Beaphar Gentle Leader Mode D'emploi page 4

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 them with kind words,
and perhaps offer them a favourite titbit. At the same
time, pull gently forward on the lead and quickly release
the tension as they set off. Your dog will soon learn that
good things happen when they come 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 their nose up, their head should go gently back
and the hindquarters will lower to the ground. As soon as
their hindquarters touch the ground, say 'Sit' in an
encouraging voice, immediately release the tension on the
lead to allow their head to move freely and offer a titbit.
They may stand up again immediately especially if young,
but repeat a few times and they will soon associate the sitting
position with the word 'Sit' and will respond without needing to lift their 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 them, 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 their
patience by lowering your right hand to give them the titbit and praise them
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 them while repeating the 'stay' command until you have reached the
end of the lead. If your dog moves towards you, remind them 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 them 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 their nose. With their 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 them to lie down.
Do not push down on your dog's back or whithers
as they will push back up and resist going 'down'. Sometimes you can
encourage them to obey the 'down' command by drawing the reward under
a low table so that they must go down underneath it in order to get to the
reward. Remember to repeat the command 'down' as soon as they adopt the
correct position. After your dog has learned 'down', follow the instructions in
the previous section for the 'stay' command to teach them to stay down when
asked.
'Come'
To maintain the leadership/control during
training, attach your dog's lead to the
Beaphar 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 their reward initially, but
as soon as they learn 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 and
get distracted. If that happens, gently pull on the lead to turn their head
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