How do you walk you boxer?

[BoxerAres]

When I take Ares on his walks I let him sniff around as long has he stays next to me and keeps walking. I keep the leash loose and correct with a "leash pop" (not a had one since he is still only 5 months) to get his attention back to our walk if he sees a squirrel or another dog because he will start to lunge and I do not want him doing that once he is older and bigger. How do you all walk your dogs and can walking him a certain way make for problems down the line?

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

I walk with a gentle leader and standard leash. I do not allow sniffing, eyeing other dogs, cats, people, etc. If we pass someone who wants to pet him he must first sit before he is to be petted. We walk with a purpose at an upbeat pace and keep going and he must walk alongside me not in front or in back. He's 2 1/2 years old and 67 pounds now and I've never had a problem.

 

[ehayes21]

As long as they are not pulling, they can walk however they want. My two are 4 & 3 and I have never had a problem.

 

[whiskers]

As long as they are not pulling, they can walk however they want.

Yep. I don't care if Juno is slightly in front or behind, or if she has her nose to the ground sniffing everything... as long as we're still walking at my pace and she's not pulling me, I'm fine with that. Walking them a certain way won't create problems later unless you're walking them in a way that, once they're older, you won't like. For example if I don't want Juno sniffing bushes on walks, I should have been letting her know from the very first walk I took her on that sniffing bushes isn't allowed.

 

[trc4941]

I agree with ehayes21. As long as my guys aren't pulling, they can sniff to their hearts content. They are dogs afterall. They are pretty well-behaved on walks. i walk both of them at the same time on a double leash, so I have a total of almost 150 lbs of dog at the end of my leash. I've never really had any problem. I suppose it all depends on the dog.

 

[HostelDog]

For us it depends where we are. If we have enough space I give her the command 'piano' which just means slow, but her for means it's ok to sniff and meander about as long as she doesn't pull. In town through the narrow streets we have 'vicina' which means she must walk close to my side or slightly behind me (similar to heel). She obviously finds vicina much easier to understand as it's a very definite instruction, piano is a bit ambigious but works well 80% of the time!

 

[LeeUmm]

I keep her beside me or a little behind with no sniffing allowed. She's only 7 months, so I'm still training her all the time. I'm focusing on getting her to pay attention to me and pick up on the subtle things. Voice commands and pulling on the leash to get her attention work, but I'm working on getting her to understand what I'm doing. So if I slow down and then stop, she slows down and stops. Without me having to tug hard on the leash. Just basic stuff like that which we learned in training class.

When she's older and better behaved, I'll most likely loosen up a bit, but for now I'm keeping it pretty strict.

 

[LauraLou]

When I got my 5 year old mix (pretty sure she has pit in her, so she's very STRONG!), she was already 4 months so I didn't get to train her immediately. She didn't walk well at all, would pull me and would get distracted easily. I reluctantly started her on a pinch collar. It was great, she learned fast that if she pulled me she would feel a pinch. I didn't really feel bad putting it on her because she pretty much stopped pulling me, so she rarely felt a pinch. Now 4 years later, she is fabulous! I don't need the pinch, she walks by my side with slack in the leash, and only sniffs when we get to "her spot".
My puppy still isn't used to the leash yet, but is doing pretty well for 8 weeks. I do short walks with him because he just isn't ready for the long walks that my 5 year old goes on. I'm keeping him by my side as well. My main problem walking him is that he always wants to stop and scratch his new collar and won't "do his business" if the leash is on him!

 

[brindlepup]

I got my Butch when he was 1 and he really had no idea how to walk on a leash and kept pulling...hard. Add to this that I have an elderly (13 years) Bassett hound who stops to sniff everything. I quickly realized the pulling was more of an issue so we worked on that and allowed all the sniffing he wanted as long as he kept up with me. Frankly Butch gets a little tired of waiting for the Bassett to sniff and wants to get moving but he is very patient with his friend. To stop the pulling in his neck I invested in a harness with a D ring on the back rather than a collar. I also carried a clicker and a pouch of tiny treats. Whenever he would get too far ahead of me for my comfort or started to pull I would stop, click, wait for him to return, and treat. He soon realized clicking meant to return to me and that he would get a treat. Once I forgot the clicker so I would make a kiss noise and he came to that as well. Now we almost never use the clicker or treats and it just takes a kiss noise to get him back. Plus we usually "warm up" with the Bassett then return him home and go on a more strenuous walk. When we are at a faster pace Butch has no interest in sniffing.

 

[Kilby'sMum]

As long as I'm walking them and not the other way around, I don't really mind how many bushes they sniff or fences they look under. I would say start how you intend to finish i.e., if you don't want a full-grown boxer pulling you, don't let a puppy do it. When we got Kilby as a pup I was on crutches and she wasn't allowed near my left leg for about 11 months so trying to teach her to heel has been extremely difficult and not very successful!

When starting to walk our puppies, if they are pulling or barking then we stop and I wait until they look at me so I know I am the focus again and off we go. It made for some REALLY long walks when they were pups but has paid off.