Beaphar GENTLE LEADER Mode D'emploi page 4

understands how to walk calmly beside you without pulling ahead.
WALKING TO HEEL
Stand to one side of your dog and hold the lead in your
hand, leaving a maximum of 2 inches of slack where it
joins the Control Ring (1). Fold any excess lead into your
other hand. Talk to your dog with a friendly, encouraging
voice and start walking forwards. If your dog holds back,
keep walking forwards, coaxing him with kind words,
and perhaps offer him a favourite titbit. At the same
time, pull gently forward on the lead and quickly release
the tension as he sets off. Your dog will soon learn that
good things happen when he comes to your side.
'SIT'
Hold the lead in your right hand. Pull the lead forward
and upwards to point your dog's nose gently skywards.
As you tip his nose up, his head should go gently back
and his hindquarters will lower to the ground.
As soon as his hindquarters touch the ground, say 'Sit' in an
encouraging voice, immediately release the tension on the
lead to allow his head to move freely and offer a titbit.
He may stand up again immediately especially if he is young,
but repeat a few times and he will soon associate the sitting
position with the word 'Sit' and will respond without needing to lift his head.
'STAY'
Begin with your dog in the 'Sit' position. Hold the lead
in your left hand with two inches of slack, and hold a
reward of a titbit in your right hand. Give the
command 'stay' from directly in front of the dog raising
the palm of your right hand to face him, while still
holding the titbit. If your dog tries to move forwards or
to take the reward, pull up gently on the lead with your left
hand, at the same time moving towards the dog repeating the command,
'stay' . After a few seconds, move towards your dog and reward his patience by
lowering your right hand to give him the titbit and praise him with the words
'good dog' . Gradually increase the 'stay' time until your dog has learned to
'stay' for a minute or so. You may then wish to extend the distance between
you, so walk slowly backwards with the palm of your right hand raised to face
him while repeating the 'stay' command until you have reached the end of
the lead. If your dog moves towards you remind him to 'stay' by pulling gently
up on the lead with your left hand and then quickly releasing it. Then begin
again from close by, repeating the command 'stay' .
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To extend the distance beyond the length of the lead, retreat to its full
extent, lay it on the ground and continue to retreat slowly with your palm
raised and facing the dog as before while you repeat the 'stay' command.
At the end of the stay, call your dog to you using the command 'come'
(see later) and reward and praise him immediately as before.
'DOWN'
Teach 'down' while your dog is in the sit position at
your left side. Hold a toy or food reward in your hand
about one inch in front of his nose. With his nose
following the reward bring your hand slowly
straight down to the floor and, while saying
'down' , move the object slowly away from
the dog at floor level to induce him to lie down.
Do not push down on your dog's back or whithers as he
will push back up and resist going 'down' . Sometimes you can encourage
him to obey the 'down' command by drawing the reward under a low
table so that he must go down underneath it in order to get to the
reward. Remember to repeat the command 'down' as soon as he adopts
the correct position. After your dog has learned 'down' , follow the
instructions in the previous section for the 'stay' command to teach
him to stay down when asked.
'COME'
To maintain the leadership/control during
training, attach your dog's lead to the
Gentle Leader® so that you can control the
distance between you and your dog as you
teach and so that your dog can never run
away from you when you give the
command 'come' . Begin with your dog
sitting in front of you. Next take a favourite toy, or titbit and place it on the
palm of your hand. Kneel on one knee to lower your profile, making yourself
more attractive to approach. Extend your forearm and your hand to show the
reward, giving the command 'come' with an enthusiastic gentle voice. Your
dog should be eager to respond to your request with only one thought: 'how
fast can I gain the reward and your praise?' As the dog steps towards you say
'good dog' and show your hand, palm up for the dog to take the reward
without nipping your fingers to get at it!
Your dog will only have to take a step forward to gain his reward initially, but
as soon as he learns to come when called, extend the distance between you to
a pace or two and then steadily further away, repeating the whole process at
each increase. Do not proceed too far too fast, or the dog may fail to obey
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