Transforming Chaos to Calmness with Simple Leash Work

00:00 — Kati introduces leash communication as the habit that changes chaos into calm, polite default…

Speaker 1: Today we're talking about the one thing that makes the biggest difference, in my opinion, from craziness and chaos to calm and polite by default. What is that thing and how do you do it? Welcome to Off Leash and Unfiltered Trigger Warning. I'm Kati Peppe, delivering the Truth in Dog Training.

Speaker 1: Hey everybody, welcome back to a bonus episode of Off Leash and Unfiltered. I am Kati Peppe, owner of Diamond Canine Dog training in Biddeford, Maine. We specialize in eco training for off-leash obedience and behavior modification. So helping people stop all those pesky, unwanted behaviors. And we also work with puppies. So that's who we are and what we do. We especially love doing the in-depth stuff with dogs that have real state of mind issues, things like, um, leash reactivity anxiety and nervous dogs. Um, love, love, love helping folks with those dogs. So, so that's who we are and what we're doing.

Speaker 1: And as you know, this podcast is our way of sharing all this stuff with you guys and giving us a platform to just reach as many people as we can and get this information out there because it's really, really, really hard to find.

Speaker 1: Uh, today I wanna talk about one of our best kept secrets. I say that, but we actually, we talk about it all the time. We make videos on it all the time. But I still, I just feel like this piece, everybody is missing. Everybody is missing. And I have to admit, uh, I feel partially responsible for that 'cause even though I talk about it all the time and we show it to people, I was thinking about our private lessons, which we don't do a ton of compared to our board and train, right? We're primarily a board and train, uh, operation here.

Speaker 1: But we, we still do private lessons and I realize there's very little focus on this in our private lessons, and that's kind of shameful. So we're gonna make that shift and make that change and definitely put more emphasis on this and do it, prioritize it as one of the first things we do in the training because I think it's so, so important.

Speaker 1: This should be a day one thing. So what I'm talking about really is you, you could say thresholds, right doors, like how you come in and outta the crate and how you come in and out of a front door. But it's more than that. It's really anytime your dog is on a leach. And by the way, when you're trying to get your dog into a different head space, you're trying to get your dog to be calmer, a little more polite, or you're just starting like formal training with your dog, like you've decided to batten down the hatches and get some training done.

Speaker 1: Whatever the case may be. Like, unless your dog is fan fucking fantastic, you should be doing this. You should have your leash on your dog before they come out of the kennel and before you go to the door, because, because you need that leash and prong.

03:22 — A prong collar provides communication that dogs may ignore from flat collars, especially when…

Speaker 1: So if your dog's not on a prong collar, get them on a prong collar, make sure it's properly fitted. We like herm Springers here, but really any prong collar will get the job done as long as it's, you know, your standard steel prong collar. Um, doesn't have to be the fancy kind, although I love them. Uh, the reason we use them is they seem to have a cleaner release. They engage more freely, they don't get hung up and, and caught and tangled and kind of stuck that some prong colors can be kind of clunky. Some prong colors are a little less blunt at the tips harms springers are nice and blunt.

Speaker 1: So they're, they're really not pokey. But anyway, either here nor there. This isn't really a prong collar episode, but it is important to have that. See a lot of people are like, well, why do you need this and why do you need that?

Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's like I can train a dog without it, but why in the hell am I gonna do that? It's gonna be so much harder and this makes me so much more effective and so much more efficient and there's zero harm from it. So there's really just no reason not to use it, right? It's just silly not to use it. Um, it's like there's no rational reason not to use it. Um, and, and it works and it makes you very effective with your leash communication if you know how to handle a leash, which is important 'cause the tool won't do the training for you.

Speaker 1: You do have to know how to handle your leash. But without that on there, I'm going to struggle to communicate with my dog through the leash, right? A lot, some, yeah, sure, some dogs are really, really super, super soft and sensitive and I can pop my leash on a flat collar and they're gonna notice that and they're gonna care and they're gonna stop and look at me.

Speaker 1: And you know, maybe, but it's rare, right? It's really rare and it's really easy if there's a distraction or the dog gets elevated in any way, it's really easy for that to change and for them to just ignore it. And they don't notice it anymore. They don't feel it. Next thing you know, they're choking themselves and they're dragging you down the street and they're lunging at another dog. No, just, no. You gotta have a prong collar on your dog for the training. And really we recommend it all the time whenever you have a leash on your dog.

