Stay in front and keep your dog with you (4,3,4)

I believe the answer is:

hold the lead

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'stay in front' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.

'keep your dog with you' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'keep' could be 'hold' (both can mean to have or possess something) and 'hold' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

'and' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

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