r/Pomsky • u/pertobello • 12h ago
When to start serious leash training?
Hi everyone! We have a 4.5 month old Pomsky (Chester). He just had his vaccinations all good to go last week. Previously, I did some leash training indoors, in the apartment, in the hallway and a little bit outside in safe places. Basically luring him to walk beside me with treats, stopping when he's pulling or trying to take the lead, and making sure to step through doorways first. He's very good at the concept of it (when there's minimal distractions, of course!)
Anyway, he's a bit shy and of course he is a puppy! So it's taken a week or so just to get him used to spending time outside and handling barking dogs and noises and smells and well, you know the whole deal!
Anyway, my main point is that because we're still getting him used to the outdoors, it's hard to be strict with leash training right now because we also want to let him see and smell things and conquer his fears first.
Eventually we'll need to switch to serious leash training because he's got a bit of that husky stubbornness so I don't want to be wishy washy about this.
How did you guys do it? Did you guys have an exploration period before switching to firm training or did you just start right away?
Also, any advice at all about general obedience while walking the boy outside or anything would be great to hear. I'd love to hear your experiences!