How to desensitise a dog to the collar and lead in a positive way
By Louise Thompson
Accredited Animal Behaviour Consultant (ABC of SA ©®™)
In the past, most training methods used, involved force, making the animal conform and submit to what we wanted and expected of it, sometimes using brutal inhumane methods.
The end result was, more often than not, a dog that was terrified of the lead, hated the collar and more often than not, associated both unpleasant experienced with the handler.
The handler who by now, the dog had come to view with distrust and fear because he associates him with the most unpleasant experiences. In short, a dog who will never be a happy worker or enjoy the joy of a simple walk in the park! A dog that often became timed/fearful and cringing when called, and unable to cope with pressure!
Today we realise that this type of rough, thoughtless handling is not acceptable, and is counter productive is we want to produce a well balanced mentally sound pet or working dog. The following was designed to help you through the first steps of leash training in a positive way. The golden rules to apply here are to reward and praise the positive, and ignore the negative.
Equipment Needed
ü A happy relaxed handler with a sense of humour!
ü A leather/webbing collar. The first collar used should not be too thick, bulky or heavy so as not to intimidate the dog. Training collars are used, only when the dog is totally confident and not threatened by the webbing/leather collar in any way.
ü Two lengths of long line available from any hardware shop – it is sold by the metre and has the appearance and feel of thickish string, but is extremely strong. We need one length about a metre and a half and another longer length of about five metres.
Rules for the handler
ü Don’t let the dog think this is a big deal.
ü Be calm and relaxed – never begin anything new after a bad day. This applies to all new experiences for the dog in training. Never train your dog if you are in a bad mood.
ü Everything learned (from the dog’s point of view) should be a happy positive learning experience. So smile! The dog learns to read your facial expressions and body language far quicker and much better than you read this! This is after all how dogs communicate with each other.
ü Don’t run before you can walk. Perfect one step before going on to another.
ü Remember this is supposed to be fun and to improve your relationship with your pet.
How to begin
1. Strap the collar gently onto the dog. This may be done just before feed time so that the dog will associate the wearing of it with a positive experience. Remember not to over-react in any way, be cal and cool, feed the animal in the normal way, and do not stray from any normal/usual routine.
2. Never leave a dog wearing a collar/training collar unsupervised; as they do not release when/if they get caught on something and this could result in tragedy.
3. Without any reaction from you, leave the collar on the dog and walk away. Do not respond to the dog is he scratches at it or tries to rub it off. The same response goes for whining etc. Only respond when he accepts or ignores the collar. Most dogs do not have a problem with the collar as long as there is no pressure on it. If your dog reacts negatively, check that the collar is not too thick or heavy. It is better to start with a lighter one, and then gradually progress to something a little thicker/heavier.
4. After he appears confident with the collar on and shows no signs of fear or stress, you may attach the shorter of the lines to the collar. Again this may be attached to the collar at feed time, for the dog to have a positive association with it. Under supervision only, he can drag the line around the house and garden. Do not tie a loop at the end or the line may get stuck on something. Again no reaction from you at all! If the dog is worried about the drag and sits down without moving, ignore him – the same goes if he is verbal – ignore him. There is nothing that can hurt him, and this is not an unpleasant experience unless you over-react and egg him on.
5. Repeat this daily for at least a week in sessions of an hour or two each day or until he shows confidence and is not worried about the line.
6. After a couple of days you will find that the dog does not even notice the trailing line attached to his collar. This is when we go onto the next step.
7. The next step is to pick up the end and simply follow the dog. Do not put any pressure on the line yet, or the dog will hit breaks and fight you. Just gently with lots of quiet verbal encouragement follow the dog wherever he wants to go. Repeat this for a week or so, or until you can see the dog is happy and confident and not feeling threatened in any way.
It is a very small step once the dog is allowing you to follow him. In a non threatening way, pat your left hand side with the leash in your right hand, and with lots of encouragement get the dog to follow you. If this is an older dog you may have a titbit available for extra encouragement.
