If you’ve been at our facility or seen our social media lately, you’ll see how much we love this tool! Not only is it simple to use as a slip lead but it also works as a head halter. While no tool will cause a 100% change in dog behavior once it’s on, the sidekick does a great job helping while you and your dog work towards better behavior together.
For a quick look at the sidekick in use, check out this video from the company.
This tool is quick and easy to use as a slip lead for dogs who walk well on a leash and if you find yourself in a situation that’s out of your dog’s training level, it’s fast to change into a head halter for better control.
See the images below on how to put the slip lead and head halter on your dog.
When first using the sidekick you’ll ideally want to work on getting your dog used to wearing a head halter as some dogs won’t quickly acclimate to having something around their muzzle with ease and will fight it.
Here are the best steps to getting your dog to love wearing their head halter before you start using it to walk them.
- Step 1: Show your dog the leash and then give them a treat! We want to pair the sight of the leash with a reward. Repeat this a few times in this session and for a few sessions after this one is complete.
- Step 2: Put the slip lead on your dog and pull the leash out to be in the head halter position (make it bigger than you need to to make this part easy for you & your dog) and encourage your dog to put their nose through the loop to get the treat you’re holding with your other hand. In order to get the treat now, they have to put their muzzle through the loop. Repeat this step a few times and for a few sessions after this one is complete.
- Step 3: Put the head halter on your dog and then immediately start tossing treats on the ground for them to find on the floor. Once you’re done having a treat party, then go ahead and remove the halter. You can also put the halter on your dog, feed them dinner & remove the halter. Repeat this a few times for a few different sessions over a few days to a week. More or less time depending on how comfortable your dog is with the halter.
- Step 4: Start using the head halter in low distracting settings, like in your home or backyard to get them to learn to walk with the halter and get treats for walking nicely with you. For more details on how to work on loose leash walking with your dog, especially with a head halter, then talk to your trainer about setting up a lesson for hands-on professional help.
- Step 5: Enjoy walking your dog out and about with your sidekick!
You can come to visit either our Miami or Oakland Park locations to purchase a Sidekick and for hands-on help using it as part of your training program.
You can also order online directly to your home and use our coupon code ‘ ayp ‘ for 10% off your purchase.
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