While it’s not officially NaturalDogBlog day chez moi (I try to alternate between this blog and my slice-o-life personal development blog, neilsattin.com), a thoughtful comment on yesterday’s article made me realize that perhaps a little more detail was necessary.  Yesterday I wrote about how the high collar technique (which you often see employed by Cesar Milan and dog show handlers) could be a useful tool for you when you’re trying to manage a dog who has the tendency to pull on leash.  It’s a handy technique that, when used correctly, causes a minimum amount of discomfort for a dog while giving an owner quite a bit of control.  While I want most of this blog to be focused on training techniques, there are a few points about using “high collar” that I would like to clarify, which is the point of this follow-up article.

1. High Collar is a management technique, not a training technique. It can help you when you haven’t gotten to the point yet where you are the most attractive thing in your dog’s universe. However, don’t let it substitute for the foundation work, things like pushing and playing tug of war with your dog.
2. Pay attention to your dog.  This is not a “set it and forget it” kind of technique.  You need to pay attention to what’s happening with your dog.  Once your dog gets the hang of it, you’ll be able to move in whatever direction you need to move and your dog will be there right beside you.  UNTIL then, you might need to adapt to your dog’s movements, so that your dog gets the sense of how the whole process works:  next to you = no sensation, pulling = uncomfortable sensation.
3. When done correctly, there will be NO choking.  Dogs are sensitive creatures.  The slightest amount of pressure applied by the training collar is uncomfortable for them – that’s not enough pressure to block the airway.  Using the high collar technique should feel like a delicate dance between you and your dog, not a brute force struggle.
4. Once your dog learns how to walk with a high collar, there won’t be any uncomfortable sensation any more.  That’s because they learn how to walk next to you.  Some dogs will generalize this behavior; however most dogs will only walk right next to you when they feel the collar in the “high collar” position – which is why this is a management technique and not a training technique.
5. If your dog doesn’t seem to be responding well, then just stop using the high collar technique.  As I was just saying, this is not a brute force struggle.  Sometimes a dog will be confused initially, but then will figure things out and be fine.  However, if your dog is freaking out, shutting down, or just keeps pulling and actually choking themselves, then you’ll want to forget about the high collar technique for now, and just work on your training.
6. Also note that in the original article, I have added a “prong” collar as an alternative to the slip-type training collar.  It works similarly, without the risk of your dog’s experiencing any sensation resembling choking.
7. NEVER LEAVE A TRAINING COLLAR ON AN UNSUPERVISED DOG. 

The purpose of this technique is to make your walks easier while you work on your training with your dog.  I’ve also used this technique to help people who have a dog that is too large for them to manage as a way of helping them make things more manageable.  Let it help you, but remember that it’s not meant to be a substitute for the real deal: becoming the moose in your dog’s life.  At that point your dog will be way more attracted to you than the world “out there”.  And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

• Does Your Dog Always Have to Walk Next to You?
• Dog Training: How to use the high collar technique for dog management if your dog pulls on lead
• Dog Training and Focus: Walk WITH your dog when you walk with your dog
• Discussion about Natural Dog Training on Dogwise
• Negative Reinforcement in Natural Dog Training: What is a shock?
• Dog Training: How to control your dog when they’re off leash – use a LONG leash.
• Natural Dog Blog Store Holiday Sale Update

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 26th, 2007 at 8:46 am and is filed under 6. The Real World (Solve Problems). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.