Even for a dog who enjoys being outside and participating in a walk once outside, that same dog may make getting ready a challenge. It could be the sight of the collar and hands coming toward it could be cause for a stressful dog. Or it could be that the sight of the collar and hands coming toward it gets your dog to jump, bark and nip because history has taught your dog to expect awesome experiences happen after the leash gets attached. I thought I’d share some tips from the field on attaching your dog’s collar and leash.
In either case, your dog has certain associations with the collar and leash that may affect your walk and may be indicative of other responses to the environment. Below are a few videos showing how I worked through both cases in different ways.
However, note that in both, I focused on several things:
- Giving the dog choice.
- Focusing on teaching the dog what I WANT the dog to do, not what I DO NOT want the dog to do.
- Watching the dog’s body language. Is the dog engaging with me? Is the dog relaxed? Or is the dog showing avoidance behaviors and stress signals? If it is the later, then I would have made changes to what I was doing to help the dog to feel safe.
Kelce
Kelce used to jump at and bite the hands that were attaching her leash. During this lesson, she learned to sit and hold her head neutral instead. Notice how I am only moving my hand in small enough steps that she can succeed. If she keeps her head held neutral, she gets a treat. If she moves her head to look around or try to mouth my hand, that is a red light and a signal for me to back up. It also means that the next time I move my hand toward her, that I should take smaller steps. Another note: when doing this, your dog or puppy will more than likely be more comfortable with you moving your hand to the side and underside of his/her face instead of over his/her head.
An easy lesson for her that sure makes this event more pleasant for her family!
Frankie
Frankie was showing a lot of stress when his walking collar came out. He yawned, looked away, blinked his eyes, and furrowed eyebrows. So, I used a targeting game. When he moved toward the collar, I sent him away for a treat. Sending him away is a double reinforcer- giving him distance and a yummy treat. He always had choice. He could choose to stay away or come closer. You can see what he chose, and how his body language changed.
Beautiful job Frankie!
