Clicker Leash Review
February 4th, 2009
Filed in: Uncategorized
Clicker training is the best thing to happen to leash training. It’s effective, it’s dog-friendly, and it works. That said, there is a challenging aspect to it … you need to look like this in order to effectively juggle the leash, the clicker, the treats and the occasional poop bag. There’s definitely some choreography to leash walking!
No longer. Check out what showed up in my mailbox a few weeks ago:
How clever – it’s a leash with the clicker embedded in it!
Sum was more than willing to help me test it out:
Now, anyone who has trained with me will see a red light behavior right out of the gate. Can you spot it? Yup, the leash is a straight line with no curve in it. Sumner is a half-step away from a pull. I always use a 6-foot leash for walking. I’ve found that anything shorter than 6-feet results in the leash going tight every time the dog wants to find the perfect potty spot or go sniff something, and a tight leash is the ultimate leash walking no-no. The Clicker Leash was about 3-feet, and though I wasn’t in love with the length, I kept an open mind and gave it a shot.
Before we got started, I clicked the clicker to see how Sum would react (because it sounds different than our normal box clicker). Here’s what he did when he heard it:
“I know that sound! Pay me!” So I did.
We set off and had a lovely walk despite the shorter leash length. I enjoyed the comfortable handle, although I held it with an ounce of guilt … I’ve been very vocal about my dislike for flexi-leashes and the handle felt suspiciously like one!
Sum did a ridiculously phenomenal job on that walk – maybe he knew we were testing a product and he wanted to give it a “paws up” review, but hot damn, he walked like a champ!
When we came home I played around with the clasp and discovered that I could take the short leash off and attach the handle to one of my own:
Ahhh, much better. There’s that gentle curve in the leash!
So what’s my take on the Clicker Leash? I’m a fan. I loved the merging of the clicker and the handle. No more juggling! I can see how it will make the initial steps of the training process much easier for people who feel like they have two left feet and two left hands when attempting leash walking with a clicker.
I spoke with the President of the Clicker Leash Company about my leash length concern and she assured me that new lengths are coming out soon. Hooray! The only drawback I noticed was that the sound of the click was softer than the box clicker that I use. I found that I had to click a few times when Sumner was reacting to something, whereas one click of the box clicker usually does the trick. (To be completely honest, I use a verbal marker with him now when we’re walking, not a clicker.)
In my book I actually addressed the easiest way to juggle the leash, clicker and treats (and included a photo showing how to do it!) … the Clicker Leash solves the problem in one elegant package!