Speaker 1: Because why wouldn't you want to have that control and that communication? Like why would you ever wanna take that away? It's just stupid, right? So that's kind of how we see it. But at any rate, leash and prong on the dog before they come out of the kennel, before you approach a door.

Speaker 1: Now these are moments that we refer to as quote unquote small moments, right? But they're not. And I should stop calling them that because I think it minimizes the importance of it. So the reason this is so important is because how many times a day does your dog come in and out of the kennel and in and out through the doors, in and out of the car, in and out of the house, in and out of the crate, right? Especially if you are trying to make change at home, trying to get your dog into a different head space, you should be using that kennel quite a bit.

Speaker 1: So they should be coming in and out quite a bit. So these are the very, very basic foundational moments that will actually teach your dog that they have to be polite and that you have a standard and that you are not going to spoonfeed them with all kinds of words and commands or food.

Speaker 1: It's going to be an expectation that they are polite automatically by default without you having to give them a command all the time. And it's easy for us to do that in a board and train and then gloss over that a little bit in our private lessons and even at the board and train, go home. I mean, we show it to people, but I still, I don't feel like we're putting the emphasis on it that it deserves. Um, because here's the thing that really is the basis, right? It doesn't get any more basic than that.

Speaker 1: And if you're not doing that, it's going to show in everything else, right? If you're allowing your dog to get all excited in the kennel, if you're allowing your dog to kind of bolt outta the kennel, even if they wait for you to tell them they can come out, if they just bolt out and go crazy, that's no good. You've accomplished nothing. Same thing at your front door,

07:50 — At the front door, say “No” and pop the leash when the dog crowds…

Speaker 1: Right? If you're, at least if you're going through together, if you're walking out your front door together and you have to tell your dog to sit on one side and then they sit and then you say, okay, or you know, break or whatever your word is that you like to use and you walk out with them and they just go full speed ahead and turn into a firm missile, you haven't really patterned anything helpful, you're not creating change. And so I talk all the time about how people are blown away by their dogs at a board and train or even at a private lesson like in lesson number one.

Speaker 1: And that's because we are handling the leash a lot of the time. And what we're doing the whole time we're handling the leash is we're telling the dog there's a standard. And so I want you to understand, how do you instill that in your own dog?

Speaker 1: How do you take your dog and in a matter of, you know, 20 minutes teach your dog, there's a standard for their behavior and there's no words involved. How do you do that? Because I'll tell you right now, different dog. Different dog, it's night and day for some dogs and it looks a little bit different for every dog. But the framework is more or less the same. So I wanna go over what do you do? And it's not just doors, it's not just thresholds, right? That's where we see the most opportunity. But I wanna be very clear, I'm gonna cover that and just anytime your dog is on a leash, anytime you have your dog on a leash, you should have a standard for their behavior.

Speaker 1: And most people, their standard is way too low. It's a very, very sad display. <laugh> not picking on them.

Speaker 1: They don't know, right? So you see a dog that's kind of wandering around a little bit and sniffing, but they're mostly being good. Most people don't see a problem with that. And I'm not necessarily saying that there's a problem with that, but for the vast majority of dogs, there is no understanding that there's a standard. And for a lot of dogs, there's no real respect for their owner. Their owner doesn't have any real relevance. Like they don't matter. There's no sense of urgency about what is being asked and what's expected. The dog is just fully autonomous doing whatever they want.

Speaker 1: And there's no thought to whether or not anybody else's opinion matters. And so that at, at a minimum, you're losing some ground there, right? And at most it's a huge setback because your dog is just never gonna learn to pay attention to you or to calm down, right? Depending on whatever your dog's issues are, one might be a bigger problem than the other. Um, but we do this for all dogs. There are no exceptions, right? And I mean, frankly, if you have your dog on a leash, you're obviously doing something together, right? Even if you're not talking to your dog or interacting with your dog that second, or walking your dog, even if they're on a leash, why do they need to be engaging with the environment?

Speaker 1: Why do they need to be doing other stuff? They don't.

