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The leash skills are extremely essential in BAT, because they give a sense of freedom while still being safe. Be sure to get these down before you do your BAT set-ups. They are harder than they look and they take time to practice, so be patient with yourself.

Practice having a quiet body. The first leash skill isn’t really about the leash, it’s about you. Follow the dog whenever you can (when it’s safe). This doesn’t mean standing behind her all the time, but it means watching how your body might accidentally encourage her to go in a particular direction. You can even practice this off leash in your yard with treats scattered around or on a walk in the woods. Stay near her, but out of the way while she sniffs. (Only do that if it’s safe!)

Here’s a video of me doing some leash skills with Peanut. There is no planned trigger here, I’m just doing them to get them on film, like you will do for your homework. Notice that the goal is for me to stay out of his way.

[vc_video link=”https://vimeo.com/131015410″]

Now here’s a video demonstrating some of the other leash skills used for control (Slow Stop, Slide, Mime Pulling). Notice that I have the very opposite of a quiet body here – I’m very obviously leading her around a BUNCH. This is just for a demo. You do not need to do this much controlling in a good BAT set-up (and if you do, then stop the session and change something, either the environment or your own level of bossiness).

[vc_video link=”https://vimeo.com/135900521″]

Here’s me describing the leash skills in another way:

[vc_video link=”https://vimeo.com/135890737″]

Please download the leash skills handout PDF from the public Handouts Page. Practice each of these skills. Watch the video above before you try them out with a friend. Here are a few illustrations to help you.

Slow stop is used any time you need to stop the dog without the added distraction of calling verbally.

Mime pulling is used to get the dog to turn and go with you, when calling away isn’t enough.  The illustration below shows the “Slide” aspect of mime pulling. Your front hand doesn’t grip the leash, it just slides through to create a vibration. Your hand can even be flat. Use slightly more braking distance than this illustration.

PRACTICE

Using a friend as your ‘dog,’ practice the following skills. I know you are eager to jump ahead, but please practice this for a while without your dog. During the exercises, the human-dog should walk upright (as humans do) and hold the leash clip at his/her waist (target the belly button).

The person should give you feedback on how it feels. If you don’t have a human to practice with, tie your leash to a chair. For Slide, slow stop, and mime pulling, swap roles with your friend so you can see what it feels like.

• Using a short leash (6 feet / 2 meters), practice:
  • Handle
  • Slide
  • Slow Stop
  • Relax the Leash
  • Mime Pulling
• Using a long line (12-15 feet / 4-5 meters), practice by having yourself move away and toward the ‘dog’ and also having your human ‘dog’ move away and toward you, at various speeds:
  • Shorter
  • Longer
• Put it all together to practice each of these skills with a long line, and post clips from this part (try to show each skill, no more than 2 minutes total).
  • Handle
  • Slide
  • Slow Stop
  • Relax the Leash
  • Mime Pulling
  • Shorter
  • Longer

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