This was a letter from Gil, a wonderful DOG TALK® listener who has been beating the drums for Canny Collar ever since I introduced him to it — much to my delight and that of Sean, who owns the company. I also introduced Canny Collar to my great partners at Smartpak, which now carries it. You can see a link to the collar on the top of the opening page of my website – the Bulletin board – with a link right to Smartpak’s page for it. I have to say that Canny Collar saved my life just yesterday when I was leaving the vet’s office with my three dogs and the puller was wearing his Canny Collar, which allowed me to keep control of a 100 lb. pure muscle Weimeraner, when he decided to try to bound in one leap to see another dog! Gil is blind, but that doesn’t stop him and his guide dog Evie from traveling 100,000 air miles a year on business, mostly for guide dogs. This is from Gil to Sean:

Dear Sean: I did a GPS Workshop with the Seeing Eye on Friday in Cincinnati Ohio. I had a really good discussion with Lucas Frank, Seeing Eyes head trainer, and he told me that they had revisited their use of the Canny collar based on my spectacular results with Evie and they now have added it to their recommendations for dogs who are aggressive pullers. He said that they’re getting outstanding results. In fact one of the trainers at the workshop gave a collar to one of the presenters who has a Shepherd that thinks she’s a tractor. After the first usage he was amazed and singing the praises of the Canny Collar. He’s used both a Halty and a Gentle Leader which didn’t work. I’m sure I’ll be hearing from him and that he’ll be spreading the word.

I hardly have to use the collar with Evie any more as reinforcing pressure on the collar with “easy” has trained her and she now backs off her pulling and she walks like a lady.

Again, many thanks from Gil, and Evie of course

And from Sean back to Gil:

Dear Gil: Thank you so much for your email and for the great news that Frank Lucas is now adopting the Canny Collar based on your recommendations. I’m very grateful to you once again for your support and for the good words you have spread about our product. However, I’m even more thrilled that you have got such positive results with Evie and are now able to walk her without the use of the collar. This is the best result of all from my perspective, I would love to see no dog having to wear a training collar and for the owner to enjoy being able to walk their dog on a loose leash happily by their side.

Thank you again for everything you have done for us in terms of getting the Canny Collar more widely known. I hope you continue enjoying your walks with Evie and of course, if there is anything at all I can do for you in return, please just drop me a line.

Imagine how pleased I was when Sheila in East Hampton got the hang of the Canny Collar and now LOVES it! She was challenged by it at first – anything new can be hard to adjust to – but she followed my instructions and now she is a big fan (as is Oliver, her Standard Poodle) and she’s even trying to convert perfect strangers. (Hey, welcome to my world!!)

Tracie – Thanks for your email about the Canny Collar. I must tell you that I find it to be very improved over the Gentle Leader. Oliver even lets me put it on him without having to run after him around the kitchen island. I’ve been telling every dog owner that I see about it – especially when I see their dogs dragging them down the street!

I found out that a long time friend has been listening to the show at her desk on Mondays – so I acknowledged her on the air.

Hi Tracie – When I logged on to your show this Monday morning, what I nice surprise I got, hearing you say Hi! while I listened on the podcast. Yes, Oliver and I are still devoted listeners even though Saturday mornings don’t often work for us.

On your recommendation, I got the Canny Collar but it seems to me that it’s not that different from the Gentle leader, except that it’s sturdier and it connects to the lead from above the dog rather than under the chin. Am I missing something?

And I did buy “hyper helper” from Spirit Essences. I use it in Ollie’s food daily, and also spray it on him when he gets into the car where he can be like a whirling dervish when he sees certain trucks like the UPS or other boxy trucks. I actually think it helps in the car. Thanks for the recommendation.

Sheila The Canny Collar is designed completely differently from a Gentle Leader, which attaches under the chin and requires a super tight band at the throat – then when you use it the head attachment shifts around and you are cranking the dog’s head to the side. The Canny Collar is a normally placed collar with little guide reins that clip at the back of the neck and allow you to exert pressure on the nose with very little finger pressure. It’s like driving a little pony in a cart! Go on the Canny Collar page on my website and look at some of their videos and you’ll understand completely, if you haven’t figured it out by trial and error on your own.

As for the Spirit Essence, so glad you’ve seen a difference. I found the greatest shift in the dogs’ attitudes when I added a second Spirit Essence – look at the list describing the products (a downloadable list on my website on the Spirit Essence page) and see if anything sounds like Ollie’s behavior or personality. You may be very pleasantly surprised to discover there are even more ways to find inner stability and peace for him!

Tracie

I wish I could hear your radio, but I am deaf. Do you have articles or transcript of your shows that I could read. I have two dogs, 10 year old Choc Lab and 1 year old Chessie. Chessie needs to be trained and so does my children (8,4,2). Its been challenging lately with the puppy and kids. For example, my 8 year old is upset that I put a pinch collar on the Chessie but it works when used. We could use the help and guidance. My biggest problem is the Chessie and food. He is always looking for food (we do feed him 2x a day). I tried using the block method as instructed by “Me or my dog” program. He will be good for 2 sec then find another way. I have seen him on the table a few times.

Thanks for any ideas about reading your articles. Good luck with your radio show; sounds awesome!!

Dear Patricia – I’m so glad you found me but sorry I do not have a way to make my shows available to you in a written form. Perhaps there are organizations for the deaf which have technology that transfers spoken words to written ones? The first thing you should do is get a copy of THE DOG BIBLE (send me your mailing address and I’ll send you a signed bookplate inscribed to your dogs). The reason I tell you to buy my book is because I think you need to understand some basics of dog training and communication which you can certainly not get by copying the “quick fix” techniques of professional dog trainers on TV. This is why these shows worry me, because people do not take the time to learn the thinking and theory behind training methods and get the false impression from the television shows that there are a few quick tricks that will solve everything. Can you imagine if such a trick were available to teach table manners, for example, to those kids of yours? Instead, it takes hundreds of repetitions to train them to use a napkin instead of the back of their sleeve or cutlery instead of their fingers. So it is with dogs. Your 8 year old is a smart cookie – “pinch” collars are wicked – they do a lot more than “pinch,” they actually drive a series of sharp stiff metal spikes into the dog’s neck. And despite this pain some dogs will learn to ignore it and pull just the same. I urge you to look at the page for Canny Collar on my website and get one immediately. Even the 2 year old could walk the dog with a Canny Collar! A nice place to buy it is from www.Smartpak.com which is now carrying the collar, which works like a harness on the dog’s face without pain for either of you. As for food, I imagine the dog is actually really hungry because you’re probably feeding the dogs just bowls of dry food. THE DOG BIBLE and my website will explain clearly why this diet of only highly processed carbohydrates makes dogs hungry and ultimately fat. So please learn why you need to feed a diet with at least 1/3 high quality protein and only 1/3 kibble at most. There are loads of postings on my blog and on the Q&A section of the DOG BIBLE section of my website which explain all this. Also, without a huge amount of daily exercise, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever is going to be rambunctious and miserable. I’m hoping you learned something bout the breed before getting one and are prepared to give him that exercise that his body and mind require. SO being deaf will not hamper you from learning any of this from my extensive website or book – please take advantage of them and then let me know if you need further assistance. Best of luck with your brood!

Tracie

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