Canny Collar

Just have to say I bought a Canny Collar for my dog..he didn't used to pull very hard until I decided to let him have a go on a rig.. then he suddenly gained an enormous amount of strength and overnight starting pulling like 2 trains instead of the usual steam train!!!

So I tried the stop/start method.. didn't work..
Bought a Gentle Leader.. worked for 2 days then he learnt to pull into it. Spent most of the walk with his head upside down..

Now having a bought a Canny Collar its excellent..He walks like a dream.. stays alongside, and doesn't pull.. Best invention ever methinks..

Definately recommend it to anyone with a pulling dog

I've got one of those,it worked for a while, til he got used to it so I had to go back to the dogmatic.
I wouldn't reccommend them for the giant breeds you might as well just hold the collars. lol !!!!

Seiko didn't like the fact that the lead was clipped on under his chin, he is much more at ease with this collar...

He is large for what he is but he's certainly not giant

It works for now, so I am swearing by it at the moment

Uhm wot is a canny collar??

The Canny Collar was invented by a Scottish man, Brian Smith, whose compassionate attitude towards his horses led him to develop a special slip-line collar for Wallace, a ‘difficult’ stallion for whom other more traditional collars were too painful. The collar worked instantly, Brian was in control of Wallace within a matter of minutes and he knew that Wallace was experiencing no pain or discomfort. Brian continues to work with horses that have behavioural problems. He has saved many animals whose owners had simply given up on them and which would otherwise have been destroyed.

The Canny Company found out about the Canny Collar, ordered one and immediately realised its potential. Having been involved in dog training for some years and realising the shortcomings of other collars (ie. riding into the dogs eyes and yanking their heads to one side if they were used incorrectly) we had been trying to invent something like this ourselves and as soon as we saw the Canny Collar we knew that this was it. We went to see Brian and all of us decided to work together to bring it to the general public.

We initiated a series of trials with owners of dogs who had tried everything to stop their dogs pulling and asked them to rate the Canny Collar for safety, ease of use and effectiveness immediately, after 2 weeks use and after 6 weeks use. We also asked them to rate the other products (headcollars, harnesses etc) in a similar way. The results and feedback convinced us that we had a great concept but modifications would be needed. We made several important modifications to the design and thankfully still get feedback (mostly good now!) but are always open to suggestions on how to make the Canny Collar even better. To keep the Canny Collar as a UK designed and manufactured product, it is now made exclusively by a Derbyshire company, with the packaging also produced in Derbyshire.

It is currently used by around 70% of all RSPCA shelters in England, the SSPCA in Scotland and several more independent shelters. They recognise that it is helping them rehome very difficult dogs and we have many testimonials from shelters who have rehomed long stayers, who it was thought would never get a home. The other great benefit for the shelters is that the dogs are not coming back! One shelter worker in Sheffield said about one dog that they all sat there with their fingers crossed willing him to be a success with his new owners! He was an Akita cross, a fabulous dog whose true personality was hidden because he was just such a nightmare on the lead and he put off prospective owners because of this. Happily he is still enjoying life in his new home as an ‘ex-rescue dog’.

We’ve been following Dogweb for a while and would like to be able to help those people who need advice on choosing and using their Canny Collars such as:

Sizing: the smallest size Canny Collar is a size 1, the largest is a size 7 (although if your dog is bigger, The Canny Company will custom make one for you). As with all collars of this type, sizings are a guide eg. we say a GS should be a size 4 but are a bigger example of the breed will be a size 5 and a pup/small female will more than likely be a size 3. There are 4 holes spaced 17mm apart which means that from the tightest to the loosest is approx 2 inches or 5cm. The last hole on a size 3 will be the first hole on a size 4 and so on, so that there is a collar for every dog. The fitting is specific to make sure that the collars don’t ride up into the eyes and are more ‘tailor-made’ for the dog. The slight drawback with this is that sometimes the size stated for a particular breed may not fit your dog, it depends on his neck size. We tried asking people to measure their dog’s neck initially but found people still ordered a size too big! So now we state breeds and sizes and there is less margin for error. Because of the design whereby it is the slip lead that is the controlling part, it means that the Canny Collar can be used successfully by dogs with small necks/long noses (greys etc) or larger necks/short noses (boxers etc). The only difference will be varying degrees of length of slip line behind your dog’s head. If in doubt, get in touch and we will advise you of the right size.

