“The trainer used a check cord in such a way to instantly train a dog to heal.”
Karen and I, the co-founders of The Walking Jacket, volunteered to take a neighbour’s Brindle Boxer Nadja, for walks since John had broken his leg and Nadja is young and a handful.
In the parking lot, 60-pound Nadja got so excited that she dragged me across the parking lot in a super-excited, leaping, pulling, tugging, mad dash – probably in excited to go play with my Golden retriever, the elder states-woman Lana Turner.
I was straight armed and still going where Nadja wanted to go.
Under extreme tension and all thumbs, I hurriedly got Nadja still enough that I could wrap the leash into the looped contraption I had learned many years ago while training Golden Retrievers for competition. I looked around slyly to see if anyone witnessed me flailing about.
This was not the experience I wished for myself, nor could John ever get out with his dog.
Under my breath I resolutely determined to find a solution to this moment of near shoulder separation with lengthy physio therapist visits.
As the memory came to mind from many years ago of being instructed by a professional dog trainer demonstrating a “check cord” on a hunting dog at the local vet clinic my breeder recommended.
The trainer used the check cord in such a way to instantly train a dog to heal.
I remember that I became convinced that Pavlov’s dog had it right. Classical conditioning is the way to train a dog to choose to not pull. This was not controlling the pup with my muscles and weight, but training in a way that is gentle and effective.
I went searching for a product but couldn’t find anything either in pet stores or anyplace online that wasn’t a muzzle strap or chest harness (that sled dogs use to pull hard, BTW).
The dog hunting stores and websites had straps and leads complicated to put on and still only offered control – but not good for everyday walking pet dogs around the neighbourhood.
After searching with no luck, I thought I could make a good no-pull leash of my own.
I had to come up with a solution quickly because there was no way my friend John could safely walk Nadja now that she was 11-months and quickly growing into an 70-pound Boxer powerhouse.
We researched various materials and chose the soft, easy to clean fabrics and hardware that our WalkingJackets are now made out of.
The first WalkingJacket was for Nadja of course...
“amazingly the dog instantly stood quietly.”
We again volunteer to take Nadja to the park, with his beta WalkingJacket wrapped around her waist as she came out of the building.
We were curious if she’d try to leap to freedom possibly injuring herself with the tension resting on her diaphragm and transmitting to her esophagus.
But only once – then not at all!
With the WalkingJacket fitted – Nadja stood motionless, panting, and waiting…
She lunged and tugged a few times at first but then she seemed to instantly understand that if he pulled the WalkingJacket would tighten more and be uncomfortable on her breathing.
She stood in anticipation next to my side staring ahead at the dog park, but also aware of me and what the harness was communicating to her, perhaps thinking something like, “Protect my belly, don’t pull, wait, walk alongside, stop, wait for the leash to be removed”.
Once I unhooked her normal regular leash from the WalkingJacket, then she bolted after the other dogs and throw-toys, not even noticing she was still wearing the WalkingJacket.
Incredible!
After we were done playing in the dog park, her regular leash was re-attached to the WalkingJacket and I was able to walk Nadja on the trails with “two finger” control.
When I tighten the leash a bit, she would slow down or stop.
I’d loosen the leash and give a verbal nudge, “let’s go”, or “let’s walk”, and she’d continue shadowing my walking pace. Before this she was constantly pulling.
So Perfect!
This same experience was repeated the next time, so we took some pictures and videos of Nadja on the leash and I have posted them on WalkingJacket.com.
The response was amazing – the next few weeks we had many comments – friends and family asking, (some of them gently pleading) for one of our Walkingjackets for their dog.
We started off making four WalkingJackets for those who lived nearby and asked for comments.
Based on feedback we started to sew the WalkingJackets ourselves selecting new fabrics that were easier to clean and more durable.
Word about our WalkingJacket continued to spread and we created website called WalkingJacket.com, so we could show it and explain the harness to other dog owners.
