Initially pets don’t like to be held by anything;
exception can be when they are being fed they will allow to be
held against. If they are held by force, they will retaliate by
biting, spinning, clawing or jumping. One of the reasons can be
that because they weren’t used to such kind of affection, this
alien action will actually scare them. Another reason can be
because of the lack of trust; they won’t let a stranger hold
them.
During this period of time it would also be difficult to put
leash on the pet. They will be very restless and will try to get
away. Adding to this, they will be quite young and playful. They
will look at the harness as a hanging toy and will play with it.
And even if the owner is successful in leashing his pet, there
will be more challenges waiting ahead. When the animal feels the
tug of the leash, it will jump, try to bite the leash or claw
it, roll over its back, etc. In the beginning, the animal can
feel short of breath, at such times, the animal should be given
a break from walking. He should be also shown affection by
patting its back or stroking its fur. It helps the pet to accept
things more easily and early.
With the progress of time, the number of breaks will decrease so
will the struggle with the leash. But actually holding the
animal in the arms will take a longer time than him getting
trained to the leash. For this the pet should be lapped and held
regularly. During the whole process, the owner can get bruises
on his arms a lot. A prevention that can be taken is that the
pet can be wrapped in a blanket and then held in the arms. The
owner should let go till the animal completely until it calms
down. After that it should be patted on its
Frequent fondling and lapping of the animal should be done when
it is young and small in size as the task will become almost
impossible once it starts getting bigger. But once this initial
bond is formed the next step would be to actually hold the
animal when it is wearing the leash. Again there will be
struggle, as the situation will be completely different. The pet
should not be held tight by the hands, instead the leash should
be held very near to the harness. After the animal gets tired
and calms down, he should be released. By this the animal will
learn that the only way of getting released is by holding still.
After sometime, the pet won’t struggle at all, when being held
in arms wearing the leash. The time period of holding the pet
can then be increased slowly.
Leash training is very essential part of overall pet discipline.
Also, since the animals have the natural instinct of roaming
freely in the wild, they need to be taken out on regular walks,
in order to maintain their physical balance. And when pets meet
other strangers on the street, it should be trained not to get
anxious. Also leash training helps in ensuring that the pet is
not lost or stolen when you take it for a walk or to market.