When you are dealing with something that an animal is afraid of, the best approach is to find his "comfort" distance from the thing that scares him. A busy street makes this a bit more difficult, as you have to find a way to give him that "distance". If you have a car, maybe transporting him to a less busy area might make a good start. Perhaps a side street, where he is comfortably away from busy traffic. You could then walk toward the busy street, pausing as soon as you see some sign of anxiety, and retracing your steps just little until he is in his "comfort zone" again. Gradually…...with the use of bribery and rewards......ask him to approach closer to the scary stuff. Liberally reward him for being there, then retreat. The idea is to not force, let him decide when he is ready. If he feels he can retreat at any time, he will have more confidence. This approach may take awhile, but is less likely to create a permanent aversion. (it works well with spooky horses).
Getting off the leash
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Not sure which is the most appropriate forum for this, anyways…
On two occasions with my old leash she was able to get off (I have no idea how).... we were walking and she became loose. I took the leash back to the store and explained what happened, they gave me credit towards a new leash which has a stronger snap, but she has done the same thing with the new leash two times. This morning I turned to walk and she wasn't attached, luckily she was sniffing the ground and was oblivious that she was free.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I don't know if its a fluke I have two defective leashes that are different styles from different companies or if my dog is a genius :). The only solution I can think of is to have 2 leashes on her at a set time which isn't ideal, or use something without a snap that is permanently attached to her collar (and unfasten the collar when we get home).
These are the two leashes I've tried so far, and all the leashes I've seen in various stores look pretty much the same in regards to the snap.
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751339
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4070844
Any suggestions would be really appreciated, thanks!
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Did you blink? Cause they can chew on the snap and remove just that fast.
Make one of these:
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My girl used to do the same thing! I also had to rig up a different snap.
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Yes, this has happened to me before! Very scary.
I don't have the time/patience to replicate it right now and take a picture to show you, but I saw that the second time it happened, it was because Bowpi's new leash worked with her old collar and the new tags we had on her like a perfect puzzle. You know those little metal puzzle toys where everything's all twisted into a knotted mess, but if you maneuver things just perfectly, it all slips apart? It was like that.
A little complicated to explain… basically, the spring-loaded pull-back clasp of her leash would sometimes fortuitously catch onto the O-ring that connected her tags to her collar, and with a gentle little twist, she would be able to release herself from the leash, just like that.
It was kind of amazing, and I'm glad I saw it because it remained in position for only about a second before she slipped loose.
Needless to say, we got her a new collar right away and twisted it up in all sorts of combinations to make sure it wouldn't snag the same way. We haven't had the problem since.
FWIW, we use Red Dingo leashes with the classic "Old Faithful" clip:
http://www.reddingo.net/dogbiteclips.htmIt's kind of neat because the clips are designed to be interchangeable, and they have some other cute designs. Though they're swappable, it's sturdy; the clip itself is in no danger of coming apart.
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my dad makes all these leather leashes/collars. never had a problem with them, the one time i was forced to use a break away collar my B went full force toward another dog and i pulled opposition direction. the collar broke apart and i had to chase my dog in 105 wash dc heat, chased her for blocks thru streets, cars stopping ….we both dodging cars. some old guy took my pup for me cuz he was holding me back, luckily he was still there waiting when i came back. came back in the house and dropped to the floor and my fiance was like whats wrong with u, i was like "udont even wanna know" then told her the story lol, luckily i cornered her in a restaurant parking lot and i had no energy left and luckily neither did amber. she gave up and i got her back.
these leather collars are great tho never had a problem with them. my dad is in the process of starting a website and selling them. i have a pic of the poker suites collar on my red B. ill try to find it and post later
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I rarely post on this forum these days but if there is one topic that could get me to do so this is it!
I have had several Basenjis that could do this, with the trigger clip that's pretty much universal these days. How they do it I don't know. Bryn had to gyrate a bit to do it but Ezri just seems to shake herself and it's off. I will never trust trigger clips again (and I have high quality bridle leather leads with heavyweight brass clips, not cheap nylon and nickel ones). All my dogs now wear leads with a buckle fastening such as are made for Greyhounds (mine are Whippet sized). They have their disadvantages; there is no swivel so they twist up, and they are very fiddly to fasten when getting eager Bs out of the car. For this I use their old trigger leads with a safety strap of the sort that come with Haltis, fastened to the lead at one end and clipped to the collar ring the other way around to the main clip, so they can't shake them both off at the same time.
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I've had this happen but it's usually was because I had the clip through the ring towards the buckle of the collar. Now I always make sure that the clip is through the ring so that it leads away from the bucle - I'm not sure if thats very clear?
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i use a horse lead
we've made home made leashes that use a small abseiling clip that actually has another metal part that winds over the join that i connect to her collar.
Similar style clip i talk about but hasnt got the metal wind over the join.
http://thumb15.shutterstock.com.edgesuite.net/display_pic_with_logo/149035/149035,1227051123,1/stock-photo-climbers-belt-clip-isolated-on-a-white-background-20755429.jpgSimilar again with the wind part that will stop the clip from coming undone
http://www.stubai-bergsport.com/pics/fulpmes/produkte/safety_set_bc_pico_produkte_680919.jpgI just bought the appriopriate sized clip from a boating/hardware store. (the one that has the metal clip over the join, so unless she chews through her lead we know the clip is defintly going to stay on the collar).
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I know what you mean Patty; but I always made sure to do this and it didn't make any difference. It's not every dog I've had that could do this; most can't but once they figure it out the first time they always seem to do it again.
