Equipment
Speaker: The equipping you'll need to get started is a slip collar, such as this chain one here, and its applied like this. You could also use a nylon slip collar, such as this one here, or even a buckle collar that your dog might wear everyday. Sometimes if the dog is more timid, you might want to start out with something like this.
You can also use a head collar, which is another gentle but effective way of controlling your dog. You can use a six or four feet leash. I prefer nylon or cotton webbing. You can also use leather. I like something that's very soft and you can hold in your hand easily, if the dog is close to you, but also long enough so that if your dog is in a down stay, you have plenty of room to be away from your dog.
I wanted to talk about the proper application of the slip collar before we go ahead and put it on and get started. Basically, this is a nylon collar. What you want to do is have a P shaped when you actually put it on the dog; if you see, its shaped like a P, and that way when you have the dog on your left side, when you're training, it will actually release properly. So just remember, P when you put it on the dog, like so.
Here is a chain collar, also slip collar, you would want the same thing, the P shape, just like this. So release this properly, and you put it on the dog, just like that.
I actually use the hex link because it doesn't pull on the fur of the dog, which is also an option, but you also stick with the P as you apply it to the dog.
Good boy, that's a good boy.
There is one more thing that's needed to complete your training equipment; actually its three things, its one thing in three part, and that's three. I need you to find three things that your dog loves. One of them being verbal praise, like saying good boy, good boy, that's the one that I use. Anything that gets your dog excited. You can tell because your dog would be wagging its tail, looking at you, smiling, then you'll know that that's an effective verbal treat.
I also want you to find a tactile treat, meaning something that you do; maybe a pat or scratch, that gets a reaction out of your dog in the same way. They either lean into your hand, or they are rubbing against you because they want you to do it more, wagging their tail, anything that's going to get a positive reaction out of your dog is going to be an appropriate tactile treat.
Lastly, I want you to find a food treat that your dog absolutely goes nuts for, and that will be useful in some of the specific trainings, such as the first lesson, look. You want something that your dog is going to go nuts over so that you can keep his attention, even if there's distractions around, or if he really isn't very excited about what you want him to do or a little bit nervous.
I had one puppy that loved Cheerios, and that's what worked for that puppy. So his trainer used Cheerios throughout his training and the puppy did great with them.
I personally use little bit of hot dog, that I've overcooked in the microwave. What I do is cook it for a minute or two, and then let it get totally dried out and dice it into small pieces. This can be 20-40 treats, depending on the size that you use. You want something that's quick for the dog to eat; they don't really need to chew it, and its quiet, so they can just in one go gulp it down, and you can continue on with your next command.
When giving your dog a treat, I want you to use the verbal treat first. For example, when I was saying, good, good boy, and then follow that up, if you feel that the dog needs more treat, with a tactile or food treat. The reason I say this is because your dog will learn to anticipate. If he learns to anticipate, if you say, the treat word that you're using and then follow that up with the scratch that he really likes or a food treat that he really likes, he will remember that, and anticipate that its coming, and you can use that to your advantage throughout all of your training.
You can slowly wean your dog off of the treats by offering them every second or fourth time, or sometimes every time, and then every fifth time, and just keep mixing it up, so your dog will always think that something good is coming.
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