Puppies are curious, full of energy, and a little mischievous, especially when bored. An unmonitored puppy can quickly chew up your child’s favorite toy, grab a bag of chips out of the pantry, or find a corner of the room to go potty. So how can we best monitor them when they’re out of the crate? One simple and effective method is by tethering your puppy or have them loosely drag a leash. In this blog, we will discuss the benefits of tethering your puppy, problem behaviors, and tips on how to raise a well-behaved puppy.
What is tethering
Tethering is when you secure your puppy to a stationary object or have them drag a leash while supervised. Make sure the stationary object is sturdy; you don’t want your puppy dragging a chair across the floor. You also need to make sure they won’t try to chew through their leash. Which some strong and determined puppies, including Rottweilers, German Shepherds, and Pit Bulls, can be quite successful in doing. A thin chain leash or a cable can help prevent them from biting through the leash.
The benefits of tethering
Tethering is beneficial because it helps to manage your puppy throughout the day. By managing their environment, you can teach them what to do rather than just what not to do. This helps prevent common problem behaviors from developing, including chewing, playbiting, house soiling, and jumping. Let’s use a few examples to help show how appropriate behaviors are established before problem behaviors are formed:
- Chewing can be better managed because you are controlling their environment. You want to keep them away from unsuitable, but chewable items. This includes your clothes, the sofa, and the corners of chairs and tables. By keeping your puppy in a controlled area and giving them safe chew toys or Kongs, you can redirect chewing to appropriate items.
- Reasons for playbiting include wanting attention, figuring out how to play appropriately, and teething. By tethering them, you can manage their environment and correct them through training methods, such as walking away and redirecting. You can also provide safe chew toys and bones that help with teething.
- Tethering helps you address their jumping by controlling their access to people. Your puppy can’t be jumping on guests as they walk in the door if they are tethered. Jumping behaviors can be accidentally reinforced even when you push your puppy off and verbally reprimand them. This is because they are still getting attention from the behavior. Instead, tethering your puppy and using training will teach your puppy that jumping isn’t the easiest way to get attention, but polite greetings and calm behaviors do.
- House-soiling behaviors can still occur if your puppy is tethered, but you have a much better chance of preventing accidents if you limit the space they have access to. Your puppy will also be encouraged to whine and let you know when they need to go potty, because they often won’t want to go potty in the area they are in. This is a reason why untethered puppies often find a corner of a room or another room to go potty.
Tethering Helps Prevent Separation Anxiety Behaviors
Puppies who are unaccustomed to being left alone are more at risk of developing separation anxiety behaviors. This can include scratching at doors, incessantly barking and whining, and soiling the crate when left alone. For more information on Separation Anxiety and Crate Training, you can read our blog on “Crate Training Your Puppy”.
Tethering helps prevent these behaviors by teaching them to be comfortable in their own company. It’s less traumatic to use a tether because they can still see you, they just can’t physically reach you. Most puppies will bark and whine when they are first tethered, so you should only acknowledge them when they are quiet, and then you can redirect them to a toy or Kong.
Keeping Your Tethered Puppy Engaged Through Enrichment
You need to be able to see your puppy at all times because you can’t trust not them on their own yet, and are also working on their potty training.
A bored puppy can be destructive or wander off. So how do we keep them engaged? You can provide them with enrichment activities, such as chew toys, stuffed kongs, and puzzles. For help finding some appropriate chew toys, kongs, and puzzles, you can check out our blog on “Top 10 Toys to Keep Your Puppy Busy”.
We are here to help
Do you need help teaching your puppy high-level obedience, manners, or addressing any behavioral concerns? Beyond the Dog Tampa Bay offers personalized one-on-one training sessions, including training at your home and local Tampa Bay neighborhood, board-and-train programs, and virtual training programs. You can schedule afree consultation with our Pet Behavior Team to discuss your training goals and receive a personalized recommendation.
We use scientifically proven training methods, backed by over 20 years of hands-on experience. Beyond the Dog Tampa Bay is led by our co-founders, Dr. Echterling-Savage, a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB) and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), and Sean Savage, a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant (CDBC) and Certified Professional Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA).
