Dog training articles that offers tips and insights from your dog's point of view
How to correctly put on the Mendota slip lead
The Mendota 4’ x 3/8” slip lead is the only leash we use with our dogs and our clients. This leash is soft but strong, comfortable to hold, and, most importantly, can be positioned on a part of our dog’s neck that they will be most responsive to.
Most of us have tried a leash clipped to a collar, but dogs are comfortable pulling from the base of their neck and it can be harder to communicate with them through the leash. On the trails, or where there are high distractions, and possible threats, we don’t like fumbling around looking for the clip and hoping we don’t accidentally clip the leash to the ID tag ring.
We also don’t like using a harness because those aren’t really designed for walking dogs. Think of the animals that wear harnesses - they all do the same job. Carriage horses, plow oxen, and sled dogs all pull! Then we put a harness around our dog’s body and can’t understand why they pull on us. It is called opposition reflex, and well, we just made it comfortable for them! A harness also offers very little control over my dog. If something were to go wrong, my only move is to back up as quickly as I can because everything in front of my dog’s shoulders are in front of my realm of influence.
How about ‘no pull’ chest or face contraptions? They can help because they make it uncomfortable for my dog to pull. If I tied your shoelaces together, you would have a hard time walking. Once we put them back, you would go back to walking as you used to. Same with these devices. They may help in the moment, but instead of teaching a dog not to pull they simply temporarily disable them.
The Mendota Slip Lead
Enter Mendota! We are not sponsored (I wish we were!), we just really love this leash. The 4’ leash is the perfect length - we don’t really want our dog more than 4’ from us in situations that require a leash and the 3/8” width is comfortable in our hands and allows us to talk to our dog because of the limited surface area. This leash is a game changer when it comes to teaching dogs the skill of loose leash walking or dealing with reactivity. We used to encourage our training clients to buy one, now we give them out at the first session! The slip lead design gives us the security of knowing that there is no way for our dog to slip out of it the way they can with some collars and harnesses. The best part is supporting a great company. If the leash needs repairs, you can send it back to Mendota and they will repair and return it at no cost.
CORRECT PLACEMENT
To begin, make sure your dog is calm before you leash them. It takes a moment to get the leash positioned while you are still learning to put it on. Make sure the loop is large enough to fit comfortably over your dog’s head and hold the ring and leather stopper in one hand to be sure it doesn’t slip down and change shape as you are putting it on your dog.
Slip the loop over your dog’s head and keep it above the ID collar at the top of their neck.
*Some dogs don’t like the motion of a hand going into their blindspot, so you may want to hold their collar with your other hand, helping to keep them still.
*If you dog doesn’t love having the loop put on. Hold the loop in front of them and give them a treat as you move it towards them. One or two sessions of that and they will love the leash!
When I put the leash on, I make sure it is at the very top of their neck. Right behind the ears…
And right behind the jaw. The top of the neck is the most sensitive and I want to be able to touch lightly and get a response.
Keeping the leash in place, slide the leather stopper down. The stopper is supposed to be tight so it stays in place. You will get the hang of sliding it up and down.
Tighten the loop almost all the way, then circle your finger around your dog’s neck, making sure that all their hair is flush and any extra neck skin has been pulled down below the leash.
Now you can tighten the leash. After nudging it back up into position, high up on their neck, and right behind their ears and jaw, slide the stopper so it is snug. You want to be able to fit only one finger in the loop.
If your dog is uncomfortable, you may have made the leash too tight. Pull the stopper back a fraction of an inch. Think of this leash like a belt, if it’s too loose it won’t do its job. You may have to stop along the walk to readjust, but putting it on properly is the best way to start.
When you are ready to take your leash off, pinch the leash on the far side of the ring. You don’t want to pull against your dog’s neck while you slide the stopper back.
Position your finger about 1” down from the ring to give yourself a little room to get your other hand between the ring and stopper. Sometimes it can help to fold the leash backwards on itself, exposing a bit of space to pinch.
Once you have your finger between the ring and leather stopper, drag your fingers backwards, towards the handle of the leash. The stopper is tight, so pinching on the other side will keep your dog comfortable. I like to put my fingers in front of the stopper, but you can also put them on the stopper or drag it with your fingernails.
In our training series we cover the cues we give to teach loose leash walking. Ideally, we can walk our dog with slack in the leash, keeping our dog’s attention and having them do the job of staying in a heel.
