Are you wondering why your dog doesn’t walk on a leash? Having a well-fit collar on your dog can make all the difference in the world to your training sessions. In this article, Happy & Polly will show you how to fit a dog collar for dog leash training.
What is having a well-fit collar going to do to your training, and how's it going to benefit you? Well first things first. If you have a collar that fits well, if you need to redirect your dog, or move them around, you’re doing it with a little bit less force, versus when it's down low on their shoulders, or their center of mass.
We want to use as little force as possible to move dogs when in need, whether it be to direct them away from something that they shouldn't have, or just to simply have them walk along with me.
How to choose a well-fit collar?
Sometimes the most basic piece of equipment can be the most functional. First and foremost, a well-fit, flat buckle collar is a key to getting off on the right foot. This can make life a little bit easier, or it can offer some challenges.
Now, our definition of a well-fit, flat buckle collar, is one that once it's done up, has just enough room for a couple of my fingers to go underneath it, not so much that I can get my whole hand underneath it.
Our preferred style of collar is one that does actually have a metal buckle that allows you to slide through and place that pin in to give you a secure connection.
No plastic Clips
Plastic clips and things are great, they're very convenient, but they can also be a bit of a fail point. Even in colder weather, as those things get cold, that plastic can sometimes get brittle, so metal is a really good thing to have in that particular collar.
One of the biggest issues with flat buckle collars is that they're a little bit oversized. They're a little bit sloppy, they hang low on the neck, and oftentimes, it's really more for convenience than anything else.
People don't understand how having a well-fit flat collar can benefit them in their training. Having a collar that's easy to slip over the head means the collar has to be a little bit bigger. Most of our dog breeds' heads, the widest part of their head, is much wider than their neck. So for that ease of putting that collar on, it tends to be quite big.
Big dog≠Big Stretch
The problem is that when it sits on the dog, it tends to slide down and sit very low on the neck, okay, like around the shoulders, close to the chest bone. So keep in mind, if you do put flat buckle collar on your dog, and it's a little too big, the easiest thing is actually to take it off the dog, adjust it, and then try it again. This collar's a little bit big, you're just gonna hang tight there.
Collar fit is one of really the most important things to come up. An improperly fit collar really adds some training struggles to the ability to give their dogs information. Dogs pull, dogs do all sorts of stuff, when that collar doesn't fit well, and it throws off our timing.
Good information with good timing is the key to dog training
Timing is our most important thing in dog training. You need to tell your dog within about a second, whether you like things or not. You need to be able to help them to be successful within that second, or not.
And if in that time, your dog's collar has slidden down, they've lowered their head and started to pull, you’re really putting myself behind the eight ball. When you have a young dog that's growing quite a bit, it's important you check that collar every day. Even large breeds, but even our smaller breeds, you need to make sure that it's not getting too tight on them. One of the benefits of that, is that they get used to wearing it all the time.
There are a lot less issues that can come up with some of the faults of the collars, they're a little bit oversized. Having a well-fit collar, there's a whole lot less chance of that sort of thing happening with your dog. Lots of people seem to have an issue with leaving collars on their dogs while they're in their crates or all the time for that matter.
A, you want your dogs comfortable wearing this collar all the time, and B, provided the collar is well fit, and your crate is in good shape. So keep an eye on your collar, and double-check your crate and make sure it's safe enough for your dog.
One of the most common things that happens is we see a collar that we like that has cool pictures on it, or a neat little design, and we buy it for our dog. Those fancy, nice collars are a great thing to have for my older dogs, who are well trained, and who understand how to listen to your voice. But for a young dog, you need a nice flat buckle collar.
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We hope this can help you choose the dog collar. If you enjoyed it and would like to see more news, do not hesitate to visit Happy & Polly Blog.