My Puppy Hates Her Collar And Lead

[pennyw74]

My 10 week old Cavalier hates her collar and lead.

I am trying to get her used to it little by little.

She has been wearing the lead and walking around with it for 20 minutes while we're at home watching but as soon as we take it in our hand, she sits and pulls backwards. She won't look at us and sulks. Her mood changes completely.

I had a bit of success yesterday, enticing her with a treat and she did walk towards me while my fiance held the lead but she didn't realise he was actually holding it, I don't think.

If she feels it pull at all on her neck, she fights it and gets really uptight.

I want to make this a good experience for her and I know eventually that she'll know it means going for a walk and she'll look forward to it. I know she doesn't understand what it all means just now but how can I let her know that it's not a bad thing and not to get so upset about the whole experience?

I have never tried to pull her along - I know that would only make it worse but even if I pick it up, she will not go anywhere.

[petmezz]

i would find a place whear the dog hasn't gorn befor in your yard, pref whear no stry dogs have been able to get to. place the pup on the ground with the lead attached, hold the lead and follow your dog around as it explores this new area. at first the pup may just sit their and do nothing this is ok, just stand their holding the lead, eventually after a few sesions the pup will start to explore talk to the pup and incurage this, do not place any resistance on the lead follow the pup holding it.

talk to the pup when it explores, say nothing when it isn't, just stand their as soon as it moves to explore something you moove and incurage. you may find it will take two or three sessions befor the pup will explore this is ok, just being in a totaly different place is good socilisation.

[luvsdogs]

Something I saw on a video today getting a dog to accept a head halter. The halter was shown to the dog & it was given a treat. This was done several times. Next the dog was encouraged to target the halter & treated. Then encouraged to put head into it & treated. Finally the dog accepted the halter as something exciting as it meant food.

[Tonymc]

Penny, I get pups coming to me before I ever put a lead on them.Then I put a Collar on them without a lead,call them and play around with them.They soon forget about the collar.Then I put a lead on.

I start in a small area and I squat down or even sit on the Floor.Animals have oppositional reflex, which basically means they will fight pressure.So our job is to show them how to gain relief of pressure.I take up a tiny gentle pressure and just hold it there, not increasing or pulling at all.I just set a barrier.

Initially we ask for the tiniest step and build on it.For example as soon as the Pup even turns his head my way,I release the gentle pressure.Thus he learns how to gain release of pressure.Of course as soon as he turns his head towards me,I also praise him.

Once he has grasped that basic step and understands how to gain release of pressure,I go up a step.I apply gentle pressure then call him to me.

Once pups understand how to gain release of pressure its quite simple to walk on a leash.The Pup learns if he stays beside me he gets a loose leash and it becomes a comfort zone for him.If he lags back, he ends up feeling gentle pressure,which then drives him to move forward to gain release. Tony

[Lablover]

I do not know how to answer this question. As soon as a collar and lead are placed on any puppy, I reward with fun, so it has never been a problem.

Is the collar and lead heavy?????

[J...]

I used a very light collar on my pup. I gave her a day or two to settle in then put it on just as she got her meal and then took it off when she was finished.

Given she was getting three meals a day, within several days that collar was the best thing in the world.

[pennyw74]

The first collar we tried may have been a little heavy, so we tried one of those Martingdale leads, which is so light. She absolutely hates that, too. Even if she sees it, she runs away. I have tried to make it fun for her but it's like her whole personality changes. She sulks and won't even come to me for a treat.

[Leema]

If she runs away from it at the moment, I'd get the lead and collar and put it on the floor in a popular place (say the lounge room?) and just leave it there for a few days until she doesn't care about it anymore.

I like the idea of feeding her with it on. If that's too much, feed her next to her collar and lead.

I would be rewarding step by step of the process... So reward her for looking at collar, moving towards collar, touching collar, having collar move towards her (not moving away from it), having the collar touch her (not moving from it), having the collar touch her near her head/neck, then just her neck, then some fiddling near her neck, then some more fiddling, then an actual buckling up and quick undo. ETC ETC.

At the moment you are asking too much... "Allow me to put this on (even though you hate it), allow me to lead you by it (when you hate it)". Wearing a collar and walking on lead is often lumped together - your puppy obviously needs you to break things up and reward steps towards what you want.

As a side note, the issue I had with my puppy was the putting on/off of the collar/harness. Just too many ants in her pants! I rewarded her for still quiet behaviour as I increased the duration of me fiddling around her neck. She had little aversion to it being on, just the process of it being put on and off. In this instance I broke things down and rewarded the things she was uncomfortable with to form a more positive association.

If you have any questions, please ask. Hope that helps.

[pennyw74]

She is happy to pick up the collar and chew it. She will drag it along and chew it for ages.

I had a little bit of success yesterday. I rewarded her for coming to me when I was holding the collar.

Eventually, I put the collar on and after a few attempts, she was coming to me.

Then, I was holding the end and she reluctantly came to me after calling her a few times. Her little eyes kept glancing towards the lead, then back at the treat, back to the lead and back to the treat but eventually she came. She did this about three times. Then she fell asleep with it on and woke up with her own personality back again. I took it off her then.

I will try the same again tonight.

Wow, what a process.

[persephone]

I think I must be very cruel

I put a collar on, and it stays on! The pups often will run around, or lie down, or 'buck' for a minute or three..but they are ignored totally, and eventually realise that the other dogs are doing things, and they may be missing out..so , of course they come over to investigate!

I just leave them be, and they then realise that THEY are in control of whether they sit there and feel bad, or start moving and have fun.The collar is on them regardless...

With a leash, the same applies... when the leash is on, it stays on. If they choose to make the experience uncomfortable, so be it.

If they choose to move toward me, similarly to what Tony describes, then we have a lesson being learnt, and everyone wins

Young Widget always comes and puts her head in her collar at night time...she gets fed, is given her bones and Kong,and is on the chain overnight...she is around 7 mths now...

I hope you soon get your pup to associate the collar/lead with some of the better things in life

[pennyw74]

I bought Izzy a new collar today, a small, lightweight one that is perfect for her.

She has been sulking for about seven hours now.

I'm not sure if it's because she had her vaccination or just the collar.

She keeps scratching at it and won't walk properly because she is constantly aware that the collar is annoying her and wants to use her back legs to scratch it.