What kinds of leash,harness do you like?
Dogs have full of personality. They live with you and enjoy every moment they spend with you.
For you,a little tiny goofy thing your dogs did would makes you smile,and brighten up your day. They give you unconditional love and be a good companion to you and they will be big part of your life. They can also be a teacher to you. My stumpy little dog "Palette" taught me to be patient,to be consistent,to be calm and enjoy life to full.
For many dogs,high light activity of the day that make them get so excited about will be "walkie time".
My Corgi "Palette" gets so excited to hear us say "go get leash!".She perks her ears up,turn around,trotting out very fast and come back with her leash in her mouth. Sometimes,she gets so excited that she hits her head to stair pole when turning around and,take a second and go get her leash. Walking time,for Palette,is very exciting event of the day. You can see her in action "Go get leash" in the entry titled "What did you train your human for?"
Such an exciting event of the day for dogs sometimes make the fun walking time become arm socket stretching activity for humans. First,dogs are very happy because you come with them for the walk.Second, outside for them is so many interesting things around; unusual smell,squirrels,cats, neighbors' dogs,other dog walkers.. Such a big opportunity to explore the world canine way.
Palette looves her walk. She loves sniffing ground when we stops at grassy area.She sniff out canine classified,canine sports news,canine breaking news..she sometimes sniff out her snuggle friends such as frog pancake on ground and love to throw herself to it. She usually gets broken heart for not being able to snuggle with her beloved frog pan cake,walk time is still her favorite time of the day. On her walk, she sometimes gets spam mail (doggy poop not being picked up) as well. It is interesting to observe her reaction to spam mail on the ground. She makes noticeable frown face with one paw pointing at the spam mail on the ground,then, she goes as far as she could go to avoid stepping on and coming back to me. Also, she sometimes gets to meet other people with other dogs. She is people-dog.Loves to greet every single person we meet on our walk. She gets lots of attention and petting from us at home,but she can't get enough of it. She loves to be pretty with butt-wagging to other people,and getting another additional petting from them. Getting petting from many people including kids are huge presents for Palette.
Our walk is not normal walk time. It is like a game. I have a couple of routes for walk, and every time we go for walk,I change direction to go. So, one route has 2 ways to start the walk. Then, I sometimes do fast-walk,not running without telling her. Palette gets her tongue out,looking at me and she tries fast-walk too and tries to pass me. I sometimes go for walk very slow step,like just strolling around the neighborhood. Palette stroll around with the pace I walk. Then,when we come very close to house,I jog and she runs pretty fast and pass me, then, gives me grin with her tongue hanging out as if to say "Hey,mom,I won!!". If I am not walking normal,I don't mind her passing me. I like to make the walking time very fun for Palette,and unpredictable. It is very good to get your dogs' attention if you could become an interesting and an unpredictable person.
If walking time was off for weather for a couple of days,dogs become even more excited next time you go out with them for the walk. Then, they would pull,pull enough to hard to breath.
In general,if dogs try to pull,chances are, you probably be trying to pull back. I think dogs are same. If they feel to be pulled back,they would try very hard to pull forward. The more you try to pull back,the more your dogs would try pull forward.
Leash walking is something we got to learn in Palette's puppy training class. In the class, trainer told us to put your dog on your left side and hold treats in your hands in front of their nose and walk forward. This seemed logical; dogs follow treats without pulling you forward. BUT, what breed do I have? The stumpy Corgi who is 14 inch tall!! So, for me,this method was real awkward. I am sure if you saw me holding treats in front of Palette's nose and walking forward,and Palette tries to get the treats,a little jump walk forward,you would laugh out loud.Because we both were walking funny.
I told her about me walking very funny and difficult to teach "Heel" this way for Palette. She suggested to use a wooden spoon with peanut butter smear on tip of the spoon. It helped some but, still Miss Palette did jumpy walk even if it was at her height and it really did not work.
After all,I tried many method. One of them was to let Palette sit next to my heel position with her leash on,then I stepped forward,and placed treat in my hands,she walked one step forward.When she stepped forward,I said "Heel" and kept it doing one step more as days go. This method was better than 2 methods I wrote above but was not best one.