Dogs that are fun to walk get walked more! It’s worth taking the time to teach this important skill.
You can order your Mendota leash and check out a few of our other favorite products here.
A few of our favorite things
The Naked Dog, as the name implies, likes to keep life with dogs down to the bare minimum. We like to use our body and relationship as our main training tools. We do, however, have a few products we really love.
Our favorite tool
The Mendota Slip Lead in 3/8”x 4’
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We love the Mendota slip lead so much, we started giving it to every client who signs up for our training series.
This leash slips over your dog’s head and can be positioned just where a leash needs to be- at the tippy top of the neck behind your dog’s ears and jaw. For us, the leash isn’t a way of controlling your dog. It’s a communication tool. When the leash is positioned on the sensitive part of the neck, it reminds your dog when they walk they are ‘on the job’ and allows you to ‘talk’ to them with a subtle movement.
Our goal is to have no pressure on the leash from you or from your dog, so you walk together in a way that reinforces the calm, mental engagement we want from our dogs.
This leash is easy to get off and on as you are reinforcing good behavior or reacting to changes in the environment.
It’s great for use in the house if you have a dog who gets nervous around company or is an overzealous greeter. It’s the perfect length to wear over your neck or slung across your shoulder while you hike. I never leave home without one!
Many of our clients have called this leash a game changer when it comes to leash reactivity or teaching a dog the skill of loose leash walking - something every dog should learn to make walks more enjoyable for everyone!
Throw away your harness and grab yourself a slip lead today so you can see for yourself what all the fuss is about!
Made for pets
The best electronic collar on the market
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Electronic collars get a bad rap. To be honest, before I had a client insist on buying one, I didn’t want to use them. The truth is that electronic collars allow me to speak to my dog in a language they intuitively understand. If I was a bigger, stronger, faster dog, I would ‘nip’ my dog on the neck when they were getting too excited or ignoring me. Since I’m not fast or agile enough to catch my dog in a full play gallop, the Mini Educator allows us to touch our dogs without catching them.
We don’t use collars on every dog and it isn’t the first place we go when beginning training, but it gives us a sense of security when teaching a dog to be safe off-leash. We spend a few days acclimating each dog to the collar and teaching them to associate the stimulation with our voice.
When the dog learns that I am ‘home base’ and the right answer is to come back to me if they get ‘tagged,’ they are ready to start learning to be safe off leash. They have learned to respect the boundaries I set, which are in place for safety as well as convenience.
We love this brand because it is designed for pets, not hunting dogs, and the range allows for it to work for every dog, from the most sensitive to the thickest skinned.
For the working dog
Who wants to carry his own weight
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The Outward Hound pack occasionally makes an appearance in our hiking group for dogs who need a little extra. This pack is great for giving a strong, active dog additional exercise so they get more bang for the buck on each mile of the hike. We fill it with water bottles on hot days or soup cans when it’s all about weight. You better believe we are tough on these packs - they go swimming, run through the bushes, get rolled on in nature and survive plenty of full body shakes. The straps can be adjusted to a variety of dogs, which we love in case we switch it out mid-hike. If you want to try a pack for your high energy pup, we recommend starting very light and building up weight slowly. Working dogs love the responsibility and we love the added oomph it offers on the way to tiring out some of our super active hikers.
Stinky Collar?
Dublin Dog to the rescue!
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If your dog loves hiking and the swimming, rolling and playing that go along with it, you know the pain of a stinky collar. We are sticklers for safety, so we ask all our pups to wear collars with id tags. Washing collars seems to be one of those chores that is almost impossible to get to, but if you have to grab your dog’s collar, you will quickly regret putting it off. We love the Dublin Dog because they come in fun colors, they don’t get wet and hold moisture against your dog’s neck after a swim, and, mostly, because they never stink! A necessary accessory for any adventurous dog.
For those who need help coming back
A longline
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Here at The Naked Dog, we refer to off leash work as the graduate school of dog training. Off leash recall is built over time on a foundation of focus, boundaries, a cooperative attitude, and a calm, willing mindset that can be influenced in any situation, even with the most attractive distractions. We use a 30' long line as we build a dog’s off leash skills. The long line gives a dog the feeling of being free, while giving us the control we need to reel them in when we say come or keep them safe in unfenced environments. The long line helps us set a dog up for success on the trails or at the park and we love this training tool.