. And it is especially useful on long lines or evening walks when it's starting to get a little bit dark. Here's a way to practice have someone stand behind you holding the leash like they're your dog and then have them move, maybe shift their weight, walk a few steps, turn, wait. Walk a few steps, turn your job, close your eyes and try to guess what they just did based on how the leash felt. I know it sounds weird, but it works. You'll start noticing just how much info is in those little shifts and once you notice, you'll start to anticipate instead of react and over time you'll walk more with your dog and less against them. So if you want better leash skills, start with your hands, feel the leash, soften your grip, pay attention to those little changes, because once you learn how to read the leash, your whole walk changes.