Other method I tried was to become a tree on walk. This means,every time your dogs pull,you stop at the position and wait till your dogs come closer enough for you to have loose leash. With Palette,it did work to some extent.She noticed I stopped,and then, she noticed she cannot go further once I stop. So, what she did was to come close to me and sat. With this method,what she leaned was that she can move forward if she sits. It was not strong enough method for us to let her learn loose leash walk. Palette just start pulling forward once we start moving forward. She sits,we move forward,she pulls,she sits..
Best method that worked for us was something I saw on TV. I practiced in our yard first. I let Palette to sit next to my left side,and we started walking forward and every time she passes me,I turned around with sound "Urgh,urgh" and walked to opposite direction,then repeated it over over. This worked best for Palette and I. Then,when we actually go for walk with this method, I brought clicker with me and I clicked when she is walking with loose leash and gave her tiny treats. I think this click with walk made more solid for "Heel" or "loose leash walk". I usually wrapped nylon leash around my hand,then hold clicker one hand, treats in pocket, and picked treats with other hand. Holding clicker and leash nicely in place was somewhat difficult,but I managed to do it.
Recently,I saw a clip on leash that has clicker on handle of the leash. According to News clip,it was one of the item given to First dog "Bo". You can see clip on "Clicker leash" bellow. If you are a blog subscriber or reading this entry from facebook, please click here.
It seems something I would have used if I knew it existed while we were teaching Palette loose leash walk. However, it is $40 per leash and, for me,it sounds costly leash. Also, with this plastic handle,just like retractable leash, IF you drop the handle accidentally,I would imagine this can make your dog surprised and dragging sound of the plastic handle could even more scare dogs then dogs could end up running away from you to get away from moving leash handle. Idea is good,but I think I would use it for just training session and would use in the yard,not for actual walk.
Palette's leash is probably about 1.5 inch wide Nylon leash. It is 4 feet long. I chose it because I can slide my hand in and wrap it around a little to hold the leash,and light weight leash for Palette.Then,it had sturdy clip to clip to her collar. I have tried a little thinner leash but I felt more control with wider width leash than thin width leash. Palette is Corgi,33lb, but she does have quite power to pull if she pulls.
I have tried harness,but it rubbed against her fur and thinned her furs on sides. If we put another type of harness,it would have been different result?
I also have 50 feet long leash. This is originally for training in the yard. I use it also when I let Palette out to play fetch ball or Frisbee or "Find it game" outside the house. We don't have fenced yard.So,this leash is good for her. Palette gets to explore around more freely.This leash is good to practice recall ("come") in the yard too. You can watch Palette in action for "Find it" game inside the house in entry titled "Find it" game.
With retractable leash,dogs can walk way ahead of you without breaking your arm socket. But with loose leash training aspect, I feel, fixed length leash would be better. And since retractable leash seem to be thinner width,it maybe hard for you to have better control when dogs,especially big dogs, start reacting to other dogs on walk. Then,it is possible you can drop the handle accidentally,which makes dogs scare and could end up dog running away with still leash attached,dragging retractable leash with them.
With leather leash, just like leather shoes,as you wear it,leather breaks and become fit to your foot and very comfortable to wear,I wonder leather leash works same for your hands. I have not tried leather leash or harness yet but, we can see how it is with Palette and I in the future.
@Tallulah_n_Roxy said (via twitter)
Our favorite harness is from buddy-belts.com Their comfort and control is great.Especially for dogs that like to drag their human.We have the leather harness. They were a tad pricey, but we love em and they are pretty adjustable.
I have looked at the website @Tallulah_n_Roxy has suggested. It is interesting harness. It is made
from leather and looks like easy for dogs to wear. If leather breaks and become more fit to each dogs, maybe as comfortable as you wear leather shoes for your foot.
On side note, @kyba & @huntyr (via Twitter) gave me clever idea regarding bandanna. I (@yassysgdk via Twitter) was suggesting to sewing the handkerchief or bandanna to collars if ones could not find specific designed collars with specific drawing on it. @kyba & @huntyr (via Twitter) said..
