A common recommendation when starting leash training is to heavily reward your dog for staying next to you while continuing to walk. This may be easy when your dog is hip height, but what if your dog looks like this:

Watch this blog post on Youtube:

If you don’t squat down low enough to deliver the treat properly you can accidentally reinforce jumping up, but getting low enough to the ground to properly give a treat isn’t easy to do on repeat or in motion.

So do you only have three options?

One: become a squat master.

Two: Give up and suffer through being dragged on walks for the rest of your days.

Or three: Choose methods that don’t involve treats.

As a dog trainer who personally has a corgi cross, I want to tell you about a secret fourth option:

Bring a wooden spoon on walks!

With really short dogs, I’ll put wet dog food in a silicone treat pouch and dip the spoon.

(Click HERE for the pouch I use)

Rather than bending down to deliver a treat every few steps, give a spoon lick instead!

I hope this helps you enjoy tons of walks with your tiny friend.

Happy training 🙂

Want more leash training advice? Watch this tutorial: