BOSTON (CBS) — This week, the star of CBSs “Lucky Dog,” Brandon McMillan, stopped by the Pet Parade to share some easy tips on training your pooch.
McMillan has a new book out–“Lucky Dog Lessons“–in which he promises you can train your dog in just seven days.
“In the book, I basically cover seven main commands, and if you cover one of those commands per day, in reality, your dog will be trained at the end of the week,” said McMillan. “The rest is just conditioning. Once your dog is trained, now the rest is just muscle memory.”
McMillan brought in his dog, Oscar, and demonstrated what he calls the “double leash lock-up,” in which he hooks one leash on a dogs collar and another on a harness. This allows you more control over the dog, and
“If I had one leash on, it would be like holding a kite on a windy day,” he said. “If you train every command with this technique, its going to speed up the time, and in seven days, your dog will be trained.”
He said the technique is great for dogs like Oscar, who have a lot of energy.
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As always the details are what’s important in the training. Let’s talk about why this is so simple. As I mentioned before an out of control dog is very difficult to train. All you did here was gain control by adding leashes to the equation. Dogs learn just like humans in many ways. They are trial and error animals that respond to conditioning and muscle memory. They learn very quickly that when they put up a fight it deny’s them getting the reward. The way they got the reward was calming down and the leashes assisted in that process. Without the leashes they’d most likely take weeks if not months to learn to calm down to get rewarded. The leashes speed the process up and make the training much more efficient. What generally happens when training a dog without a leash is they learn to outmaneuver their owner, handler or trainer and eventually that leads to a bad habit because as I just mentioned dogs are animals of conditioning and muscle memory. If you allow them to be out of control constantly they’ll condition themselves that way and they’ll grow up to be an out of control dog. They’re only responding to what you let them respond to. Leashes are key when training anything…especially when teaching control. Also I want to point out the importance of waiting a few seconds before rewarding them. If they’re putting up a fight and then calm down just for 1 second then you reward them, they’re under the impression they’re getting a treat for struggling. You have to let them calm down for a few full seconds to allow the brain to compute why they’re getting rewarded. The longer they’re calm, the more they’ll understand why they’re being rewarded. This is why I’m so adamant about waiting a FULL 3 seconds for them to be completely calm. When their body shifts the gears into park, their brain does too. From there you’re allowing the brain to absorb the information in a much more efficient manner. So just like a teacher you’ve basically put the child in their seat and at their desk in the classroom. Trust me this really is simple, you just have to do the work.
I can’t say it enough. Control is the absolute first step in the training process. Without control we can’t train. When a teacher has a classroom full of students she gains control of them by having them sit in their assigned seats. Now she has them under control she can effectively and efficiently teach them. I see so many people trying to train their dog without gaining any form of control first which make the process way more difficult and 10 times as long. A leash on a dog is control. 2 leashes on a dog is double the control and that’s what I’ll be going over today.
The tools you’ll need are 2 leashes (6 ft), a harness and a bag of treats. You’re going to simply harness your dog up and attach 1 leash to the harness. From there you’re going to loop the handle end of that leash around the leg of a couch or heavy table. The second leash will attach to their collar. Both leashes serve a purpose. The back leash is called the “Anchor Leash” while the front one is known as the “Guide Leash.” Now we’re geared up and locked off let’s get started…
Try this on your dog. It should only take a week or so for them to get this down. Remember consistency is the key to training. Don’t do it once and assume they’re experts at it. Dog training is martial arts for dogs. Much like if you went to 1 class and learned a kick for an hour you’re not by any means a black belt. Show up to that class night after night and eventually you’ll be a force to be reckoned with. The same rules apply in dog training. There is no substitute for conditioning. It’s the number 1 way to get your dog very well trained. It’s also the number 1 reason people quit when training their dog because they realize it takes work. Keep this in mind…if you give up you’ve officially lost to a dog! Try it out and let me know how it goes. Ruff.
You’ll notice when you pull the front leash it will automatically straighten your dog’s body with you so they can’t move left, right, forward or backwards. Hold a treat up in the air a couple feet away from their snout. This will set them off and most likely cause them to start lunging for it. They’ll probably put up a fight for the first few moments which is not only expected but completely normal. All you’re going to do is wait them out for the struggling to stop. The more they struggle all I want you to do is simply pull that leash towards you. This will straighten and control them even more. Wait them out. If you want to give a “Calm Down” command here it’s completely up to you but not totally necessary. Most dogs calm down after just a few seconds, some might take a little longer. When they calm down and are completely still I want you to silently count to “3” in your head. At “3” IF they’re still calm I want you to praise and reward them with the treat. DO NOT reward them if you’re about to praise them and they suddenly get out of control again. This might take a few times to get down and time correctly but it’s pretty simple when you get it. Again we’re going to repeat the process, holding the treat up, pulling the front leash if they begin to fight and lunge for it and wait for them to calm down for 3 full seconds. When they do simply reward them again. Your goal is to slowly add a little more time. Don’t go too fast when adding time. I’d recommend sessions where you do it 10 times at 3 seconds then give it a rest. Your next session you’ll do it again 10 times but make it 4 seconds. Next session add another second, and so on, and so forth. After a week or so you should be able to eliminate the leashes and simply rely on technique alone. This process is a perfect prerequisite for training other commands because now they’re controlled when learning. I wish I could sit here and explain more but that’s honestly how simple and effective this technique is. Just repeat it over and over and add time throughout the week. Boom and done!
With that said, there are so many new tools that really manage leash-pulling until a pet owner teaches his dog how to walk politely on leash. For example, front clip harnesses and head halters work well, but I learned a leash technique from an old-time dog trainer that still works like a charm today. So, when double-ended leashes debuted several years ago, I was thrilled!
Double-ended dog leads make it easy to manage your dog until he learns how to walk politely on leash. When used correctly, double-ended leashes apply evenly distributed pressure to the front of your dog’s chest and collar, which stops excess pressure from being applied to one specific spot. If your dog pulls away, the harness clip and neck collar will turn your dog’s front (shoulders) back toward you.
It worked magically, especially while standing still. The only drawback is 90% of pet owners would forget how to loop the leash loosely in front of their dog. Now, with double-ended dog leashes, there’s no more guesswork.
When dogs pull on a leash, it’s dangerous for both the pet owner and his dog. This is especially scary when a dog is much bigger and powerful than her pet owner. I’ve witnessed dogs pull their pet owner right out of their shoes while waiting for class to begin!
By far, my favorite double-ended dog leash is the Freedom Harness (one end attaches to the front of the harness and the other end clips to the top part of the Freedom Harness). While I think the Freedom Harness is an excellent idea, I really like the security of attaching to two different items because some dogs are really good at getting out of a harness when they need to. Do know, I don’t work for this company, but I highly recommend their dog leashes and harnesses to clients. Plus, you can order these products on Amazon too.
What is the purpose of a double leash?
But if your dogs are anything like mine, that can lead to some serious tangles. Leashes for two dogs, sometimes called “double leashes” or “leash couplers,” are a tool that lets you control two dogs with one leash. They can prevent tangles, and even help improve leash manners for some dogs.
FAQ
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