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Leash Training

Most Sheepadoodle puppies are not used to walking on a leash.  Make sure your puppy is wearing her new flat buckle or martingale collar all of the time with her name tag on it.  Many breeders have some sort of collar on the puppies so this should feel comfortable to your puppy.  Place a regular non-retractable lead on your puppy in the house or in the back yard.  Let her just drag it around and feel the weight of it.  Do this several times a day over the first few days of having her home.  But make sure to keep an eye on your puppy while she drags it around so she doesn't get caught on anything.  After a day or two, depending on how comfortable she seems, you can play a little game with her.  Put her leash on her and while sitting in front of her and holding her leash call her to you.  Praise her when she comes.  If she is distracted then give her leash a gentle tug and call her.  Don't force her to you as this will give her a negative association with her leash.  Try again at different times and if you have kids or friends that want to try with you, this can be a fun little game to join forming a circle around your puppy.  Just remember to keep it positive and remember that this is a new concept for her.

You can also pick up your puppy's leash while following her around the house or yard.  This will slowly get her used to the idea that you will be holding her leash and walking her.  Again, don't tug or force her to you.  She needs to warm up to this idea gently and maintain a positive association with her leash.  

Flexi/retractable Lead

A flexi/retractable lead can be a great help as well.  This can allow you to gently put the "brakes" on your puppy if she is running too far or too fast.  Just do this by putting the brakes on a few times so that she doesn't get one big yank, instead a few smaller ones.  It is great to have both types of leashes for your puppy and find out which one works best in which situation for you and your puppy.

Walking your puppy

Once your puppy is used to having her leash on around the house and yard you can start taking her for short walks outside.  Try to practice with her in a quiet place, inside or your yard might work well at first.  Set yourselves up for success by trying to eliminate distractions and have lots of treats in a pouch or in your pocket.  Lure your puppy around with treats.  This will keep her close to you and she should be looking at you.  Every time she gets distracted call her again and when she looks and comes close treat her.  If she starts to pull on the leash stand still like a tree.  She will soon get the message that she can't pull so hard.  You want to avoid her pulling hard on her leash from the beginning.  Just remember to treat her when she is displaying good behaviors.  
If she is really pulling hard then you are going to have to stand your ground and exercise a lot of patience.  This can take some dogs a long time to learn.  As soon as she pulls, stand still like a tree or even say no and head in the opposite direction.  She'll eventually get the message that pulling will not get her where she wants to go.  Remember to reward her every time she walks with a slack leash or looks at you.

Gentle Leader

Try as you might, some pups cannot walk calmly on a leash.  If you find yourself owning one of these pups, buy a Gentle Leader.  They are life changing and make walking your pup a peaceful, easy exercise.  It is very important and will prevent or correct many behavior problems if your dog walks at a "heel" by your side.  Please read our article about hyper Sheepadoodles as we discuss the Gentle Leader and how important it is for a dog to walk by your side and not drag you around.  The Gentle Leader is able to give you control over your pup without having to possess super human strength to restrain an excited pup and does not hurt them in anyway.  We highly recommend it!