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The Easy Walk Harness |
Measure the girth around the dog's ribcage, right behind the front legs
| Petite: 12-16 inches Small: 15-20 inches Medium: 18-24 inches Large: 26-36 inches X Large: 34-46 inches |
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Gentle Leaders |
Petite (under 5 lbs.) |
Please note these are the only available colors for
Gentle Leaders at this time ... |
Gentle Leader Desensitization
Remember how much your baby puppy scratched at her neck when she first wore a collar? Ever seen a colt buck around the field while wearing his first halter? Animals are not used to wearing "clothes," so it's a good idea to take a few sessions to get your dog used to wearing a Gentle Leader before you go out for that first leash walk with it. (It's nice to do this for baby horses too!)
Fitting the Gentle Leader:
Fit the neck strap first, letting
the nose loop dangle. The neck strap is the one with the buckle or clasp on it.
Fit this quite snugly; you should only be able to put one finger under the
strap. Pull extra hair and scruff out behind the neck strap. so that the strap
lies immediately behind the ears.
The nose loop should be fitted so that when the neck strap is fastened the dog will not be able to wipe the loop off with a paw. Pull the center of the nose loop down, it should just reach the upper edge of the dog's nose leather. The nose loop is the unfamiliar part, so if the neck strap is snug we'll be able to keep this loose. Your dog should be able to pant comfortably in a properly-fitted GL; if her breath sounds really raspy, you may have the nose loop too tight.
Step 1
Hold the Gentle Leader on the "figure 8" metal ring,
with the nose loop open above it. Hold a treat in your other hand, close to the
loop, so that the dog will have to put her nose through the loop to get the
treat. Do this until she is happily putting her nose in before you even have the
treat in place.
Step 2
Put a bit of pressure downward on the nose strap as your
dog is eating the treat. Gradually increase the duration of the pressure before
releasing the treat, until you can put a few seconds of light pressure with the
dog remaining happy and waggy, expecting her treat.
Step 3
Put on the nose loop and buckle up the neck strap before
giving the treat. You can leave it on the dog and feed a whole meal this
way.
Step 4
Add the leash, feed treats, add a bit of pressure to
each side and down before each treat. If your dog seems unhappy about any of
these steps, go back to the previous one until she's happy.
Step 5
Now you're ready for a walk! If you've spend two or
three days doing the first four steps, your dog should be happy and waggy when
you take out the GL. Start with the "attention" exercise on the walk, standing
still and rewarding the dog for eye contact. Make the first few walks short and
heavy on rewards.
If your dog starts pawing at the nose loop, just raise her head slightly so that she can't get a paw over the leash. The moment she stops struggling, release the leash pressure immediately and continue the walk. Treat for non-pawing, and for eye contact throughout the walk. As your dog becomes used to wearing a halter, you can treat less frequently, though I always suggest that a dog in training get rewarded often for eye contact.
(c) 2003 Trish McMillan
Trainer, Berkeley CA
daldobie@yahoo.com
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