馃攳
Before You Use A Dog Training Head Collar, Watch This Video - Professional Dog Training Tips - YouTube
Channel: McCann Dog Training
[0]
- People can see a lot of success
[1]
when they use a dog training
head collar with their dog,
[3]
they get less pulling, they
have generally more control.
[6]
But a head collar is a
piece of training equipment,
[8]
you could see early success with it,
[9]
but you don't wanna
become dependent on it.
[11]
So today, instructor
Steve's gonna talk to you
[13]
about the process of weening
off the Gentle Leader.
[15]
So before you choose a
dog training head collar,
[17]
make sure you watch this video.
[18]
I'm Ken Steepe.
- I'm Steve Walsh.
[20]
- Welcome back to McCann Dogs.
[22]
(gentle music)
(doggy barking)
[25]
- So training aids like Gentle Leaders,
[27]
or other head collars
are very powerful tools.
[29]
And the question comes up a lot,
[31]
when do we start to ween off that tool?
[33]
Because we don't wanna
become reliant on it.
[35]
We don't want to use that as the tool
[38]
that has our dog behaving, or listening
[41]
to our voice or, whatever
it is we expect from them.
[44]
And it's come up several
times actually, lately,
[46]
people who have busy, outgoing dogs
[48]
that have found great
success using Gentle Leaders,
[50]
which is sort of our
preferred tool around here.
[53]
And then they get in a
hurry to ween off of it,
[56]
Now, I understand that weening
off is a important process,
[58]
it's something that needs to happen.
[59]
But what do I see from my dog?
[62]
What indicators am I getting from my dog,
[64]
that tells me, it's time
to ween off of that,
[67]
and start moving off of it?
[68]
And I say ween very specifically,
[69]
because it's important to transitions away
[72]
from those powerful tools.
[73]
Incidentally we have another
video on Gentle Leaders.
[76]
There'll be a link below
or in the card, up here,
[79]
that you can click on if you
wanna see how to physically
[82]
go between a full Gentle Leader,
to removing the nose loop
[85]
and clipping that nose loop
up, under the double D ring.
[87]
Or, going to a straight flat collar.
[90]
But, just taking the Gentle
Leader off and hoping
[91]
that you get success, is not the best way
[94]
to set your dog up for
success, oddly enough.
[96]
Now, we talk about wanting
to have our dogs listen
[101]
to our voice, and verbal
control is a big thing,
[102]
and a big portion of
what we do around here.
[105]
And the Gentle Leaders
allow us to achieve that by
[109]
being able to, let's say redirect a dog,
[111]
or turn a dog away from
someone that's stimulating.
[112]
By speaking to them first
and then using that,
[115]
we take away the big tug
of war of a flat collar.
[117]
Everybody's had their young dog
who has that big flat collar
[119]
on, and learns to sink
their head and pull.
[121]
That Gentle Leader allows us
to over come that very easily,
[124]
and build a little bit more success.
[126]
But if I start to find that when I take
[130]
that Gentle Leader off, my dog instantly
[131]
goes back to pulling.
[132]
I am way too early, in trying to remove
[134]
that piece of equipment.
[135]
And again, removing is
not the best way to do it,
[137]
it's all about weening.
[138]
So what do we look for for our dogs?
[140]
Well let's just take walking for example,
[142]
if I have a young dog that
is wearing a Gentle Leader
[144]
and we're starting to get some success
[146]
and we're working with a
nice, loose leash walking,
[148]
left hand, or right hand side, wherever
[151]
you happen to walk with your dog,
[151]
doesn't really make a difference.
[153]
We work walking on our
left hand side around here.
[155]
As long as my dog is
starting to reliably walk,
[159]
in that position, on a loose leash.
[160]
and start to listen to my voice.
[161]
If I tell them let's
go, come on over here.
[163]
Or if they get distracted by something,
[165]
and I can tell them leave
it, and they're offering
[167]
that to check back in
with me on that leave it,
[169]
then I might actually start trying to
[172]
not only just start to ween off
[173]
that piece of equipment, then.
[174]
But find harder distractions,
[175]
find things that are more difficult
[177]
for that dog to work through.
[179]
Environment plays such a
huge role in dogs learning
[181]
that, before I take away
any of these training aids
[184]
that are helping us be successful,
[185]
I will proof that behavior,
by putting them in as many
[188]
different situations as I can.
[189]
So, maybe walking down my
street, there they've walked
[192]
you know, three times a
day, for however many days,
[194]
isn't very that exciting,
every thing is not
[196]
that exciting for them anymore.
[197]
So maybe I'll go to the park, hopefully
[199]
the warmer weathers coming.
[200]
And you'll be able to get
outside and work with those dogs.
[203]
Find a park where there's you know,
[205]
some kids playing basketball
or find something else.
[207]
Go to that great park with
all the squirrels in it.
[209]
Really find those things
that help stimulate your dog,
[212]
and be conscious of
building their success.
[215]
Use space as your friend,
so if going too close
[218]
to that baseball game
is to much for your dog,
[220]
start to work further away.
[222]
And I would use those
opportunities to proof
[224]
my Gentle Leader skills
before I even think about
[228]
taking them off.
[228]
And that time is different for every dog,
[230]
it really depends on what
your dog is showing to you.
