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Getting Buy-in for Pain-Free Equipment – Helping Clients Change
➡“But without the prong collar, how will I control him?”
That was my client’s worried first reaction. Her goofy Lab, Wrigley, had been on a prong collar for months, mostly to keep him from lunging playfully toward other dogs and dragging his person down too. When I knew this team from puppy class, Wrigs was the SWEETEST with other dogs, and with people, but something had changed and now he seemed “aggressive”. ????
????Through adolescence, Wrigley got very strong and in his enthusiasm to make new friends (dog and human), he had begun pulling very hard. When he was restrained from getting near them, he started feeling frustrated. He started to tense up and bark at people and dogs he once greeted with a wiggly body. Every friendly face was becoming a trigger, and his barking was becoming deeper and starting as soon as he saw someone, even at a distance. He had begun associating pain ✴ from the prong collar his well-meaning owner had put on him with the sight of every new person or dog.
????It was a lightbulb moment for her when I suggested that Wrigs was pairing the pain with the presence of others. She never meant to hurt him, and was immediately open to the idea of trying something new to get her sweet boy’s friendly greetings back, but needed the control as well.
I suggested a front-clip harness, and we practiced gentle desensitization and counter-conditioning. Wrigley began to relax again. We practiced at great distances from the triggers and paired every new person with yummy snacks. Then we worked on focused heeling and a strong SIT-STAY to be used when space was tight. All this was taught using high value rewards. Wrigley’s bouncy self came back along with better manners and a better attitude too.
????That transition wasn’t just about the tools. It was about earning his owner’s trust. Slowing down, listening to her worries, and showing her how these new tools could help them all feel safer and happier together… and that loose-leash walking and safe control could happen without the use of painful prongs.
Have a tool transition story of your own? Share a tip for overcoming objections and getting buy-in. Let’s help each other coach owners through these tricky conversations.
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8 Replies
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I recently suggested playing the name game inside the home with few distractions on a no pull harness or the new blue harness to assist the owner in gaining control of the dog’s pull reflex. My goal is to dissuade them from using the prong collar since usually they have intelligent and trusting animals who enjoy learning and pleasing their humans, just need some fun and rewarding structure in which to practice loose leash. They love their dogs also, so usually are open to learning less aversive techniques, like the head halter click and treat for just touching the halter. Started using thumbs up sign language instead of clicker recently because work with a deaf dog. Literally handy, can clench treat and it demands eye contact. Thank you, Catherine, for your engaging conversations.
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@dot focus is everything and it’s super smart to start inside the home to build that skill for both ends of the leash.
Love the thumbs up signal for a marker to communicate with a deaf dog. A light flash can also work and can be seen with peripheral vision if the dog isn’t looking right at you (not a laser light though since that can damage the eyes if the dog looks right into it)
Congrats on your progress and how you are helping your clients!
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Thank you for your reply..The light flash is brilliant..i.will pass that on.
Sincerely,
Dot
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@dot You are welcome. Please let us know how it goes!
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Hi Catherine,
Just an update on the deaf dog’s progress. No more prong collars. Pet parents bought nice, wide flat buckle collars. Typical (highly food motivated) English black lab learned to check our faces for eye contact, me touching my nose as recall, palm up for “sit”, thumbs up for clicker/marker. Here we are playing The Name Game with his friends, they all learned his name is the nose point. Pretty cool.
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@dot This is SO LOVELY! I am excited for you and for this beautiful boy. How grateful his pet parents must be to you for your discovery and accommodations. Such a wonderful interaction and I love that the other dogs are able to wait their turns as well. Very impressive!
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Just a quick thumbs up to both @catherine and @dot . WTG, both of you. Very inspiring!
I love to get folks off the pronged collars, in private lessons and on walks. They are usually willing to try new equipment. Especially because I know a couple of past clients who had a disaster happen when the pronged collar spontaneously malfunctioned and they had a loose dog.
I got my first walk client (male unaltered Chocolate lab) to walk well on both the front clip harness (he did awesome) and head halter (although he did not love that, much). He walked like a prince, the owner was so happy, she kept the harness and never looked back at the pronged collar.
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Your clients are so lucky to have you, @bernerlabreclectus !!
Ugh- that moment when any collar fails. Been there!! But especially with a harsh punisher… when the dog knows he’s “free”, it’s very hard to get them back (as it should be!) I used to point out to people that if they NEED the leash, there’s likely some work to be done on the relationship. Caveat: dogs will be dogs, and when following instincts, they are not being mindful of their attachment to their person! But still, if the dog is so tuned out when on a leash that someone needs a harsh tool to “get their attention”… yeah, we can help with that! ????
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