Tethering a new puppy/dog to you

[Anne_FS]

Any one done this? I have a friend doing it now with a new puppy. It’s where you clip the dog to yourself as you go about your daily business.

I’m not questioning the method, it’s working out great for them, but I’m asking for those who know about it, how long do you usually do this? Like for the first week of the new dog? Two weeks? Until it just feels right to stop?

Some people use it for housebreaking and stop when they feel puppy is absolutely reliable.

Just looking for opinions on your experiences. Thanks!

[Casey09]

My trainer recommends doing this for quite a while, and going back to it after any problems. The reason for it is that the more a dog practices had behavior, such as inappropriate elimination, the more entrenched it becomes. Therefore, you do this until you have established the habits and behaviors you want because when the dog is tethered to you, it is impossible for the dog to go off and eliminate while you do not notice it and therefore aren’t able to tell the dog no and to take the dog outside.

[Equibrit]

Sounds really silly to me, unless you enjoy kicking and tripping over puppies.

[Casey09]

I’ve found it to be the absolute best way to house train puppies. It is a fairly highly recommended method, but also a bit of a pain. However, puppies are a bit of a pain.

[french_fry]

The puppies I foster are leashed or crated, period. Occasional exceptions if they’re in a relatively puppy-proofed area and I’m fully supervising them without anything else to distract me. Sometimes when I’m not home my BF slacks off on this and he has ended up with several messes on the floor and a partially consumed Xbox controller. “But I just left him for one minute!”

It’s a PITA in the short term but it really cuts down on house training, chewing and separation anxiety issues, which will save you in the long run.

I cannot tell you how many adopters email me and ask if the puppy had chewed/eliminated inappropriately/scratched the door/whatever when I had him because now he’s a monster. I’m always like, “are you crating and supervising when he’s not in the crate?” “Well, no, he just gets to be loose in the house…” Sorry, I don’t know how to help you then.

[Anne_FS]

Seems like most use it for housetraining, although I (and this person) are approaching it for more of the dog/person relationship beyond house-training. For instance, another person I know used it for a German Shepherd Dog that was going to be trained as her husband’s service dog. This dog was super-easy to housebreak and immediately caught on to that, but the object of the tethering here was to get the dog used to going everywhere and to be calm and cool when with her person. The dog turned out to be a super service dog for many years. She did get plenty of run-free playtime on their large farm, but they felt the tethering start to her life with them made her segue so smoothly into her service dog training when she grew up.

[Preposterous_Ponies]

It’s not something I did with my puppy, but it is something I suggest if people are having trouble with house breaking or other problem behaviours (such as chewing).

I have a “velcro” dog so she never really left my sight anyway. She was crated when I or somebody else couldn’t be there to supervise. At about 5 months she was reliable in the house and left out alone.

[knightrider]

I have done this with my puppies until they are housetrained. They are not tied to me all the time. Sometimes in their crate or sometimes loose if I can be right there. I also do it if I am worried about them chewing on things. Its great if you have to take a nap and have a chewer…if they get into anything I would be able to correct it immediately.

[Foxtrot_s]

Like anything, a good, sensible approach gets taken to greater lengths than necessary. I agree that puppies should be close to their handlers as much as possible for bonding and house training, but a puppy needs to be able to sleep when it wants, lie down when it wants, and not be always trotting after a person because it is tethered.

The best dogs are the ones where the owner has spent the time with them when they are new (and therefore vulnerable - same as newly weaned horses)
but to follow a regime or a method - common sense makes more sense.

My greyhound bonded to me in a way few other dogs have - when she was new she was nervous of being alone, and whined at bedtime. Rather than bring her upstairs which was one option I did not want, I brought my bedroll down for 2-1/2 nights and every time she whined, I put my hand out to her.

[SouthernYankee]

I’m doing it now with my new dog. She’s a 3 year old hog hunting dog that has lived her life in a kennel. AKA the only time she got out of a kennel was to hunt, so she was led into the woods and turned loose. She’s also a long range hunter.

So I put her on a leash and she is either tethered to me or tied to something within eyesight (farrier, chores, anytime I’m messing with the horses/cows). I’m doing it to establish ‘home’ boundaries, so I can correct her quickly, and so she will bond with me. It’s working wonderfully. I can’t say how long I’ll keep doing it, that’s up to her but she’s making huge progress daily.

[Laurierace]

I do it with my puppies until they are reliably housetrained and also tether the puppy to my adult dog when outside. It comes in especially handy for teaching them how to behave around horses.

[Blinky]

Absolutely! Have done this with each of my Rotties. Helps with house breaking, general house rules, they stay out of trouble, and bond with the human pack. As they get older and understand the rules the leash gets longer.

[In1]

Absolutely. Have done it until six months old. Did it with my fosters too. I totally buy the Koolaid. I also crate.

[Sswor]

I did this and my last puppy (6 weeks) was housetrained in 10 days. Of course she also had a dog door and two other reliably housetrained dogs to emulate, but still, I found that pretty amazing. I do not crate, she was tethered to me at night, in the bed no less.

[arapaloosa_lady]

Yes!!!

You’re setting the dog up for success with close supervision. You want to see the dog do the right things - AND REWARD! You have the ability to build a really strong foundation with the dog of good behavior.