Speaker 1: But we've turned into these big softies who feel like we, we have to treat our dogs like toddlers at a playground all the time. All the time. And it's hurting more than it's helping. So I'm not saying your dog can never have fun, but I'm saying it should be at your discretion. If your dog just always assumes that the priority is to have fun, then what are you even doing? <laugh>, just give up now. Like, right? So fun is not the priority. Paying attention to your handler is the priority. And I'll let you know when it's time to go have fun, right?

Speaker 1: I'll pick up a rope toy and play tug of war with you. I'll take you off leash and say break. I'll throw the stick, we'll play chuck it, we'll go swimming. Whatever it is you're doing, right? But the dog shouldn't be on the leash trying to do those things all the time. That is so extremely counterproductive. And you lose so much leverage when you never teach your dog that they're not self-governing, especially when they're on a leash. Now, I mean this goes for off leash too, but it's like this all starts on a leash. Everything starts on a leash,

12:28 — Keeping the leash on more often at home helps guide the dog’s state of…

Speaker 1: Right? And if you decide, hey, I wanna create real change in my house, well, you know, the number one thing you can do to do that is have your dog spend more time on a leash and you learn how to handle it. 'cause then you're spending all kinds of time that is super productive, right? Because you're constantly giving your dog feedback. You are telling them, I'm making the decisions what way we're going, I'm making the decisions what you are and aren't allowed to do. I'm communicating with you through the leash. If you get overexcited, if you jump, if you bark, if you're just walking around being uneasy and nervy and you're sniffing everything and you're all frantic and you're panicking, right?

Speaker 1: You now have a tool to communicate to your dog and to help them settle. You have a tool to disagree with things and correct them. If they need to be corrected, you have a tool that just says, Hey, don't worry about that. If your dog starts fixating on something that they're uneasy about or that they get excited about, which might be more of a correction if it's something they get overexcited about,

Speaker 1: Right? But through pressure or pops, you can now communicate with your dog effectively. 'cause you have that prong collar on and they're on a leash. And now the dynamic starts to really shift and your dog starts to go, oh, like this person is my handler. Right? This person has standards and they start to become automatic. They start to become default. They start to become normal, right? It takes a little bit of time and practice to keep your dog from just slipping back into their old stuff. But the more you do it, the more normal it becomes.

Speaker 1: And your dog just does the stuff on their own without being told. Right? So starting with doors, you walk up to a door, what's the first thing that happened? Most dogs, what we see is they try to shove their little snoot in between the person and the door, right? And they, they're just waiting for you to crack that door open so they can then squeeze their snoot right into the crack and try to weasel their way out the door. That is way out of line, way out of line.

Speaker 1: So what should happen is you just walk up to, to the door with a nice loose leash. And the second your dog crowds that door at all, meaning they like move past you, right? The dog should never be closer to the door than you is a good rule of thumb. They should never be closer to the door than you. And they should be never trying to stick their little nose or their head in there to get through when you crack the door. So the second the dog starts to move past you and crowd the door, you say no and you deliver a good firm leash.

Speaker 1: Pop how firm depends on the dog, but firm enough that it's very clear you don't want them to do that behavior, right? For a real small dog or a real sensitive dog, this might just be a wrist flick, right?

15:32 — Correction strength varies by dog, from a small wrist flick to a two-handed leash…

Speaker 1: A firm little wrist flick and nothing more for the great dane that I have right now. This might be two hands on the leash and popping with all my strength. It just depends on the dog. And size is not the only factor. Different dogs, different sensitivity levels. But your dog should have a moment of, oh, right? If they don't, if they don't get that, if they don't have that moment of, well okay, then you probably weren't firm enough and you're probably gonna have to do it some more, right? And a lot of this stuff, you're gonna have to do it more than once.

Speaker 1: But the key is you shouldn't have to do it every time, right? Which is why we hate commands and we hate saying sit or wait because you will, you will have to do that every time. That is not automatic, which means it's not changing your dog's perception of anything. It's not changing their state of mind. It's not making them more polite. It's not making them calmer. It's just you have to spoonfeed them that command every time.

