Walking in Balance with Tellington TTouch

Katharine Brunsch Author

Apr 28, 2025 |

Creating balance on your walks; physically, mentally and emotionally - The Foundation to stop your dog from pulling on the lead.

Table of Contents:

Does the familiar tug of the lead often turn your walks into a frustrating power struggle, leaving you wishing for a more relaxed experience? Does your dog sometimes abruptly halt, planting their feet and refusing to move forward, making even a short walk a challenge?

I did not think loose lead walking was that much of a problem until I got my dog Remi; all the normal training I had done with previous dogs just did not work. As I spent more time looking into loose lead walking, I realised that it is a complex set of interactions between the dog, the handler, and the environment! Looking at loose lead walking from a trauma-informed perspective, it is important for your dog not only to be in balance physically, but also emotionally and mentally.

1. Why do dogs pull on the lead?

There are many reasons your dog may pull on the lead, here are just a few:

It works: This is the most common reason. Most dogs pull because their natural walking pace is faster than ours, and walking at a human's pace is very unnatural for them. They have learnt that pulling gets them to where they want to go.

Over arousal: Your dog might be overexcited or has some excess energy. Genetics can play a role in your dog's energy level, and it's important to meet their needs with various forms of enrichment.

When your dog is over-aroused, it's impossible to teach them anything, let alone expect them to walk nicely at your pace. This is an example of how important it is for your dog to be in balance mentally, so that they are able to learn.

Reactivity means your dog has a strong emotional response to certain things in the environment, which causes overreactive behaviour. For example, your dog may see another dog across the street and desperately pulls towards them. Or a skateboarder rides by, and they may pull in an attempt to chase. They may also pull, bark, and lunge to drive things away that they are worried about. If you notice your dog has an overreactive response to certain things, you'll want to help them change their feelings about those things. We can support them to be more emotionally balanced about things that cause them anxiety or overarousal.

Fear: Your dog might be fearful or anxious about being outside or in a new environment. They could be pulling because they don't feel safe and want to move somewhere away from everything that worries them. Or on the flip side, they might freeze, refusing to move because of being so overwhelmed by the situation. This can be equally as difficult to deal with as a dog that pulls on the lead.

2. How do we stop our dogs from pulling?

Teaching your dog not to pull on the lead isn’t just about getting them to walk nicely by your side, but supporting them in finding their own balance.

Using Tellington TTouch® Techniques, we can help them find their balance physically so they are not leaning into the harness and lead, emotionally so they feel safe in their environment, and mentally so they are able to learn. 

3. Review Your Dog's Equipment:

Think of a dog harness like safety equipment (similar to a rock climbing harness), something they can't pull out of, but something that needs to be comfortable to wear. Having a harness will not always stop your dog from pulling, but if they do suddenly pull, the pressure is spread over the body, rather than just around the neck, if they only wore a collar.

What to look for in a harness:

Every dog is unique in size and shape, a good harness will not affect your dog’s gait (how it walks), it should not affect shoulder movement and should be as comfortable as possible. The harness should be adjustable in all directions to be able to get the best fit possible.

When looking for a harness, firstly look for a ‘Y’ fronted design. This means that the straps will not restrict the movement in the dog’s shoulders, and this is where the front attachment for the lead should be.

The H-shaped back of the harness means that there is a length of material along the dog’s back, which allows greater space for movement of the shoulders. On the dog’s back should be the second attachment for the other end of your double-ended lead.

When your dog feels comfortable in their harness, they will feel safer and therefore be in more of a learning state of mind.

For more information, visit our Harness Guide page HERE. 

Using a Double-Ended Lead with your Harness:

Tellington TTouch® has developed the Harmony Lead with clips on each end and the TTouch Freedom Handle, which can slide along the lead with the dog’s movement. This handle also makes it easier if you walk more than one dog.

Tellington TTouch® have also developed the TTouch Connector, which you can attach to a normal lead. Having two points of contact (one on the front of the harness, the other on the back) improves your communication with your dog, as well as encouraging a more balanced posture for both the dog and handler. The sliding Freedom Handle divides the pressure between the front and rear of the harness and makes it easier to change direction as you’re walking. The principles are the same when using the TTouch Connector, but you can also use a long line with the TTouch Connector.

