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Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Forum

I'm currently using a gentle leader with Jake who is 9 months old, but I want to transition him off of it.  It has done wonders since we started using it around 5 months old, as before he would pull so hard he was walking only on his back legs!  Now he walks the same on a flat collar as he does on the gentle leader, which is okay (no pulling) until he sees a distraction and then he forgets everything.  It does not matter which collar he is on, he does not do a true heel.  He walks next to us with his front legs by our knees rather than his nose which always has to be a few inches out in front.  We are working on this.  The gentle leader is easier to control when he sees distractions (squirrels/bikers/runners/dogs) and I feel better not hearing him choke himself trying to get to them.  I tried a chain training collar but it got all tangled in his waves and had to be pulled out of his hair.  Has anyone tried martingale collars or have any other suggestions on which collars are best for training that wont get stuck in the hair?  My goal is to get him trained well enough to walk on a flat collar at all times.

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Thank you I really hope so too!!  And if you want to read my rant, I just posted it under Discussing Doodly Things, becasue I couldn't think of a better place to put it... it's titled "Problems with an irresponsible owner of an aggressive dog."

We have been using the parachute collor 3/16 round.  it stops them from pulling and when they get distracted from a squrrel or what ever a little tug on it and they go back to control.  If you buy this make sure that you get the right size you need to measure under there jaw to just above where there ears are then add about 1" to the size. 

UPDATE:  So it's been quite awhile since I posted here last but I wanted to give a quick update about our lessons.  This level is to start doing off-leash training so it is a lot of distance work on long leads.  Jake does great, but it is a little hard to use the prong collar for these exercises.  Last night she had us start draping his leash over our shoulders and using our hands as targets for him to focus on right walking next to us without really feeling the leash... he did awesome and I can't wait to start his on his walks!  The prong collar really has worked amazingly well for us controlling him with distractions (bikes especially), he's come far in the last few weeks.  It has also really improved his loose leash walk and we breeze past distractions (90% of the time) with no more stopping.  Still not a perfect heel so I still don't use the command, but we are getting very close! 

Anyways, at the end of this session (in 3 weeks) Jake will have his CGC test, which I know we cannot use his prong collar for, so I'm thinking about switching to the chain or another sort of choke collar since those are allowed, and might actually be better for all the distance work we are doing.  So my main question now is what are your thoughts on transitioning to a chain/nylon choke collars or slip leads (are these the same things?) and how should those fit? I don't want to use one incorrectly again and have his hair get all tangled in it.  I was thinking I'd still use the prong for walking and short distance training so I can give him a better corrections, or should it only be one or the other?  Of course I thought of this all on the way to work this morning so I didn't get to ask the trainer yet for her thoughts.

When Murph took his CGC exam the evaluator told me she would allow the thin nylon slip lead, but no choke chains, prongs, or Gentle Leaders.  I actually used (and sometimes still do) two different types of collars with Murphy.  In a highly distracted area (like a soccer game with lots of other dogs), I still use his Gentle Leader, but the rest of the time I use the slip lead.  It doesn't seem to confuse him at all.  It sounds like you have come such a long way with your training....great job.
The CC rules allow 'choke chain' collars which we used for Ned and Clancy.

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