[234]
I often think about removing things when
[237]
I can't remember the last time
they really had to use it.
[239]
That to me is really
sort of a great analogy.
[240]
If I can speak to my
dog and say hey buddy,
[242]
come on over here, and that
dog willingly follows me,
[244]
without me having to add
a little bump on the leash
[246]
or something to kind of
regain their attention,
[248]
then I can start to think about,
[249]
you know what this would be a great time,
[250]
in this particular
situation, to ween off of it.
[253]
Because again, if my dog
can be successful in certain
[256]
situations, it doesn't
mean they're going to be
[258]
successful in every situation, right away.
[261]
That's our job to be consistent with them,
[263]
and help them understand, no matter what.
[265]
That means my Gentle Leader,
and my weening process
[267]
becomes a little bit more fluid.
[268]
So let's say I have worked through
[270]
that baseball game scenario,
walking my dog back and forth,
[273]
passed all those exciting kids
[274]
while that games being played.
[275]
I might spend the next
10 or 15 minutes with
[278]
that nose loop off,
clipped in, with the leash
[280]
clipped back into the double D ring,
[281]
and get some success, in that situation.
[283]
At maybe 50, or 100 feet away.
[285]
But again, my proofing
process isn't just okay,
[287]
my dog is trained now.
[288]
I might go a little closer
to that baseball game,
[290]
or to those benches where
those kids are sitting
[292]
and eating hot dogs.
[293]
I would really push my
dogs ability to understand
[297]
that no matter what's going on around them
[298]
I can help them be successful
by listening to me.
[301]
And you will find there's
a little threshold.
[303]
A threshold where my dog is
comfortable in the situation,
[307]
calm, they are keyed
into me, they understand
[311]
what it is I want.
[312]
And then you'll get to a point
where they start to go well,
[314]
but those kids are very close
and they're very exciting.
[316]
And that's the area
that I always look for,
[318]
that sorta threshold, and
I wanna sorta stay just
[321]
underneath it, and
build towards it, closer
[323]
and closer, and closer.
[324]
If I cross it, and my dog says,
ah, I can't do it anymore,
[327]
I need to pull, I need
to go see those kids.
[329]
Great, no problem, I'm not
mad at the dog at that point.
[331]
But that's where my Gentle
Leader becomes fluid.
[333]
I kmve back away,
reestablish some distance,
[336]
pull that nose loop up, put it back on,
[338]
work a little closer again.
[340]
To sort of reiterate to
them, what I want them to do
[343]
all the time, okay?
[345]
And then I might come back, and
then take that nose lip off,
[348]
and work at that threshold point again.
[349]
So it's really a fluid process,
depending on what it is
[352]
I'm seeing from my dog.
[353]
And that may take some time.
[355]
Again, not every dog understands
that, their environment
[360]
no matter what's going
on in their environment
[362]
or around them they need to listen
[363]
in all those situations, so it's our job
[365]
to help our dogs be right, but still keep
[367]
that high expectation,.
[368]
One of the big mistakes that
people happens is they miss
[371]
that threshold point, they
miss where their dog start
[373]
to make mistake, after
mistake, after mistake.
[376]
And we talk about this
in agility quite a bit,
[378]
I know McCann's mentioned this before,
[380]
my dog makes two mistakes
they don't know it, okay?
[383]
So I need to go back to
help them be successful.
[385]
the same thing applies
with walking my dog,
[386]
if my dog has pulled on the
leash and I've spoken to them
[389]
and they're not following through,
[390]
and I've really had to
help them with that leash
[391]
a couple of times, I
gotta change something.
[393]
I gotta help them be right.
[394]
That's why I can put that fold
back gentle leader back on,
[397]
and again, that's the big process,
[399]
is that nose loop off nose loop on,
[400]
that's the biggest step,
[402]
the transition from
then, gentle leader off,
[403]
to flat collar, actually
becomes quite quick.
[405]
Because the information
that they're getting,
[409]
when I do need to give
them a little information
[410]
with the leash, is the
same, provided my collar
[412]
is well fit.
[413]
That's something I know
Ken's covered in the past
[415]
on some of our videos,
and I'm sure there will be
[417]
a link somewhere over here about collars,
[420]
or wherever it happens to be.
[421]
So really, when it comes down to it,
[423]
it is the process of weening, it's not an
[425]
on or off scenario, it
is an as needed basis
[428]
to help my dog be successful.
[430]
I want my dogs to be correct,
[431]
I don't them to make
mistake, after mistake,
[433]
after mistake.
[434]
You will find that every dog
is a little bit different
[435]
but it's your consistency, your clarity,
[437]
and your high expectations
that's going to help
[439]
those dogs understand what
it is you want them to do,
[441]
any time, every time, no
matter the piece of equipment
[444]
that they ware.
[445]
So if you'd like to get
any more information
[446]
about gentle leaders, and how to fit them,
[447]
and how they can be used, just
click that guy, right there.
[449]
- I wanna thank instructor
Steve for joining us today,
[451]
now if this is your first
time on the channel,
[453]
make sure you hut that subscribe button
[454]
we publish videos every
single week to help
[456]
you to have a well behaved
four legged family member
[459]
on that note, I'm Ken.
[460]
- I'm Steve.
[461]
- Happy training.
Most Recent Videos:
You can go back to the homepage right here: Homepage