Speaker 1: So good training, you really shouldn't have to do it forever. You should really be able to move somewhat quickly into a phase where you're just monitoring and you just give the dog feedback occasionally if they need it, right? Touch-ups are to be expected. 'cause your dog isn't a robot. We don't want them to be a robot, they never will be, right? And behavior wiggles and evolves and things change and your dog tries stuff, they're living things. So sure you'll have to touch things up sometimes, right? But generally speaking, you have a few conversations with your dog about one thing they should go, I get it.

Speaker 1: And they should start doing it automatically. And I'll talk about case I have right now where we're, we're seeing that, you know, day one, day two, dog starts doing it on their own. Um, but so a good firm leash pop if that dog crowds the door at all.

Speaker 1: And if you're not sure then they probably are. That's been our experience historically is if, if you feel like the dog is fixated on the door, you feel like the dog is about to move forward, they probably are. So it doesn't hurt to just give them that information, don't do it <laugh>, right? And when I say that, I don't mean verbally. You don't look at your dog and say Don't do it, which is what most people would probably do. 'cause we tend to be very verbal, physical leash communication. And I challenge you to do this all silently.

Speaker 1: Very, very quiet. Except for maybe using two words, no, which would precede your leash. Pop or good, right? Very nice, neutral, good. Just lets the dog know I approve. Good job.

Speaker 1: Um, but the quieter you are the better. So you go up to the door, dog crowds the door, you give 'em a leash, pop dog goes, oh, oh ho, okay? Then what you should do is you should turn around, move away from the door and come back and do it again. Now you don't need to make a big deal. You don't need to do anything fancy. Don't cue the dog off in any way. You just wanna be very natural and normal. Just walk to the door like you would put your hand on the doorknob. Make sure the dog's still staying polite.

Speaker 1: Open the door, okay? When you open the door, the dog shouldn't move a muscle. They should pretty much just be standing again. They should not move past you. They should not crowd the door. If they do deliver that leash, pop. Now a lot of people want a very black and white list. If my dog does this, I do this. If my dog does that, I do that. And we can't give you that because every dog is so different. The best information we can give you is just to tell you, you should feel empowered to communicate with your dog through the leash

19:23 — Correct the dog when it begins pushing toward the door, rather than waiting for…

Speaker 1: Pretty much any time you think they're too forward. Whether that means physically or mentally. So you don't have to wait for your dog to be out of position. If you can tell it's coming, it's a good time. If you think it might be coming, it's a good time to just say, Hey, we're together. Right? Little leash pop, don't be overexcited, don't be crazy. Don't be blasting through the door. You gotta use your leash.

Speaker 1: Then I usually prefer to say let's go when we go through a door. So if you have a release word for your dog, you can use that, but it's not my favorite. Um, unless you are sending the dog through the door by themselves to go do whatever they want in that case, fine. Right? So I'll send my dogs through the door and I'll say break 'cause that's our release word that we use. Um, and that means they're free to go run through the door and take off and go do their potty business and investigate outside and have a good time, right?

Speaker 1: They're free, free time. If I'm going through the door with my dogs, I will say let's go because that's a lot less loaded and it doesn't imply that they're free yet. So then we walk through the door, I say, let's go. We walk through the door and I stop, right?

Speaker 1: So as far as like the human having to do anything, that's really the only thing I do. I stop. So during this whole sequence, I haven't done anything more than use pauses, right? And leash communication like we're talking about. But I mean, I'm not giving commands. I'm not walking on eggshells. I'm being very natural and I'm just using my leash to tell the dog when they do something wrong and I'm just doing good. If they do a good job. And it's that simple. And the simpler you keep it, the easier it will be for your dog to pick up what they should do.

Speaker 1: We tend to muddy the waters by being very verbal and by feeling like we have to incorporate all kinds of food and all kinds of praise and affection and no, you just need to make it clear to your dog. And by the way, I have no problem with food or rewards, but especially in this context, you're usually just gonna bring up excitement, which is the exact opposite of what we're trying to do. And also get your dog outta kindergarten. I mean, we're talking about being polite at a door, okay? They're not jumping through hoops of fire.

Speaker 1: Your dog doesn't need a food reward for everything. So for this exercise, for this expectation, I'd stay away from it. Mostly what we're doing at the doors anyway is stopping unwanted behaviors, which is not a food related activity. So when we have puppies, we're, we're using lots of food at the door. And I mean young puppies like three, four months old, we're not leaning as heavily on correcting going through the door, but we will, right? At some point we do have to draw a boundary. And with a dog that's over six months, no, just tell them you, you can't do that.

