Collar pressure response during LET’S GO
On a walk, you and the puppy will encounter many distractions. Start early teaching the puppy that tightening of the leash/collar means to focus on the handler.
To start, walk with the puppy until he begins to pull towards something, such as a scent. Stop walking, shorten the leash, and keep a constant tension on the leash. Do NOT try to pull or steer the puppy; simply keep a constant tension until the puppy looks up at you or at least moves towards you. Immediately mark the behavior with “YES”, loosen any remaining tension on the leash, and treat.
Within a few repetitions, the puppy should be starting to turn towards you within seconds of feeling the leash tighten. This usually results in “ping pong” walking, where the puppy surges forward, feels the leash tighten, comes back for a treat, then surges forward again. That’s a good sign; that means the puppy is learning. It also means it is time to move on to the next step.
Once you have achieved “ping pong” walking, start delaying the reward. So the leash tightens and the puppy comes towards you to loosen it. Praise him, direct him to your left side and resume the walk. After a few steps, reward him in position at your left side.
Now the puppy is learning that he gets rewarded only when he walks nicely; the fact that leash tension loosens and the walk continues is also part of the reward.
Use the Collar Pressure protocol when the puppy is looking at a distraction that he can’t reach (small animal distractions, dogs in the distance, etc.) or when he is leaning away from you towards a distraction (scent in the grass, blowing leaves, etc.). The reason that the Collar Pressure protocol works is the dog is having to make the choice to leave the distraction. You as the handler are making the choice easier for him by making it mildly uncomfortable (tight leash) when he is interacting with the distraction, and making it rewarding (treats, loose leash) when he chooses to interact with you instead. When a dog makes a conscious choice like that, he is putting himself back into a “thinking” state of mind, rather than a revved-up, instinctive state of mind.
Collar pressure pt 2 from Southeastern Guide Dogs on Vimeo.
In this month's video, two puppies are featured. The first is Birdie, who is 4 months old. She is distracted by scents, a dead frog, and the fenced-in yard where she often plays. I start walking once I have her attention and, as expected, it only lasts a few steps. Once she disengages from me at 0:14, I stop, preventing her from reaching the dead frog she is hopefully gazing at. She is rewarded once she checks in with me, and we have a pleasant few steps. She shows hesitation at a puddle; is she distracted or concerned? I'm not sure, but I would handle either response in the same way. I stop so there is mild pressure on the leash and wait her out. If she is having a concerned response, just giving her a few moments helps her resolve it and she decides to walk nicely through the water (which earns her a treat).
In the next segment, starting at 0:44, she has picked up her pace because she has spotted the play yard. We do some starting and stopping, and she does not get a treat every time she checks in. Sometimes, the reward is that the walk continues. This is helpful when the dog is amped up. She wants to keep walking, so getting back to the walk quickly is rewarding. When we turn away from the play yard (the thing she REALLY wants), her pace slows (with disappointment?) so her reward schedule goes up.
You can see how short her attention span is, but also how quickly she picks up on the game. Lots of directional changes keep it interesting for her, and she starts offering check-ins more often. Puppies of this age don't need long walks around the neighborhood; they benefit from frequent, short walks like this.
In the second part of the video, I am back to working with Idunn, who is now 8 months old. Compare how quickly Idunn responds and the level of skill she demonstrates; I started working on this with her when she was Birdie's age. I wanted this video to show "reality": we have JUST walked outside so Idunn is excited. A history with collar pressure protocol means she gets under control very quickly. Notice that at 1:20, she starts to speed up. I put my hand on the leash in anticipation of this so she comes to the end of the leash (without hurting herself or me). I do NOT apply a correction.
Just as with Birdie, she has a destination in mind: in this case, the grass ahead and possibly the fenced-in play yard as well. So we keep up the momentum. She gets to move forward when she checks in with me and starts to move back into heel position. She has a much longer history working with collar pressure, so her check-ins are almost immediate.
Of course she picks up a random acorn off of the ground. So I decide to work her past that spot again. It doesn't take me long at all, but that extra few seconds to re-work that area will make a difference for her long-term.
In the next segment, we are working along the road headed towards the play yard. I call her back to heel when I don't have her attention and start walking; I do not give her a treat. At 1:56, she is speeding up her pace, but she catches herself before she reaches the end of the leash and slows down so that she is back in heel position. Go Idunn! That DEFINITELY gets a reward. She does it again at 2:05.
She picks up an acorn, which I missed until I noticed her crunching on something. See, it happens to me too!
Overall, with just a few minutes of warm-up, Idunn offers me very nice walking and demonstrates self-control. The best part is that it required very little physical strength, and Idunn started targeting the nice heel position at my left side.
Leash walking is one of the hardest skills to teach a puppy. Working in this manner and teaching the puppy to CHOOSE the right position takes time, but it results in an enthusiastic pup who is more in tune to the handler. It also helps with management and problem solving. Next month, we'll talk about using collar pressure to problem solve behaviors such as jumping or animal distractions.
