Leash training is one of the first things to teach a new puppy, and with a Westie it's also one of the most important - this breed's entire nature is to go where their nose points, at their speed, preferably dragging you along. This is the exact step-by-step method I used to teach Sami, from the first collar to walking calmly through airports and cities. It took months, there were bad days, and it was worth every minute.

What You Need

A collar AND a harness. Our trainer explained that puppies respond better to gentle leash cues on a collar - their mother corrected them by the neck, so the sensation means something. And it's true, Sami pulled less on the collar. But collars carry a real risk: our vet warned that hard, constant pulling against one can cause tracheal collapse, and she sees it regularly. My system: collar for short training sessions where I'm in full control, harness for regular walks and any day the puppy is in zoomies mode. If in doubt, just use the harness - the training works either way.

A short, thin, normal leash. Not retractable. A retractable leash keeps constant tension and gives you no control - the exact opposite of what you're teaching. For a Westie-sized puppy, a thin light leash is easier to handle than a heavy one.

Plenty of treats, or their actual meal. Training before mealtime, using their food as rewards, works beautifully - a puppy with a full belly has no reason to cooperate. A treat pouch saves a lot of fumbling.

Patience. Genuinely months of it. More on that at the end.

Step 1: Get Them Used to Wearing It

Before any training, let your puppy wear the collar or harness at home with the leash attached, just dragging it around. It's a strange feeling for them at first. Distract with toys so they don't decide the leash is a chew toy, and let the weirdness wear off on its own.

Step 2: First Steps, Indoors

Start inside, where the environment is familiar and boring. Attach the leash, hold a treat, bend down to their level, and lure them to walk a few steps with you. Don't talk - silence keeps their focus on the treat. After a few steps, stop, reward, and praise in your happiest voice.

Repeat, adding a few steps each time. If the puppy drifts off, you probably waited too long between rewards - puppies have an attention span measured in seconds, so pay out fast and often. The lesson you're installing: walking near you is the best deal available.

Keep sessions to one or two minutes. End while they're winning, then play as a bonus reward. Overtraining a puppy buys you nothing but frustration on both ends of the leash.

Step 3: Teach the Check-In

Once your puppy walks beside you for a treat, stand up straight and wait for something better: the moment they look up at you on their own. Reward that instantly, every time.

This is the single most important part for a Westie. Independent breeds default to leading - if you let them set the agenda, every walk becomes a tug-of-war for the rest of their lives. A puppy who learns that checking in with you pays off becomes a dog who follows your lead by choice. That habit, more than any command, is what eventually let me take Sami everywhere.

Step 4: Move Outside, Quietly

Only when indoor walking is solid, go outside - somewhere calm, with few cars, people, or dogs. Expect regression: a new environment resets the difficulty, so go straight back to step 2 basics, knees bent, treat lure, fast rewards, and build back up.

This principle never fully goes away. Sami is an adult now and walks perfectly in our quiet town, but when we travel to a big crowded city, I still spend a little time retraining for that environment - new noises, new chaos, brief refresher. It's normal, not failure.

Step 5: Hold the Leash Properly

Nobody taught me this at first, and it matters more than it looks.

Don't put the loop around your wrist - you have no control that way. Hold the leash in one hand and use the other hand, further down, to manage tension and dispense treats. Pick one side and stick with it forever (Sami walks on my left, because cars drive on the right where we live).

The goal is a permanently loose leash. Tension is information going the wrong way. When your puppy starts pulling toward something, give two gentle tugs - like a tap on the shoulder, "hey, I'm still here, I have treats" - and reward when they refocus. Never yank, never drag. The leash is for conversation, not for force.

Step 6: Turns, and Fading the Treats

Once loose-leash walking works in a straight line, make it a game: left turns, right turns, u-turns, big rewards for following with a slack leash. It builds real attention to your movement.

Then gradually stretch the time between treats, and eventually replace most of them with praise and pets. The end state is a dog who walks at your pace, by your side, because that's just how walks work - no bribery required.

Troubleshooting the Usual Westie Problems

The puppy chews the leash. Normal, boring, fixable: redirect to a toy every single time, and go back to letting them drag the leash around the house during play until it becomes furniture.

The puppy sits down and refuses to move. Don't drag - you'll lose that war and teach the wrong lesson. Walk a step or two away, crouch, get interesting. If it keeps happening, the session is too long or the treats too boring. End it on one easy success and try again later.

The puppy loses their mind at cats, birds, or other dogs. Welcome to terriers. Distance is your tool: you need to be far enough from the trigger that your puppy can still hear you. If they're already lunging, you're too close - add space and reward attention at the distance where their brain still works. Teenage Sami once pulled toward Greek street cats until his paws bled, so I say this with full sympathy: it does get better, and the check-in habit from step 3 is what eventually beats the prey drive on ordinary walks.

The Honest Timeline

It took months to get Sami walking properly, and there were plenty of days when I did everything right and he still wouldn't look up at me or care about any treat in my pocket. Terrier puppies have opinions, and some days their opinion is no. (If your previously-fine puppy suddenly stops cooperating around six months, that's the teenage phase - it's a chapter, not the ending.)

Stay consistent, squeeze a couple of minutes of practice into every walk, and one day it all clicks. The payoff is enormous: leash training is the foundation that lets Sami come with us on long trips, into restaurants, through airports, onto boats. One caveat to keep forever, though: a well-trained leash walker is still not a trustworthy off-leash dog - with a Westie's prey drive, that's a different question entirely.

For everything beyond the leash - recall, house rules, working with the stubborn streak - see our Westie training guide, and for why this breed trains the way it does, the temperament guide explains a lot. The full puppy-to-adult playbook is in the Complete Westie Care Guide.