4. Changing Associations.

Imagine how difficult it must be for your dog to focus on walking nicely if they're feeling genuinely scared or anxious around other dogs, strangers, or unfamiliar places. Their primary instinct will be to find safety, making learning new things a real challenge. When fear takes over, dogs enter what we call survival mode – you might see this as fight, flight, freeze, or even seemingly silly "fool around" behaviours. These aren't conscious choices; they're automatic responses rooted in a deep need to feel safe, driven by the more primitive parts of their brain, not the thinking part.

Think about the dog who frantically pulls to get back to the safety of home or the car (that's flight). Or the one who suddenly plants their feet and refuses to budge, as if frozen to the spot (freeze). Then there's the dog who barks and lunges, trying to make the scary thing go away (fight). And sometimes, a dog's anxiety might even manifest as sudden, out-of-context behaviours like rolling around or biting at their lead (fool around).

Understanding this survival response is key. Before we can even begin to teach loose-lead walking, we need to help our dogs feel safe enough to move out of this state of high alert. By using Tellington TTouch® techniques, we can gently activate their parasympathetic nervous system –the 'rest and digest' system. This allows their brains to calm down, process their surroundings, and finally become open to learning.

5. Body Language Observations.

Learning your dog’s body language will help you see what your dog is telling you well before they have to shout by lunging, barking or trying to pull you home!

Dogs communicate their discomfort in many subtle ways. Consider what your dog does before they overreact, start pulling on the lead, or before they get stuck.

Body language is like a sentence; specific body parts are words, but the whole body tells the story. Seeing how your dog communicates with their body can be a game-changer when it comes to pulling on the lead or getting stuck and unable to move.

Looking at your own body language is also important. Are you feeling tense or relaxed? Is the pulling or refusing to move making you frustrated? Are you in the best position to support them moving forward?

Sometimes, just taking a deep breath and then exhaling through pursed lips can relax the lead and remove the tension in both you and your dog. Exhaling activates the parasympathetic nervous system, encouraging relaxation for both of you.

How your dog moves can tell you a lot.

Slowing down helps your dog to process what's up ahead, and stopping can give them the time they need to think. However, stopping may not be enough to help your dog relax. If they have stopped and are looking for longer than a few seconds, prompt them to interrupt and move on. If they are still fixated and staring intensely, this is a clear warning that your dog's stress level is rising, and you need to help them move right away. If your dog is struggling to move in this scenario, using TTouch Bodywork or stroking the lead can help bring them out of this fixed state. 

Instead of moving directly towards a trigger, your dog may move towards something they can sniff. This helps them relax and is good to encourage.

When your dog is over-reacting, they may also try to move towards the trigger. This often seems confusing - why would your dog want to get closer to something that scares them? But often this is your dog’s attempt to make the scary thing move away and create more space for themselves.

If your dog starts to increase their speed towards something you know they are worried about, slow them down to a stop and help them move in any direction other than forward. This is where your double-ended lead becomes really useful, as you can use the front connection to help steer them in a different direction.

When you see your dog slowing down on their own, moving in arcs, stopping, backing up, or changing direction, you can be confident that they are choosing safety over danger. They are making great choices, so support them by moving with them every time.

Your dog might make curvy movements or move in a large arc when getting close to something they are unsure of. This helps to create more time and space for them to process things.

6. Supporting your dog with TTouch Bodywork.

TTouch Bodywork can help to calm an overexcited dog and reassure an anxious dog, to name just a few of the benefits.

The Zebra TTouch is just one of the many bodywork TTouches that we use in relation to creating balance in our dogs. The Zebra TTouch is a full-body touch that connects the whole body, from front to rear. When done slowly, it calms, and when done more briskly, it can stimulate or get the attention of a nervous or hyperactive dog. You can do this when your dog is standing, sitting or lying down, so it is a useful one to use both at home and on walks.

