Most dogs find it intimidating when you suddenly reach for them to grab their collar or harness and can become mouthy to keep your hands away from them or shy away from your reach. Hence it’s important to teach them that this can be a positive experience, so you can then use it in potentially stressful situations.

How to teach this behaviour:

Start training at home, in a non-distracting environment and once your dog is comfortable with you reaching and holding on to their collar or harness, practice this behaviour outside.

➡️ Reach towards your dog and mark for staying in position and calm, then feed a treat. Reach from the side, rather than from above, as that can be naturally intimidating for a dog (looming over them).

‼️ Note: reach as far as your dog is comfortable with. If your dog tried to mouth you or moved away from you, start again and reduce your reach.

‼️ Note: you can bring reaching from top into it at a later stage, once your dog is comfortable with the behaviour.

➡️ With each repetition, move your reach a little closer to your dog, until you can touch the collar/ harness. Mark when you touch, then feed a treat.

➡️ Then reach for the collar/ harness and gently hold on to it for one second. Mark and treat while your hand remains holding on.

➡️ Build up a little duration, I suggest up to 10s, holding on to your dog’s collar or harness.