Introducing a collar for the first time
- Di Kendall
- Mar 14, 2018
- 5 min read
This blog I wrote to add to the sequence of pieces about introducing a new pet and for pet safety while moving house. I hope you are finding the information useful.
Items needed:
Treats
Collar
Harness
Toys
Place the collar / harness in the middle of the floor and allow your dog to go to sniff it.
If your dog is reluctant to go sniff it, make a small trail of treats that lead to the collar / harness with a bonus treat (something your dog loves) in the middle of the collar.
Take the unbuckled collar / harness and make it touch his neck for a little while and give him a treat at the same time. Touch the neck and treat; touch the neck and treat. Do this several times until he looks forward to being touched with the collar / harness.
Now buckle the collar / harness the largest it can be made but don't put it on him yet! Get a handful of treats in one hand and feed it through the loop. His muzzle should slightly get through the loop. Reward and give treats. Repeat several times trying to get more and more of his head through the loop.
Now unbuckle the collar / harness and place it on his neck and continue the touch neck and treat; touch neck and treat. Finally, try to briefly make the two ends of the collar touch while he is busy eating treats. Remove once he is done. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Try again to pretend you are buckling it on and give treats. This time though buckle it for real but very loose. Give treats and repeat.
Now buckle it snug enough that two fingers are in between. Make a big deal of it, tell him how good he looks in it and give lots of treats.
If at any time during this exercise your dog appears uncomfortable, go back a step and find his comfort zone again and restart from there. Make it clear that great things happen when the collar is on but life gets boring when it is out of sight!
How to train your dog to wear a leash for the first time.
Once your dog has accustomed to the feel of the collar / harness on for gradually longer and longer periods of time, you can then start introducing the leash. As soon as you clip the leash on, give a treat, then un-clip it when your dog is done eating. The clipping sound becomes a cue that a treat is coming!
Snap the leash on and now call your dog to you with him dragging it and give a treat. Unclip the leash.
Snap the leash on and hold it, walk a few steps ahead and call your dog to you, give treats.
If you expect your dog to control herself while walking on leash, you must also expect her to control herself before you go for a walk. If she gets wildly excited as you prepare for a walk, you need to focus on that first. Walk to the door and pick up the leash. If your dog races around, barks, whines, spins or jumps up, just stand completely still. Do and say absolutely nothing until your dog calms down a bit. As soon as she has all four paws on the floor, slowly reach toward her to clip on the leash. If she starts to bounce around or jump up on you, quickly bring your hands (and the leash) back toward your body. Wait until your dog has all four paws on the floor again. Then slowly reach toward her again to attach her leash. Repeat this sequence until your dog can stand in front of you, without jumping up or running around, while you clip on her leash. This may seem like a tedious exercise at first, but if you’re consistent, your hard work will pay off. Eventually, your dog will learn to stand still while you attach her leash. 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. The next step is to pick up the end and simply follow the dog. Do not put any pressure on the line yet, or your dog will hit breaks and fight you. Just gently with lots of quiet verbal encouragement follow your dog wherever he wants to go. Repeat this for a week or so, or until you can see your dog is happy and confident and not feeling threatened in any way. It is a very small step once your 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 your dog to follow you. If this is an older dog you may have a titbit available for extra encouragement.
Road Safety: Always stop and sit on the edge of a road before crossing. Even if you can see there’s no traffic, this deliberate pause is crucial. By sitting, you make them stop, think and understand this narrow strip of tar is sacred and to be respected. So if they ever escape, they're more likely to think twice before running across it. That moment could save their life.
Changing Up Your Dog Walks: Once your dog has developed good leash manners, I recommend you vary the purpose of your walks with him. For example: • Potty walks are purposeful walks, and are usually quick. • Mentally stimulating walks allow your dog to stop, explore, sniff and send pee-mail and so on. Most dogs on a leash don’t get to spend as much time sniffing and investigating as they would like. Allowing your canine companion some time to do doggy stuff is good for him mentally. Dogs gain knowledge of the world through their noses. • Power walks during which you and your dog move at a faster pace. (about a 15-minute walk), will help him get the aerobic exercise he needs for good cardiovascular health. During these brisk walks there’s no stopping to smell the roses. • Training walks can be about improving leash manners, learning basic or advanced obedience commands, ongoing socialization — just about anything you can think of that can be done on a leashed walk.
Sometimes past occurrences cause fear of a collar and leash. In this instance you could contact me for a communication to find out why. Requesting the help of a positive trainer is great too. I work with behaviourists when past issues are at play, so that we can find the best solution for your pooch.
Contact me via 8ight page Or 8ightinfinity@gmail.com To book your appointment. This way we avoid the "other" inboxes. Hope you have a beautiful day. 💙 Love, light, purrs and wags Di xoxo Inbox me on 8ight page to book for communications: new pet introductions, behaviour, health, missing pet trackings
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