I Need A Leash That A Dog Can’t Bite Through – Dog Training – Dog Trainer – Behaviorist
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Sam Basso
PHOENIX , AZ AREA: (602) 708-4531
OR, if you are out of this area, inquire about a telephone or e-Lesson
Email: [email protected]
Years ago, I did an evaluation of a dog that, I was told, wouldn’t come when called.
The dog was an adolescent, male Golden Retriever. If you took him for a walk, and if he saw another dog, he’d quickly turn his head, bite through his leash, and then run off to go greet and play with the other dog.
It might seem that the right answer would be to get a tougher leash. Maybe a leash made of chain or cable, or thicker rope, or slathered with hot sauce. But, that really isn’t the answer at all.
Any dog that I’ve ever met that had this kind of issue hadn’t completed Basic Obedience. The problem wasn’t just that the dog would bite through the leash, the problem was that the dog couldn’t leave other dogs alone, wouldn’t come when called, and an owner that didn’t have the answers for what to do.
I never obsess about equipment. I get people asking me what is the best type of leash, collar, and so forth. It isn’t an equipment problem. It is a training problem. If you had a trained dog, then none of this would be happening. If you just get a tougher leash, you really still have an untrained, out-of-control dog, and I’m betting there are a lot of other behavioral problems you are dealing with, as well.
I met a fellow with six dogs last night. His former trainer had him use electric collars on all his dogs. They cost him $250/ collar. That’s in addition to the price of the lessons. It is impossible to control 6 electric collars at the same time. And his dogs were now getting in fights. I worked with a couple that got an electric collar for their dog. The dog was biting them and the kids, and was being terrorized by owners that don’t know what they were doing with such a device. I told them I could help them with what was going on, but they needed to stop with the electric collars immediately. They didn’t have an equipment problem, they had a training problem. I hate it when trainers focus on selling people equipment instead of focusing on the dog’s behavior. It isn’t fair to the dogs, it is lazy, it is cruel, and it doesn’t work.
Animals will adapt to the things you do to them over time. What might work as a correction today, might not work tomorrow. If you yell at me today, I might just let it go and figure you’re having a bad day. If you do it again, I’ll try to go to another room until you cool off. If you keep it up, then I might end the relationship. We change over time to adverse conditions. Animals do the same. What might have worked for a time can then start to not work later.
Good dog training and behavior modification requires using methods that don’t cause the dog to adapt and then go back to doing the undesired behaviors again. Focusing on equipment is the path to failure. Smarter ideas need to be implemented.