The Long Line
This is a really useful tool, both in domestic and obedience training. The idea is never put the dog in a position where he has an opportunity to discovery you, then he will never learn how to! Remember we teach our dogs to disobey us!
We now should be at the stage where the dog is happily walking at our left hand side. Over a period of time, we can gradually and very gently put a little pressure on the collar. If the dog does not react adversely (this is not a tug or a pull) it is simply to get him accustomed to the ‘feel’ of you on the end of the line. We can then progress to a walk around the block or in the park. Be careful not to put the dog in a position where he may be startled or frightened when on his walks. We want him to associate this with having fun and positive experiences.
Now we need to give the dog some ‘free’ exercise off leash. This is where we may be worried that he might bolt or run away and not come back when called. I would never let a young/adolescent puppy free in the park. It would be unsafe and if he got a fright would bolt.
This is where the long line comes in. It has been proven (and I have tried this on myself – tied to my own neck) that a dog cannot feel the difference in drag, from 1 metre to 5 metres and this is what we capitalise on!
You may take the dog in the car to the park or a school field or some safe open space. Attach the long line to his collar and let him go. Remember you have hold of the end of the line, so you are always in a position of control! The dog cannot run away or get into trouble as you always have the upper hand.
Every few minutes call the dog to you. If he does not respond, gently, hand over hand, draw the god into you and with lots of praise (yes he has earned praise even if you have helped him!). Put him in the ‘sit’ position to give him something productive to do for you and praise.
Remember even if you have helped the dog to comply he has still earned praise. Continue this for a couple of weeks until the dog come to you every single time without being helped.
Once the dog reaches the stage where he is coming to you on command, without help, you may cut a small piece off the long line. Remember to praise every time you call him to you.
Over a very long period of time you may reduce the length of the line. Never putting the dog in a position where he may try to evade you or does not comply with your command.
In the end your could quite possibly have a reliable dog with a five centre metres of string still attached to his collar, because he thinks you are always in control!
Remember
For the dog none of this has been frightening or an unpleasant experience. By positive reinforcement he has earned only praise – there is no punishment! He has never been put in a position where he has been able to disobey you, so he has not learned that he has an option!
The leash, collar and long line is a rewarding experience. The dog is stimulated by the walks in the park, under control, not a nuisance to others and is safe.
The handler who by now, the dog had come to view with distrust and fear because he associates him with the most unpleasant experiences. In short, a dog who will never be a happy worker or enjoy the joy of a simple walk in the park! A dog that often became timed/fearful and cringing when called, and unable to cope with pressure!
Today we realise that this type of rough, thoughtless handling is not acceptable, and is counter productive is we want to produce a well balanced mentally sound pet or working dog. The following was designed to help you through the first steps of leash training in a positive way. The golden rules to apply here are to reward and praise the positive, and ignore the negative.
Equipment Needed
ü A happy relaxed handler with a sense of humour!
ü A leather/webbing collar. The first collar used should not be too thick, bulky or heavy so as not to intimidate the dog. Training collars are used, only when the dog is totally confident and not threatened by the webbing/leather collar in any way.
ü Two lengths of long line available from any hardware shop – it is sold by the metre and has the appearance and feel of thickish string, but is extremely strong. We need one length about a metre and a half and another longer length of about five metres.
Rules for the handler
ü Don’t let the dog think this is a big deal.
ü Be calm and relaxed – never begin anything new after a bad day. This applies to all new experiences for the dog in training. Never train your dog if you are in a bad mood.
ü Everything learned (from the dog’s point of view) should be a happy positive learning experience. So smile! The dog learns to read your facial expressions and body language far quicker and much better than you read this! This is after all how dogs communicate with each other.
ü Don’t run before you can walk. Perfect one step before going on to another.
ü Remember this is supposed to be fun and to improve your relationship with your pet.
How to begin
1. Strap the collar gently onto the dog. This may be done just before feed time so that the dog will associate the wearing of it with a positive experience. Remember not to over-react in any way, be cal and cool, feed the animal in the normal way, and do not stray from any normal/usual routine.