How To: 

• It is best to start at the dog's shoulder, begin with your fingers slightly curved and touching each other, with your thumb relaxed by your index finger.
• Slowly slide your hand down towards your dog's elbow.
• Your fingers spread open as your hand moves away from the dog’s spine.
• Slide back up, bringing your fingers back together in a raking motion.
• Continue like this, sliding your hand up and down along the side of the dog’s body in a zigzag action. You are continuing to move diagonally down the dog's body, from the head towards the tail.

The Zebra TTouch helps to bring full body awareness and is also great if your dog is startled and in flight mode. It helps to ground your dog due to the nature of the slides along the body.

7. How does TTouch Groundwork help with walking on the lead?

Mindful groundwork is a key component of the Tellington TTouch® Method, which comprises of the TTouch Playground for Higher Learning, Free Work, and TTouch Leading Techniques, all of which are simple to create in your own garden or open space.

The Playground for Higher Learning (also known as the Confidence Course) can be described as an 'awareness course' for both dogs and humans. Although it might look like an agility or obstacle course, we actually move at a slow, mindful, and steady pace.

Whenever we take a dog through the groundwork exercises, the most important aspect is how they are able to navigate the elements, not just that they are willing to do it.

The Labyrinth is probably the most iconic element in the TTouch Playground and is useful for many reasons. The boundaries created by the poles teach the dog to concentrate on their guardian and listen to the communication given by the lead, by voice and through the guardian's body language.

Benefits of TTouch Groundwork:

• Teaches obedience, focus and patience for dog and guardian.
• Improves coordination, flexibility and balance.
• Helps introduce parameters.
• Guardians become clearer with their signals as they navigate, improving communication and cooperation.
• Perfect for practising loose lead walking.

8. Change the Posture, Change the Behaviour; with Meet and Melt.

Helping a dog come more into balance on a lead reduces not only pulling but also reactivity and other 'issues'.

One method to stop your dog from pulling on the lead is the TTouch Meet & Melt Technique. We can use this technique when the lead goes tight, when your dog sees a trigger, something exciting or when they have stopped abruptly. We are getting out of the habit of following them as they pull us down the road, but also getting out of the habit of pulling back against our dog, as this just becomes a pulling contest between you and your dog.

Learning to "Meet and Melt" to pressure rather than instantly resisting it is definitely something that takes practice. It requires that you override your basic instinct and do something that can seem very counterintuitive. We are also looking for our dog to be in balance as they walk, with their weight evenly distributed over all four legs.

9. TTouch Body Wraps and Movement.

The TTouch Body Wrap enhances your dog's sense of their own body and makes them more confident in movement and behaviour. Body Wraps have become an integral part of the Tellington TTouch method, complementing the bodywork and groundwork exercises in a way that integrates the external information into the dog's body at a cellular level. Body Wraps are gentle, non-invasive, and non-restrictive in nature, passively increasing the dog's body awareness while in motion or standing still.

When using TTouch Body Wraps, the changes in postural habits, tension patterns, and functionality can result in unbelievable improvements in the dog's self-confidence, self-control, balance and overall coordination. The most amazing thing about Body Wraps is their long-lasting effects because even when the wraps are taken off, the change is maintained.

Change your Mind; Change your Dog.

The TTouch saying "change your mind, change your dog" encapsulates the Tellington TTouch method's core philosophy, emphasising the handler's mindset, perception, and attitude towards your dog's behaviour and well-being. By becoming more mindful, less judgmental, and shifting our perspective towards understanding the dog's communication and underlying reasons for their behaviour, we can create a more positive and cooperative dynamic, ultimately leading to positive changes in the animal.

Your dog isn't being naughty, disobedient or stubborn when they pull on the lead or refuse to move. They are struggling to understand because of being overwhelmed at that moment in time. Whether due to the excitement of the walk, the environment, or perhaps they might be nervous or anxious in certain situations. Using Tellington TTouch techniques, we can support them out of the overwhelm and into a thinking state where they are more able to process and learn. Using Tellington TTouch to support dogs out of overwhelm not only helps us achieve loose-lead walking and balanced movement but also fosters a greater sense of calm and confidence in them.

Click HERE to discover all our Tellington TTouch Courses for dog owners.

For more information about Tellington TTouch®, read our Blog 'Harmony and Healing: The Power of TTouch for Dogs', HERE.

Categories: : Tellington TTouch