Speaker 1: You gotta be polite, right? So use your leash pop. So we get to the other side of the door and we stop and the door, the dog should be hanging out with you still, right? Because you didn't give a release word. You either just walk through, dog's obviously gonna come with you, right?

Speaker 1: If they're on a leash or you can say let's go and walk through the door. Dog should hang out with you. So if you stop, your dog should stop and hang out with you. Now, nowhere in here did I mention sit, because I don't care if they sit generally speaking, for most dogs, I don't expect to sit. Some people do. That's great. But the reason I discourage that is because most people will not move away from telling their dog to sit and again have to do it forever. And you're not accomplishing what we're accomplishing doing it our way, which is unspoken expectations, right?

Speaker 1: And I communicate to the dog what to do or that they did it incorrectly with my leash, not with my mouth, except for I might say no, right? If the dog tries to bolt through the door to no right before I give a leash pop dog crowds the door to no then a leash pop.

Speaker 1: Um, but they should hang out with you once you get to the other side. And that's really important. 'cause like I said, everyone talks about before the door, no one talks about after, right? But again, if you just let your dogs, if you just say let's go and then the dog takes off and drags you down and you eat the floor, what good is that? Right? If you get to the other side of the door and your dog's like haha, free for all, like it's no good. You wanna really not lose that leverage. You wanna harness the potential of every moment to wire your dog to be paying attention to you.

Speaker 1: And then when you do release them and it is time for them to go do that, that's fine.

24:57 — If a dog blasts from its crate, shut the door firmly and repeat until…

Speaker 1: But these doors are huge. They're so important. The crate looks the same way when you open the door, your dog should not come bombing out if they do, or even if they're just a little too forward physically or mentally. And you can tell they're thinking about bombing out. That's also not good. Our first line of defense and communication with that is usually slamming the crate shut. And you gotta slam it firmly, especially for a big dog. 'cause if they do decide they're coming out, a lot of them are gonna make it through <laugh>. If you're not moving fast.

Speaker 1: So it's gonna, you gotta be slamming it hard and people get concerned that it's gonna hit the dog, it's gonna bump their nose. Sometimes it does. But unless you have a solid steel door kennel, you're not going to hurt your dog.

Speaker 1: Most dogs are just gonna back up when that happens and probably avoid it. But if they don't and you end up bumping their nose a little bit with that flimsy wire door, doesn't matter. Your dog will be fine. <laugh>. Okay? So that's the first line of defense. 'cause it's just the easiest thing to do because you have your hand on the door, right? And you don't open it slowly. You open it normal. The way we would open any door, that's so important guys. 'cause if you have to walk on eggshells again, it's no good, right?

Speaker 1: Your dog has to learn how to behave in a normal world where people are acting normal, normal. So you just open it and of course the first couple times you're gonna be ready, hopefully, right? Because they're probably gonna go, oh, time to come out <laugh> and they're gonna be ready to fly. So you start to open that door and if you even think they're thinking about it, slam it up.

Speaker 2: Okay?

Speaker 1: Now, if you have an eco on the dog and you wanna add an eco correction, you can do that too. But we usually don't at first just because it's a lot to juggle. And this is a great place to start. And then you can add the eco correction later if they decide, um, spontaneously that they're gonna test that boundary again. But, you know, most dogs don't. Most dogs don't. So you'll do that a couple times, then you'll open the door, reach in, put the leash and prong on the dog while they're in the kennel. That's my preference.

Speaker 1: And then after you do that, your dog is gonna think, now it's time to come out. And so you need to be prepared to do the same exact thing again. So I'll just warn you right now, you put the leash and the prong on your dog, you reach in, you get that all put on. Then as you come outta the kennel, right? 'cause you get your arms in there. As you pull your arms out, you need to grab that door again in case they push that bound. So as you take a step back, your dog's going to probably think you're inviting them out.

Speaker 1: That's okay. You're not inviting them out. So you have to tell them that this is another place people get lost. 'cause they think, well, I am going to invite them out. Or while he's confused, he thinks that's an invite. It's like, yes, this is how you clarify it, right?

