This little tip will help you have better control of your puppy, and it will immediately start to develop your puppy’s ability to focus.
Grab a leash and cinch it up the way that I do in the video, or simply loop of around your waste and clip it to your dog’s
collar. Rigatoni is being conditioned on a prong collar, so I will be using that. You can also use a “no slip” martingale collar which has a loop that allows for applying and releasing leash pressure. (more in this topic later).
Attach the leash to you, so your puppy is in tow. Practice this while doing the dishes, walking around the house, watching TV, etc. Get creative and have fun with this exercise. Be sure to balance it with exercises where your puppy is on place and a distance away from you. We do not want to create a co-dependent relationship where you are both in close proximity all the time.
How to practice this exercise:
As with any exercise, you can do this every day or rotate it with other drills to keep things fresh for you and your puppy. Do this exercise for 5 to 10 minutes and then put your dog up for an hour or 2 in the crate, or 15 to 30 minutes on place. Training rule of thumb—practice drills of any kind for puppies (Rigs is 4 1/2 months old) for short periods of time—maybe 5 minutes, 3 times a day.