A few months ago, I had a small argument with a client.
When teaching people how to work with the leash, I always insist that they do not wrap it around their wrist.
The client was very hesitant to follow this direction, maintaining that they have more control over the leash—and ultimately over their dog—if it’s wrapped around their wrist. They backed this up by saying they regularly work with knots and ropes, and explained that the chances of accidentally dropping the leash and losing the dog are far greater without wrist-wrapping.
Of course, this is true. You don’t have to worry about your dog accidentally escaping when the leash is secured like that. However, you also don’t have to worry about your dog choosing to stay with you, or about them following your directions. Why? Because you’re not giving them a choice—and if the choice ever is there, you’ve never practiced your dog choosing the right thing.
Your leash is your main instrument of communication. Let that really sink in. All the signals you send to your dog—including how fast or slow to go, whether to pull or not, whether they did something right or wrong, or even whether they should be worried—are all mediated through your leash.
Tense leash = the dog pulls to escape tension.
Leash pop = the dog gets a correction.
Loose leash = the dog is relaxed and able to think, process its environment, and understand your communication.
Once that leash is wrapped around your wrist, the only mode of communication you have left is tension—hence all the pulling you’re trying to get rid of.
The mindset of making the leash as secure as possible—clenching it, almost tying it into knots—is often the very reason the dog is desperately trying to escape that pressure in the first place.
Instead, put your hand through the leash loop, grasp the (hopefully comfortable) body of the leash, adjust the length so there’s always slack but no dragging, and relax.
Correct jerking or pulling while insisting that the slack remains there. Watch how your own walking relaxes—and how your dog stops trying to escape. And if you drop the leash? Your dog will stay with you, because you’ve already practiced how it should handle freedom.
You should be the one to make this leap of faith and choose to trust your dog by stopping the wrist-wrapping and constant pressure. You’re the one who must demonstrate that the leash isn’t there to fight them.
Bottom line: leashes are not ropes, and dogs are not vessels that need to be secured with intricate knots so they don’t accidentally float away.