Episode 55: Using a Lead Indoors to Build Calm
I raise this in consults all the time and the eyebrows still go up. A lead does not have to be an outdoor item, and used indoors it is often the difference between a training plan that works and one that doesn’t. In this episode I go through the three situations I reach for it in. The dog who charges the window barking, where it blocks the pattern before it starts and keeps the arousal spike small enough to actually recover from. The household where the dog needs to be present but not underfoot. And the hyper-attached dog who cannot settle. I also get into why a tether can work better than a barrier for some dogs, and the bigger problem with shutting a dog away entirely — they never learn how to be near the thing, they just never see it happen. Plus the honest conversation about supervision. Active, passive, and the trap of believing you are watching the dog when the email in front of you is actually the priority. And the practical detail that catches most people out: never use your walking lead for this.
