Dear Adam: While working on our dog obedience training, I’ve tightened the pinch collar to make it fit snugly, but it really doesn’t seem to affect the dog. You said that the ring that the leash or tab is attached to should be down, but it keeps swinging around to the back of the dog’s neck.
Its almost as if he doesn’t even mind the collar pinching him and he’s getting huge and strong fast! Any suggestions? Thanks, Rose.
Dear Rose: No, I never said that the ring has to be down. The safety ring should be on the inside, and the ring that is shaped like an apple is the one you hook on the leash. It doesn’t matter if the prongs are underneath the neck or on the back of the neck.
Imagine the mother dog… she might bite the side, or the top, or from underneath… it doesn’t matter. Also, when you give a correction, make sure that you use two hands, together… like you’re holding a baseball bat.
Reach forward to create slack, and then pull it tight, and then make slack again. The first few times that you do it hard enough, the dog may let out a slight yelp. You know that you were motivational then.
You shouldn’t be swinging your arms wildly when you give a correction. Keep your hands together, and lock your elbows, as if you were taking a golf swing. Then, when you create the slack to give the correction, it’s almost like you pivot your hips (again, like taking a golf swing.)
Remember, if your corrections aren’t motivational, it means that you’re not popping hard enough, or you’re “pulling” on the leash, tight to tighter, rather than loose to tight to loose.
If you’re still having trouble giving a motivational correction, you might consider upgrading to a remote electronic collar and using it until the dog understands that your commands have meaning.
Initially, I would synchronize the leash correction with the e-collar correction. Using the remote collar will allow you to give a correction that isn’t at all physical– and frequently, you will be able to give the dog a less motivational correction simply because of the texture of the e-collar’s correction being kind of a strange sensation. (Used correctly, it is not a “shock” in the traditional sense, but rather more of a tingle. You can try it out on yourself first, and see what I mean. It doesn’t hurt.)
-Adam