Paying a dog with liver for walking at your side

Liver treats for leash training pay your dog for walking at your side on a slack leash, handed over at your leg so the dog learns where the good spot is. Break the liver small, pay often at first and then spread the payments out, and save bigger pieces for the hardest stretches of a walk.

Where should you hand over liver on a leash walk?

At your leg, on the side your dog walks. Pick one side and keep it. The spot where the pay arrives becomes the spot the dog keeps returning to, so a bit delivered out in front, behind you or up in the air teaches the dog to be there instead.

Keep your hand low and close to your body. Pass the liver to the dog's mouth right at your knee, with the leash hanging loose. You are marking a place on the map, and the place is beside you.

Pay while the dog is in position, not after it has drifted off and come back. If your dog has just stepped out of line, wait for the return and pay then. The reward lands on the moment you want repeated.

Some people hold a bit in the hand closest to the dog and keep that hand near the hip, which makes it easy to deliver without leaning. Others prefer a pouch at the belt. Our treat pouch guide covers carrying the walk's liver, so you can pick whatever lets you reach in without losing the rhythm.

How often should a dog get liver at first on a walk?

Often. At the start, your dog has to find out that this spot pays, and the only way to find out is to get paid there again and again. Do not hold back during the early stretches. A steady run of small bits is how a dog learns what you are asking for.

Then pay less. As the dog gets the idea, stretch the gaps. Pay for a few steps, then a few more, then a longer stretch, then mix it up so the dog cannot guess when the next bit is coming. We give no numbers for any of this, because every dog moves through it at its own speed.

If the walk starts falling apart, go back to paying often. Treat it as a step back, not a setback. Dial the payments up and down, depending on how the dog is doing.

What do you do when the leash goes tight?

Stop. Stand still and wait. A tight leash means the dog has moved ahead of the place that pays, and standing still means pulling gets it nowhere. When the dog turns back to you, or steps toward you so the leash loosens, pay at your leg and walk on.

You are not correcting anything. You are showing that a tight leash gets nothing and a loose one gets liver. Do the same thing every time so the pattern is easy to read.

Do not tug back and do not jerk the leash. If a stop goes on and on, make the next pay easier to earn by stepping toward the dog or turning away so it follows. The method is the same whatever the dog is wearing.

How much liver fits into a leash training walk?

All of it counts against the day, because the treat budget does not grow outdoors. A walk full of payments can get through more liver than you planned, and the line VCA Animal Hospitals draws is that treats stay at or below 10 percent of a dog's calories for the day.

Work out the amount at home, before you leave. Because our freeze-dried beef liver breaks apart by hand from medium sized pieces, you can make the walk's bits ahead of time and carry only what you plan to use. Leave the bag sealed at home. The label says "WASH HANDS AFTER HANDLING," so a stop at the sink when you get back is part of the routine.

When should bigger pieces of liver come out on a walk?

Save them for the hardest moments. Size is a dial you can turn. A tiny bit is plenty for walking nicely past something boring. A bigger piece is for the stretch where your dog has the most reason to look away from you.

The high-value training treats guide lays out why: when the competition gets stronger, so does the pay. If you spend your biggest pieces early, nothing is left for the moment you actually need them.

As the hard parts get easier, the bigger pieces can go back in the pouch. Keep the dial moving with the dog.