28:20 — Rehearse stepping back and making leash noises while teaching the dog that those triggers…

Speaker 1: If you don't clarify it, you don't clarify it. It's not an invite. So you have to tell them that when I put the leash on you, that is not an invite. When I step away from the crate, that is not an invite. So you have to go through all of those scenarios and say, no, slam your door. Right? Or if the dog actually makes it out of the crate, you'll, you can say no and give 'em a leash. Pop, put 'em back in and rehearse that reach in. Clip the little snap on the leash. Make it make noise, right?

Speaker 1: So you simulate putting that leash on. 'cause it's that noise is very triggering. Dogs. Oh, it's go time, right? So any little thing that triggers your dog, the think it's time to come out when it's not. Do that and tell 'em it's, it's not time to come out. And you don't tell 'em verbally other than maybe a no, you tell 'em by slamming that door shut. Right? Or leash pop. If he makes it out, it's fine too.

Speaker 1: And you'll do that over and over and you'll rehearse once they're sitting there politely. And it doesn't really matter if they're sitting, but a lot of dogs will be, once they're being very polite and very patient, you say, let's go. Right? Again, same as a regular door. I don't like to use release words like, okay, or break because they're loaded and the dog runs off. You wanna continue patterning, pay attention to me. Dog comes out, you say, let's go. Dog comes out. Now you're immediately gonna lift your leash straight up in the air gently, okay?

Speaker 1: Especially if your dog doesn't know what a collar is yet. Um, 'cause they, it, it's just pressure guys, when you do that, it's just pressure around the neck. But you, you do it straight in the air. Most dogs are gonna sit their butt on the ground.

Speaker 1: If they don't, you might have to teach them by applying pressure upwards and then saying sit. Right? But in that case, the sit should go away very quickly. In one session you do a couple handfuls of reps, the word sit should go away, right? But again, it's gentle pressure upwards. And then once your dog knows what it means, you can increase the pressure. Increase the pressure if you have to, if they're not sitting right. But we always wanna use the least amount of pressure needed with the leash. 'cause otherwise you end up having to manhandle that leash all the time.

Speaker 1: And that's not what we want. Right? That sucks too. And for some dogs are just like that 'cause they're so insensitive. Uh, but most dogs aren't. Most dogs, once they know that, that little pressure in that direction means to sit, they just do it.

Speaker 1: And you can do it with one finger and it's fantastic, right? So make sure you start very gentle, but basically you're gonna have a nice short leash, right? So if I call my dog out of the kennel and I give them six feet a leash, and they're just at the end of it, running circles around me, sniffing, glancing around that is not patterning the dog. We want you say, let's go you back up and invite the dog out and you reel in that leash. So it's nice and short, right? And if the dog isn't super calm or sitting on their own, and I don't necessarily require a sit, but it's not a bad idea.

Speaker 1: But again, we're trying not to do it verbally, but will just use our leash. But the most important thing is that the dog comes out of the kennel and they just hang out with you calmly.

31:48 — Repeated “Kennel up” and “Let’s go” drills build calm in-and-out transitions.

Speaker 1: They don't leave. They're not running circles around you. They're not trying to go investigate something else. They're not sniffing everywhere. They just come out and they're calm, right? So reeling your leash and use that upward pressure if you have to, to get your dog to settle and do that over and over again. In, out, in, out, right? Kennel up, let's go kennel up, let's go kennel up. Let's go in, out in, out practice, taking the leash on and off practice, closing the door and opening it. Same thing at the front door, right? So do those drills where you're going in and out.

Speaker 1: Um, we do this. It's, this is stuff we do on day one, but we don't talk enough about it. We, we talk about the doors, but we talk about it in passing. And I think we're just doing kind of a disservice by our dogs and our people, people, by not putting enough emphasis on this one aspect of training.

Speaker 1: And then the last piece is forget the doors. Just anytime your dog is on a leash, they should be still and calm. Doesn't mean they need to be a statue, but they don't need to be walking around looking for things they don't need to be glancing all over the place. Whining, frantically, sniffing, straining, pulling, certainly not pulling, right? Even if you're just standing still on a leash, your dog should be still with you just hanging out. So you need to learn how to use that leash pressure to get your dog to settle, right? So if your dog's being a little nutty, a little whiny pacey, you can give 'em a leash pop.

