My Dog Always Runs Away When I Pick Up The Leash, What Should I Do?

Dear Family Pupz,

One of the most frustrating things about being Roxie’s (a French Bulldog) mom is that she always runs away from me the minute I pick up her leash when it’s time to give her a walk.

It’s gotten to the point where my boyfriend and I have to go chase/hunt her down together to even have a chance of getting her harness and leash on her for a walk.

It can get so bad that we sometimes can’t get to her at all, and we’re unable to give her a walk :(

What should I do?

-

Based on your question, one thing is certain: the sight/sound of the leash is causing a reaction in Roxie.

It could be that Roxie is scared of the harness/leash due to a negative experience in her past, or Roxie is just really excited for the walk and is playing a “catch me if you can” game.

Regardless, while it might be interesting to learn the “why” of Roxie’s behavior, to answer your question, what should you specifically do in this situation?

The long answer is that you’d simultaneously try to take the fun out of the “catch me if you can” game by not participating in the game at all, while rewarding Roxie with treats for approaching you while you have the leash/harness in your hand.

That said, this training set up takes a bit of time and practice to get just right.

In the meantime, my mind-blowingly simple fix to this frustrating problem is…to first grab Rosie by her collar/harness and walk her to where you you keep her leash FIRST, AND THEN clip the leash on her.

Happy Training!