Oliver Hurt Angel Tonight

[Kimberly Baxter Packwood]

Oliver hurt Angel, our 15 year old 12 pound sheltie, again tonight. Hubs said it  was dominance behaviour he tried to mount her after flinging her about the room  which apparently all happened in the bit of a heart beat.  I was doing  laundry so wasn't present. 

I'm at a loss as to what to do when he tries to  dominate her, and it's NOT playing!  I did finally find out from the  previous owners that he's an alpha male to the point that even the husband cowed  to him.  

He's ONLY nine months old and weighs 75-85 pounds already!  Submission techniques are  not working on him he wants to push everyone and everything onto the floor and stand on top of them.

No he's not neutered.

[Becka]

ha ha Jay this is a really funny mental image: "I pretty much always have at least one dog attached to me when I leave the house". Sounds like a Far Side cartoon.

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

Don't leave home without 'em. :)

It's true, though - I don't think it's healthy for dogs to be left behind.  They like to be involved in whatever you're doing and of course they need exercise.  Fortunately I live in a place where I can walk to most places, and for most places you'd go there is at least one dog-friendly option.

[Becka]

Sigh--I miss living in the Loop.

[Kimberly Baxter Packwood]

We're within walking distance to most places as well, but most of them are not dog friendly and I realize that folks leave their dogs tied up outside the grocery store, post office, library, unattended but I'm one of those people that thinks this is a really bad idea!

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

No - please do not do that.  Karen, are you having deja vu yet???

Kimberly, someone I admire very much once suggested leaving out all "buts".  I wonder if that would help.  Something to stop focusing on all the problems and reasons you can't do this or that or the other and start thinking positively about what you CAN do to improve the situation.

[Kimberly Baxter Packwood]

The leash or the belt goes over your shoulder?

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

I was trying to find a picture of me with mine but I couldn't find one.  My go-to is a mountain climbing rope with claps on both ends and knots and rings in various places to adjust the length, and a poop bag thing that kind of makes a handle when it's in hand-held mode.  Or you can attach one dog to each end and hold it in the middle.  But you could do the same thing with any leash and a carabineer.  Something like this:

 

[Kimberly Baxter Packwood]

This is nice, I could probably make something like this I have large sides of belt leather and the hardware.  What are the dimensions exactly?

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

Headed home now. Will check and let you know.

[Kimberly Baxter Packwood]

thank you!

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

Okay, here is my customized homemade job.  I like to tweak and customize things in general, so you won't need all the features - but it should give you an idea.

Here is the whole thing laid out:

The collar end is a customized herm sprenger martingale collar that has been outfitted with a buckle to make it easy to take on and off.  That way it just stays on the leash at all times.  There is a very nice lady in Florida that sells these - F can give you her info.  I MENTION THIS BECAUSE IT SEEMS QUITE LIKELY YOU WILL BE NEEDING A PRONG COLLAR IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES.  PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU GET A PROFESSIONAL TO TELL YOU FOR SURE AND SHOW YOU HOW TO USE IT PROPERLY FIRST THOUGH!

I covered as much of the metal as I could with this black nylon thing so it doesn't get in they way for photographs.

Then there is a ring that slides around.  Useful for all sorts of things - even can function as a slip lead in a pinch.  AGAIN, PLEASE TALK TO AN EXPERT BEFORE TRYING THIS.  Also note the cute little teeth marks.  :)

Then you have the poop bag holder.  That should be self-explanatory:

When it's looped over your shoulder, the poop bag falls across your check.  I also stuck a little squeaker from inside an old dog toy in there:

That way I can just do a little "beam me up" gesture and I get a squeaky noise.  Use sparingly though or the dog will stop responding!

Here it is in shoulder strap mode:

The poop bag holder and knots keep in from squishing you if the dog pulls.

Last but not least, here is Lola wondering why in the world I've got the leash out when we're not going for a walk:

The whole thing is six feet when fully extended.  That includes the loop right before the collar, which is about a foot.

For me the shoulder loop takes up about 4 feet when closed.  Of course you'd have to play around with it depending on how big you and the dog are.  I general you don't need a lot of extra though.  The idea is for the dog to learn to walk along next to you hands free and with a "u" shape hanging down.

Hope that helps.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Jay, it looks like you are using a prong not a Matingale per se although yours and mine have the Martingale like attachment, and the great easy open, close modification. The place I got mine from is leashesbydesign.com.