Speaker 1: So you don't need me to tell you, like, if your dog does this, you can pop the leash, you can pop it anytime you want, right? If you feel like your dog is too mentally escalated, then do it.

Speaker 1: I think people worry too much about things being black and white, when to do this and when to do that. And we way overthink it. You know, your dog. So you need to have some faith and confidence in yourself. And you gotta say, Hey, my dog is climbing that mental ladder a little bit. I'm gonna pop my leash. Easy peasy. Right? And you don't need to fling 'em to the moon. So how firm, firm enough, whatever works for your dog. Again, they're all different. Some, a really gentle wrist flick is enough for some, I've got two hands on the leash to do it, but you know your dog.

Speaker 1: And the thing is, if you overlook all of those moments and you let your dog stay a little elevated and you let your dog kind of pace around a little bit and you let your dog start to whine, you are working against yourself.

Speaker 1: So I would think if I had to give everybody one huge thing that could make such an immense difference in their dog's state of mind and their relationship, it would be this leash communication. Your leash should never be tight, right? So we're not gonna get into the walk here, but if you've got your dog on a prong collar, it will not remain a valuable communication tool if you allow your dog to pull with the prong collar on. Because when they pull the collar engages and every second that it's engaged, they're just getting used to it.

Speaker 1: And it just becomes normal for the leash to be tight and for the collar to be tight. And so now it's not a tool for you anymore. So it's super, super important when you walk on it, or anytime you have your dog on it that they're not allowed to strain on it, right? So normally if a dog is staining on a leash, when they're on the prong collar, what we're gonna do is we're actually gonna move into the dogs that we can create some slack. And that slack is gonna give us the ability to do a, a good leash pop.

Speaker 1: And that way we can say, Hey, do not pull the leash,

Speaker 1: Right? Because that's imperative. 'cause you will not have that tool in your tool chest at all anymore if you don't. So you have have to have to tell them no tight leash, right? And again, we're not gonna get into walking, but man, doors, crates, front door of the house, um, car doors, any door going into a store, anywhere huge. Anytime your dog's on a leash, just not allowing them to do, engage with the environment. Not until you say it's time. Now, let's say you think your dog needs potty, right? Or you have a friend that they know and you, you're fine with them saying, hi, those things are all fine at your discretion.

Speaker 1: Your dog should not just assume I'm going to go do this. And what I love about all these things I just covered is they sound, they sound like a slog, but they're not. Once you do it, you're gonna be amazed. And there's no, they're so easy because there's no, you don't have to teach your dog any words to do this. You don't have to use any commands. In fact, you shouldn't use any commands, right? The closest thing I've said to a command during this whole thing is, let's go. It's not really a formal command, it's just an invite, right?

Speaker 1: It's like we're moving, we're going together, let's go.

Speaker 3: And

37:16 — A leash pop should be a practiced, immediate snap-and-release, not sustained pulling.

Speaker 1: That's it. Other than that, the only thing I ever say is good or no right? And no would be followed by correction. In this case, a leash pop. It is an art to learn how to do a leash pop. I recommend you learn how to do it. If you have to put your prong collar on a stuffy and practice, do it <laugh> because it is an art, it does take some practice. You have to have some slack in your leash to get a good pop. So what we see happen a lot of times is dogs will be pulling on the leash and people try to pop it, and it just doesn't really work that well because you don't have any slack in it.

Speaker 1: So a pop is a really snappy fast pull and release, right? It's an immediate release. It's real snappy and it takes some practice.

Speaker 1: But man, just these things, just doors and just being still and calm on a leash, it will be night and day. People are blown away. Lesson number one. All right. Good luck guys. I hope you, uh, implement some of this stuff and, and get some, uh, good results. We'd love to hear them by the way. Send your questions, uh, comments, experiences. Let me know if you got anything valuable out of this podcast episode at to Kati at Diamond Canine dot com. That's Kati, Kati at Diamond Canine, C-A-N-I-N e.com. All right, that's it for today, guys.

Speaker 1: Thanks for joining me and I look forward to next time.