Gil Lutz has been a guest on DOG TALK®, describing his life using Guide Dogs as his partners in life. When Gil heard me interviewing Sean, the owner of Canny Collar, being interviewed by me about this amazing tool to pleasantly control your dog on walks on CAT CHAT® (Gil has Sirius/XM and a wife with 9 cats!). Gil wanted to try a Canny Collar for his dog Evie since when she is in harness working with him or when his wife tries to take her for a walk; it’s nearly impossible because of Evie’s pulling. Gil tried to order a Canny Collar from their website and this email dialogue between him and Sean followed:
Hello Gil – I’m sorry to hear you have had a problem with ordering a Canny Collar from our website. I have asked our technical guy to take a look at it, which he is doing now as I write this email to you. As a gesture of goodwill, I would like to send you a complimentary collar if you would be so kind as to let me know the size you require for your Guide Dog. We have done a lot of work with them here in the UK (the Association of Guide Dogs for the Blind here and in Ireland are also regular customers). With regards to your daughters work with the shelter, we have a special discounted rate for shelters but I would be happy to donate some collars to the CARE shelter, also.
Kind regards,
Sean
Thanks Sean! We are looking forward to receiving the collars and will put them to good use immediately. We’ll give you some feed back quickly. I work with several of the Dog Guide schools holding GPS workshops – involved with a product that has developed a GPS system specifically for the blind and visually impaired. Several of the Dog Guide schools are integrating GPS training with their dog O&M training. I will be showing them the Canny Collar and know that there will be a lot of interest from their head trainer, who is a good friend of mine. I’m also going to be on Tracie Hotchner’s Dog Talk Radio program on February 7th and will certainly comment about your support and some of my experience using the collar. I think these will be great because we work on leash training and basic obedience while the dogs are at the shelter.
Again, many thanks from both Megan and me but a special thanks to you for producing this much-needed product.
Thank you,
Gil
Hello Megan and Gil
Many thanks for coming back to me. Your work with the Guide Dogs sounds fascinating and very rewarding and Evie sounds like a lovely girl. I also took a good look around the CARE website and was impressed with the good work you do there. We have been very active in helping shelters out here in the UK and I would be more than happy to help out in the US where we can. We are a small family run business so don’t have the megabucks of big business but hopefully we can make a difference here and there, especially when a poor animal through no fault of his own is in danger of being euthanized. We’ll get a size 3 out to you for Evie plus some sizes 4, 5 & 6 for the shelter today. I would be very grateful if you would let me know how you go with her and the collar – all feedback is always greatly appreciated!
Dear Sean – Eureka! I have had two long and fruitful outings with the Canny Collar, using it when my guide dog Evie is in her working harness. I call Evie my Furry Ferrari – she is a very aggressive puller in harness. I’ve been working with her for the year and a half that we’ve been teamed up together with mixed results. When she first starts to work if we’re walking to the bus or on the streets she is very eager and pulls like a tractor puller. I’ve tried the Halti but that didn’t work. Constantly telling her “easy” and moving the harness forward to take the slack off of it works for about three strides then she starts gradually pulling harder and harder until I go through the drill again. That’s the history. Using the Canny Collar is unbelievable in the way it works. Here’s how I use it: Evie is harnessed and the leash that normally connects to her Martingale collar is attached by one end to the Martingale. The other end is attached to the Canny Collar. Holding the harness and the leash in my left hand with the lead to the Martingale with slack on it and the lead to the Canny Collar with just enough tension to keep the leash from drooping but not pulling I can reach over with my right hand and pull back on the leash to the Canny Collar, when needed. It works sort of like a throttle in reverse. When I apply pressure to the Canny Collar I reinforce it with an “easy” command. It immediately causes Evie to take the pressure off of the harness. After two outings she is already walking with me not pulling me. She still needs a little reinforcement but is the best she’s been since we’ve been teamed up. Needless to say I’m in love with this new found tool and will be singing its praises to anyone and everyone that might have an interest. I’m going to show it to the pet stores where we shop and to my vet. I’m going to be on Tracie Hotchner’s Dog Talk® Radio on Feb. 7 and will sing it’s praises and explain how I’m using it. I can’t tell you how fortunate that I am having originally heard about the collar when you were on Tracie’s Cat Chat® program. Chalk up another winner up to Tracie.
Dear Gil – I’m absolutely thrilled that you have gotten such a good result in a short time with Evie! It feels good – doesn’t it – not to be dealing with that strong pulling? I really appreciate you telling your local pet store about the Canny Collar. You may also be interested to know that we are currently getting some samples made up in red and beige, the latter being specifically for trials with Guide Dogs here in the UK and Australia. I’ll let you know how we progress with that project. I hope all continues to go well for you both on your walks and of course, if we can help in any other way, then please just let me know. I was happy that we could do something with the shelter and hopefully some of those poor guys will be given a second chance with the aid of the collar too. Keep in touch and let me know how you go with Evie. She sounds like a lovely girl and I hope you both get to enjoy more relaxed walks from now on!
Kind regards,
Sean
Finally I wrote to Gil: I am thrilled beyond thrilled by this connection – just imagine if this great tool could improve life for people with service dogs? What a home run! Please let me know how I can help you to spread the word about Canny Collar to your fellow-guide dog folks. You and I been looking for a project to do together. I’m thinking maybe this is it! What synchronicity in life if you guys who need your dogs to see turned out to be the ones to encourage sighted people to have a better walking experience with their dogs!! Didn’t I tell you Sean was THE BEST – and he has just now become a sponsor of my website, so how wonderful is it to see his kindness and good-heartedness in action for the first time! I feel truly fortunate to have CANNY COLLAR as a new partner.
Tracie