I don’t think there’s any specific timing to this technique. And it’s a good idea to repeat it for a while during puppy years & adolescent years.

Obviously you watch your feet so you don’t kick your dog… that would be stupid.

[vacation1]

I did it when I first got one dog, not for housebreaking but to show her it was physically possible to be still. She would pace, pace, pace until I was about to lose my mind and finally tied her to myself as I sat and read. With the option of movement removed, she would eventually lie down and stare and quiver - I didn’t actually see her sleep until she was about 7. I’m not convinced she did sleep. But she did calm down a bit in the house after that. I didn’t do it all that long, maybe a few weeks, just long enough to give her some basic familiarity with being inside without being hyperactive.

Long after I did this, I read a comment from a shelter professional/trainer that the most important thing to teach a shelter dog is how to do nothing. She said a lot of volunteer programs focus on exercising the dogs and letting them blow off steam, but the most valuable thing a dog needs to know is how to just lie around the house so she had people take a book into the kennel and just read while the dog got used to just being with people quietly.

[meupatdoes]

I did this with a rescue dog who was an intermittent marker in the house. I do this with all dogs that are new to the household. I had him housetrained-under-close-supervision until he went out to an adoption event at the local PetCo and the people running the event let him mark in there twice, so he came home and promptly peed on my white couch while I was sitting on the chair next to him.

Homeslice was leashed or crated, period, for 6 weeks after that. I actually don’t think it is a pain at all, I just tie the leash to my belt and then he can trot alongside. It is up to him to learn to follow nicely and not get stepped on accidentally.

All of my dogs are trained to stay with me in the house. They are not allowed to go exploring other rooms. No one is on a leash anymore but they all stay within a close radius of me, either hanging out on the sofa or in bed with me, in their open crate while I cook, or lying on the floor near the table while I eat. If I go to the bathroom or take a shower, everyone gets called to come along. By now it is just ingrained in all of us.

The reformed marker, who I kept despite the fact that he peed on my white couch (it is a good thing he is very cute), still goes on the leash whenever we are at a new place such as a friend’s house or an airbnb. He is not given the opportunity to pee on anything to declare the new place “mine now”. Nope. Three or four days of intense supervision while he is feeling insecure in someplace new prevents him from developing an occasional relationship with the kitchen trash can or a favored curtain. He can feel safe and secure by remaining within a 6’ radius of me.

I completely agree with the poster who says that it is important to teach the dog how to do nothing. Having a dog on the tether (especially with other dogs who are just chilling) gives you a chance to wait for a moment of quiet behavior to reward. If someone knocks on the door and lights up the dog like a Christmas tree, if he is on a tether he won’t get far before you can redirect his attention back to you, quietly insist that he sit, and then give him a treat for doing that instead of losing his mind at the door.

Having the dog within a 6’ radius, on the leash or off, prevents a world of problems. Dog owners should ask themselves: If the dog was in a crate or within 6’ of me (loose or tied), could have have done whatever the latest puppy disaster was? Would he be losing his mind at the mailman by the living room window now if he were sitting by me on the couch instead? Would he have peed on the white curtain in the corner of the room if he had remained sitting by me? Would he have gotten into the kitchen trash while I was taking a shower if I had brought him in the bathroom with me? Would he have chewed the shoe in the bedroom if I had put it away in the closet and brought him with me to the kitchen while I ate breakfast?

Probably not.

[saultgirl]

I was going to do this with my pup, but she was naturally velcro’d to me and followed me absolutely everywhere without a leash. When she couldn’t be 100% supervised (even if I was just in the bathroom) she was in her crate. She was house-broken within about 4 days (except for a few too-excited-to-hold-it-dribbles at the door when I got home from work) and we were able to stop crating her at night after about 3 weeks. Just this past week we’ve been letting her stay loose in the house while we’re at work, with no issues.

Anyways, I was going to try the tethering but it wasn’t necessary for me because the puppy wouldn’t leave me alone. I think as long as you can 100% supervise, the leash isn’t really necessary, but if my pup was running away into other rooms, etc., I would definitely have put a leash on.

[Bicoastal]

[QUOTE=Anne FS;8197967]
Seems like most use it for housetraining, although I (and this person) are approaching it for more of the dog/person relationship beyond house-training.[/QUOTE]

I did it for relationship, too, with an adult dog new to house life and me. He would prefer to hide in his crate. For him, I just did frequent, brief sessions because it was stressful.

I think tethering needs to be balanced (like everything!) with crating and solo time so you don’t create sep anxiety and train-in velcroness. If the dog already leans toward velcro, I’d do less tethering than for a very independent pup.

[S1969]

I imagine this is a great way to establish a bond with a new dog - in particular, rescues or adult dogs changing situations. I can’t imagine it being practical enough for a new puppy if you have other options - I use a puppy corral in my living room - but visible from dining room and kitchen - that way I can cook and help kids with homework, etc. without stepping on a baby puppy that is trying to anticipate my intentions. My puppies have all been from breeders, so temperament was pretty predictable and attachment was never a concern.

I don’t think I would ever tether a puppy to another dog. Sounds like lots of things could go wrong with that. Maybe in very specific situations only, with similar sized animals. My adult dogs would drag a small puppy at 25mph. Not a good idea.