Make casing so it slides over and easily removed.
Isn't it clever?? You get one collar, then you have bunch of bandanna that has casing on top to slide around,and you can make lots of styles with just one collar?? Dogs with fashion like Palette would enjoy such thing. Palette loves anything goes around neck including regular collar. She would run away from you once she recognize you are coming to her to get the bandanna off from her,lol. She needs to know (I mean it!!) where you put her collar when being bathed. I see her eyes look for it. So,I make sure I put her collar on where she can see from bathtub,and tell her her collar is there.
By the way,if your dog got frighten by trash pick-up truck or other things and refused to go forward,don't pull them forward.It just creating resistance. The more you pull,the more they want to pull back. Instead, say nothing and lower yourself,call your dog with happy voice. When Palette was puppy,she was afraid of passing by the trash pick up truck and trash bins. Often times,she refused to go forward because she is scared of them. I made habit of bringing special treats and when she refused to go forward,I just lower myself,called her and when she came even one step forward,I gave her treats.
Eventually,she overcome the fear of trash pick-up truck and trash bins but,that is something I learned from her. She was willing to step forward if I lowered myself and call her. Keep standing or bending towards her and calling her to come did not work for her.
Any of you have any other favorite leash/harness?
Any of you have tried clicker leash?
For you,a little tiny goofy thing your dogs did would makes you smile,and brighten up your day. They give you unconditional love and be a good companion to you and they will be big part of your life. They can also be a teacher to you. My stumpy little dog "Palette" taught me to be patient,to be consistent,to be calm and enjoy life to full.
For many dogs,high light activity of the day that make them get so excited about will be "walkie time".
My Corgi "Palette" gets so excited to hear us say "go get leash!".She perks her ears up,turn around,trotting out very fast and come back with her leash in her mouth. Sometimes,she gets so excited that she hits her head to stair pole when turning around and,take a second and go get her leash. Walking time,for Palette,is very exciting event of the day. You can see her in action "Go get leash" in the entry titled "What did you train your human for?"
Such an exciting event of the day for dogs sometimes make the fun walking time become arm socket stretching activity for humans. First,dogs are very happy because you come with them for the walk.Second, outside for them is so many interesting things around; unusual smell,squirrels,cats, neighbors' dogs,other dog walkers.. Such a big opportunity to explore the world canine way.
Palette looves her walk. She loves sniffing ground when we stops at grassy area.She sniff out canine classified,canine sports news,canine breaking news..she sometimes sniff out her snuggle friends such as frog pancake on ground and love to throw herself to it. She usually gets broken heart for not being able to snuggle with her beloved frog pan cake,walk time is still her favorite time of the day. On her walk, she sometimes gets spam mail (doggy poop not being picked up) as well. It is interesting to observe her reaction to spam mail on the ground. She makes noticeable frown face with one paw pointing at the spam mail on the ground,then, she goes as far as she could go to avoid stepping on and coming back to me. Also, she sometimes gets to meet other people with other dogs. She is people-dog.Loves to greet every single person we meet on our walk. She gets lots of attention and petting from us at home,but she can't get enough of it. She loves to be pretty with butt-wagging to other people,and getting another additional petting from them. Getting petting from many people including kids are huge presents for Palette.
Our walk is not normal walk time. It is like a game. I have a couple of routes for walk, and every time we go for walk,I change direction to go. So, one route has 2 ways to start the walk. Then, I sometimes do fast-walk,not running without telling her. Palette gets her tongue out,looking at me and she tries fast-walk too and tries to pass me. I sometimes go for walk very slow step,like just strolling around the neighborhood. Palette stroll around with the pace I walk. Then,when we come very close to house,I jog and she runs pretty fast and pass me, then, gives me grin with her tongue hanging out as if to say "Hey,mom,I won!!". If I am not walking normal,I don't mind her passing me. I like to make the walking time very fun for Palette,and unpredictable. It is very good to get your dogs' attention if you could become an interesting and an unpredictable person.
