When I'm working on leash skills, I spend a good part of that time with no leash. I walk in big circles or I change direction a lot, usually at a quick pace. I expect him to stick with me, right by my side.
I talk to him, I pat my leg, and I periodically reward him for staying in position.
I have the same expectations I would have if he had a leash one so he sits when we come to a stop.
We work on both sides so he is proficient at walking on both my left and right side. And why no leash? Really what we are trying to teach our dogs is to walk nicely beside us. Our leash should just be there for safety. We do similar drills with the leash on and, of course, work around distractions with the leash on but these off leash drills improve leash walking considerably.
He's been working hard on his stays too and doing well!
Improving on distractions too. Setting him up for success has the added benefit of boosting confidence and speeding up the learning process.
He's responding really nice in the face of distractions.
Before doing anything new, especially in the outside world, it helps to work on attention ahead of time. It gets him nice and keyed into you before you lose his attention to all the distractions. It's much harder to regain a dog's attention after you have lost it then it is to gain it ahead of time.
Don't worry, there is time for the fun tricks after your studies, Indy.
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