2. Never leave a dog wearing a collar/training collar unsupervised; as they do not release when/if they get caught on something and this could result in tragedy.
3. Without any reaction from you, leave the collar on the dog and walk away. Do not respond to the dog is he scratches at it or tries to rub it off. The same response goes for whining etc. Only respond when he accepts or ignores the collar. Most dogs do not have a problem with the collar as long as there is no pressure on it. If your dog reacts negatively, check that the collar is not too thick or heavy. It is better to start with a lighter one, and then gradually progress to something a little thicker/heavier.
4. After he appears confident with the collar on and shows no signs of fear or stress, you may attach the shorter of the lines to the collar. Again this may be attached to the collar at feed time, for the dog to have a positive association with it. Under supervision only, he can drag the line around the house and garden. Do not tie a loop at the end or the line may get stuck on something. Again no reaction from you at all! If the dog is worried about the drag and sits down without moving, ignore him – the same goes if he is verbal – ignore him. There is nothing that can hurt him, and this is not an unpleasant experience unless you over-react and egg him on.
5. Repeat this daily for at least a week in sessions of an hour or two each day or until he shows confidence and is not worried about the line.
6. After a couple of days you will find that the dog does not even notice the trailing line attached to his collar. This is when we go onto the next step.
7. The next step is to pick up the end and simply follow the dog. Do not put any pressure on the line yet, or the dog will hit breaks and fight you. Just gently with lots of quiet verbal encouragement follow the dog wherever he wants to go. Repeat this for a week or so, or until you can see the dog is happy and confident and not feeling threatened in any way.
It is a very small step once the dog is allowing you to follow him. In a non threatening way, pat your left hand side with the leash in your right hand, and with lots of encouragement get the dog to follow you. If this is an older dog you may have a titbit available for extra encouragement.
The Long Line
This is a really useful tool, both in domestic and obedience training. The idea is never put the dog in a position where he has an opportunity to discovery you, then he will never learn how to! Remember we teach our dogs to disobey us!
We now should be at the stage where the dog is happily walking at our left hand side. Over a period of time, we can gradually and very gently put a little pressure on the collar. If the dog does not react adversely (this is not a tug or a pull) it is simply to get him accustomed to the ‘feel’ of you on the end of the line. We can then progress to a walk around the block or in the park. Be careful not to put the dog in a position where he may be startled or frightened when on his walks. We want him to associate this with having fun and positive experiences.
Now we need to give the dog some ‘free’ exercise off leash. This is where we may be worried that he might bolt or run away and not come back when called. I would never let a young/adolescent puppy free in the park. It would be unsafe and if he got a fright would bolt.
This is where the long line comes in. It has been proven (and I have tried this on myself – tied to my own neck) that a dog cannot feel the difference in drag, from 1 metre to 5 metres and this is what we capitalise on!
You may take the dog in the car to the park or a school field or some safe open space. Attach the long line to his collar and let him go. Remember you have hold of the end of the line, so you are always in a position of control! The dog cannot run away or get into trouble as you always have the upper hand.
Every few minutes call the dog to you. If he does not respond, gently, hand over hand, draw the god into you and with lots of praise (yes he has earned praise even if you have helped him!). Put him in the ‘sit’ position to give him something productive to do for you and praise.
Remember even if you have helped the dog to comply he has still earned praise. Continue this for a couple of weeks until the dog come to you every single time without being helped.
Once the dog reaches the stage where he is coming to you on command, without help, you may cut a small piece off the long line. Remember to praise every time you call him to you.
Over a very long period of time you may reduce the length of the line. Never putting the dog in a position where he may try to evade you or does not comply with your command.
In the end your could quite possibly have a reliable dog with a five centre metres of string still attached to his collar, because he thinks you are always in control!
Remember
For the dog none of this has been frightening or an unpleasant experience. By positive reinforcement he has earned only praise – there is no punishment! He has never been put in a position where he has been able to disobey you, so he has not learned that he has an option!
The leash, collar and long line is a rewarding experience. The dog is stimulated by the walks in the park, under control, not a nuisance to others and is safe.
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