If walking time was off for weather for a couple of days,dogs become even more excited next time you go out with them for the walk. Then, they would pull,pull enough to hard to breath.
In general,if dogs try to pull,chances are, you probably be trying to pull back. I think dogs are same. If they feel to be pulled back,they would try very hard to pull forward. The more you try to pull back,the more your dogs would try pull forward.
Leash walking is something we got to learn in Palette's puppy training class. In the class, trainer told us to put your dog on your left side and hold treats in your hands in front of their nose and walk forward. This seemed logical; dogs follow treats without pulling you forward. BUT, what breed do I have? The stumpy Corgi who is 14 inch tall!! So, for me,this method was real awkward. I am sure if you saw me holding treats in front of Palette's nose and walking forward,and Palette tries to get the treats,a little jump walk forward,you would laugh out loud.Because we both were walking funny.
I told her about me walking very funny and difficult to teach "Heel" this way for Palette. She suggested to use a wooden spoon with peanut butter smear on tip of the spoon. It helped some but, still Miss Palette did jumpy walk even if it was at her height and it really did not work.
After all,I tried many method. One of them was to let Palette sit next to my heel position with her leash on,then I stepped forward,and placed treat in my hands,she walked one step forward.When she stepped forward,I said "Heel" and kept it doing one step more as days go. This method was better than 2 methods I wrote above but was not best one.
Other method I tried was to become a tree on walk. This means,every time your dogs pull,you stop at the position and wait till your dogs come closer enough for you to have loose leash. With Palette,it did work to some extent.She noticed I stopped,and then, she noticed she cannot go further once I stop. So, what she did was to come close to me and sat. With this method,what she leaned was that she can move forward if she sits. It was not strong enough method for us to let her learn loose leash walk. Palette just start pulling forward once we start moving forward. She sits,we move forward,she pulls,she sits..
Best method that worked for us was something I saw on TV. I practiced in our yard first. I let Palette to sit next to my left side,and we started walking forward and every time she passes me,I turned around with sound "Urgh,urgh" and walked to opposite direction,then repeated it over over. This worked best for Palette and I. Then,when we actually go for walk with this method, I brought clicker with me and I clicked when she is walking with loose leash and gave her tiny treats. I think this click with walk made more solid for "Heel" or "loose leash walk". I usually wrapped nylon leash around my hand,then hold clicker one hand, treats in pocket, and picked treats with other hand. Holding clicker and leash nicely in place was somewhat difficult,but I managed to do it.
Recently,I saw a clip on leash that has clicker on handle of the leash. According to News clip,it was one of the item given to First dog "Bo". You can see clip on "Clicker leash" bellow. If you are a blog subscriber or reading this entry from facebook, please click here.
Palette's leash is probably about 1.5 inch wide Nylon leash. It is 4 feet long. I chose it because I can slide my hand in and wrap it around a little to hold the leash,and light weight leash for Palette.Then,it had sturdy clip to clip to her collar. I have tried a little thinner leash but I felt more control with wider width leash than thin width leash. Palette is Corgi,33lb, but she does have quite power to pull if she pulls.
I have tried harness,but it rubbed against her fur and thinned her furs on sides. If we put another type of harness,it would have been different result?
I also have 50 feet long leash. This is originally for training in the yard. I use it also when I let Palette out to play fetch ball or Frisbee or "Find it game" outside the house. We don't have fenced yard.So,this leash is good for her. Palette gets to explore around more freely.This leash is good to practice recall ("come") in the yard too. You can watch Palette in action for "Find it" game inside the house in entry titled "Find it" game.
With retractable leash,dogs can walk way ahead of you without breaking your arm socket. But with loose leash training aspect, I feel, fixed length leash would be better. And since retractable leash seem to be thinner width,it maybe hard for you to have better control when dogs,especially big dogs, start reacting to other dogs on walk. Then,it is possible you can drop the handle accidentally,which makes dogs scare and could end up dog running away with still leash attached,dragging retractable leash with them.