Fitting: We can’t emphasise enough that the Canny Collar should fit more snugly than a conventional collar, higher up the neck with the buckle fastening behind the ears. You should be able to fit it to the required level of ‘snugness’ and still be able to fit two fingers underneath. The test is to face your dog and try to pull it over his head – it mustn’t be able to be pulled off. This is so that initially, if there is a resistance (as there will be with some dogs for any type of headcollar/training collar) that you can continue your walk with the collar secure. Whenever we have worked with rescue centres, one of the most common things we have come across is that the collar is fitted too loose to begin with. Once corrected, the staff have great success. As these are the dogs that have been given up precisely because they have a behavioural problem (often on lead), this is doubly important. Once your dog is accustomed to the Canny Collar and you are both confident, make it slightly looser by one hole if you wish.

Off lead: our instruction leaflet talks this through but again, based on feedback from owners, we are working on a revision to make this clearer. The slip lead should be taken off the dog’s nose and pulled all the way through from the back. Then the slip lead should be criss-crossed behind your dog’s neck and allowed to fall either side. You should then be able to attach the clips together at the front of the neck without having much free lead at all. The nose strap can’t be left on your dog when he’s off lead as it will simply just slip off. We like to think that when your dog is off lead he is exactly that and if an owner who is not a dog trainer (and most of the general public are not) needs to have complete control, keep him on lead!

Our website www.cannyco.com says ‘not to be used off lead’ whilst the instruction leaflet says it can be used off lead. Sorry! The website is currently being overhauled and has lagged behind the progress of the collar but will soon be consistent.

Other tips: the Canny Collar works best with a lead kept short but loose. A flippy/extenda is not suitable. Ideally, your dog should be at the heel position consistently ie. the time to apply the backward pressure is as he starts moving towards your toe, bring him back to heel and then immediately try to relax the lead but not so much that you can’t quickly control him again should he continue to try and step forward. If you try and keep him in the same position all the time (and this position shouldn’t be ahead of you) you will get good control more quickly.

Also, if the owner is consistent with keeping the dog’s head up and giving praise while not allowing him to persistently sniff, this will help greatly. As with the Halti, if your dog tries to paw the Canny Collar off (very difficult as the lead attaches behind the head and not under the chin where he can get some leverage) then keep going. If you stop, he can focus on trying to remove it but if you keep going he will get used to it more quickly. This doesn’t happen often but sometimes the type of dog that is used to being out of control on a lead doesn’t accept the level of control you now have and tries to stop the walk. If you do, he’s won!

You can’t buy the Canny Collar from many places which unfortunately, as we are such a young company, is true. It is available from a handful of pet shops, most RSPCA’s/SSPCA's, quite a few vets and off the internet. Locally, your vet is the best bet. We asked Pets at Home to stock them and they said they were not interested because they didn’t like the packaging (despite us having consulted one of their store managers consistently during its development!) and that they don’t buy from companies with only one product. We asked for results of any trials they had done but nothing happened there either, suggesting that no trials even took place. So we have tried!

Because we are such a new product, I would guess that not everyone has tried a Canny Collar. Give it a go! Every dog and owner is different and everyone has their favoured walking device – there will never be one product that is ideal for every dog. We simply want to provide an alternative for those owners unhappy with what is currently generally available. Considering the Halti & GL have been around for a long time, I don’t think we’re doing that badly!

Go to www.dogpages.co.uk, type in Canny Collar in the search facility and see what people are saying there - it's mostly all good stuff.

Finally, we donate a lot of collars to rescue shelters and try and put something back. We're passionate about dogs and how our product gives many a second chance.

Ahhh thank you. Now I know wot it is

I dont need this for my dog, but its nice to know its out there