With leather leash, just like leather shoes,as you wear it,leather breaks and become fit to your foot and very comfortable to wear,I wonder leather leash works same for your hands. I have not tried leather leash or harness yet but, we can see how it is with Palette and I in the future.
@Tallulah_n_Roxy said (via twitter)
Our favorite harness is from buddy-belts.com Their comfort and control is great.Especially for dogs that like to drag their human.We have the leather harness. They were a tad pricey, but we love em and they are pretty adjustable.
I have looked at the website @Tallulah_n_Roxy has suggested. It is interesting harness. It is made
from leather and looks like easy for dogs to wear. If leather breaks and become more fit to each dogs, maybe as comfortable as you wear leather shoes for your foot.
On side note, @kyba & @huntyr (via Twitter) gave me clever idea regarding bandanna. I (@yassysgdk via Twitter) was suggesting to sewing the handkerchief or bandanna to collars if ones could not find specific designed collars with specific drawing on it. @kyba & @huntyr (via Twitter) said..
Make casing so it slides over and easily removed.
Isn't it clever?? You get one collar, then you have bunch of bandanna that has casing on top to slide around,and you can make lots of styles with just one collar?? Dogs with fashion like Palette would enjoy such thing. Palette loves anything goes around neck including regular collar. She would run away from you once she recognize you are coming to her to get the bandanna off from her,lol. She needs to know (I mean it!!) where you put her collar when being bathed. I see her eyes look for it. So,I make sure I put her collar on where she can see from bathtub,and tell her her collar is there.
By the way,if your dog got frighten by trash pick-up truck or other things and refused to go forward,don't pull them forward.It just creating resistance. The more you pull,the more they want to pull back. Instead, say nothing and lower yourself,call your dog with happy voice. When Palette was puppy,she was afraid of passing by the trash pick up truck and trash bins. Often times,she refused to go forward because she is scared of them. I made habit of bringing special treats and when she refused to go forward,I just lower myself,called her and when she came even one step forward,I gave her treats.
Eventually,she overcome the fear of trash pick-up truck and trash bins but,that is something I learned from her. She was willing to step forward if I lowered myself and call her. Keep standing or bending towards her and calling her to come did not work for her.
Any of you have any other favorite leash/harness?
Any of you have tried clicker leash?
Posted by yassy at 8/2/2009 8:00 AM 
Categories: Doggy mom's gossip
Tags: dog training leash clicker harness heel
Categories: Doggy mom's gossip
Tags: dog training leash clicker harness heel
Just had to throw my two cents in about the Clicker Leash. I was having a lot of problems with my Rottie mix and hired a private trainer to help me with the lunging and barking at other dogs when we were walking down the street. The trainer was a clicker trainer and she brought a Clicker Leash with her for the session. Within 20 minutes my dog was much calmer out on the walk because every time he would look at another dog the trainer would click and drop some treats on the ground. She also showed me how to get him to walk nicely on leash without pulling which was similar to how you taught heel. Anyway I liked the feel of the handle and was so impressed with the results that I bought a leash from the trainer and it has been great! I don't know what the material is that covers the part of the handle where you grip it but it is soft and it has never slipped out of my hand even when my dog makes a mistake and pulls once in a while. It keeps me on my toes as far as training goes too because my clicker is always there so I have no excuse not to train while we are out walking. I also liked the fact that I didn't have to hurt my dog to get him to do what I wanted like most other training options out there and hey, $40 is a lot cheaper than the price of most shock collars which is what another trainer had recommended when I emailed him!
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Thank you for your insight on "clicker leash". I do training session using clicker for my Corgi "Palette",and I know well that clicker is such a powerful and effective training tool which anyone even kids can teach a trick or two to dogs. And,I have tried placing clicker in my hands with leash and walked around neighborhood to teach Palette nice walk,so I see it is nice idea of leash. I just was not sure how well you can hold without dropping the handle when dogs lunge forward for squirrels or something on their walk.
And yes,I agree that Electric collar is not the way to teach dogs manners. I prefer dogs to do what they are supposed to do willingly, not because they do what they need to do from fear of getting shocks on their necks.
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