Animal Welfare Professionals

Hi,

I was hoping someone here might have a good idea or some advice for a bit of a challenging behavior case. There is a 4 year old spaniel at my shelter that came to us as a very intense abuse and pc case, there were videos of somethings from bystanders and it was a felony case to give some idea. He's been with us 6 months and is finally able to be adopted out. Everyone is pretty attached to him and besides the leash removal in kennel where he snaps at certain staff members he is a great dog and we all feel so bad due to his situation and how amazing his temperament is usually.  I have started dsc to collar grabs and working on leashing and unleashing and just positive emotional response to handling near the back of his head since he's sensitive due to his case. Anyone have any other ideas that may be best to help him become adoptable sooner than later. I was thinking of training him to be okay with a harness and collar as well to help but as far as in shelter at this current location we need to safely remove a slip lead and he is not allowed to wear a collar in his kennel. 

#Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment
#CaseManagement*

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Hannah Staal
Behavior and training specialist
Spcala
CA
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Have you tried clipping a lightweight leash to the ring of the slip lead and using that to remove the slip lead? It's a management strategy I have had really good luck with on dogs I can't reach towards. I find it works better with a round slip lead than the flatter, lighter ones, but even the flimsy ones can be used. It just means you have to use more force to pull it open again, which can upset some dogs. You put the slip lead on like normal, pulling it to tighten. When you have the dog back in his run, you let go or loosen the slip lead handle while pulling on the clip leash. This should pull the loop back open until you can lift it off over the dog's head.

Here's video I found with a quick Google search: https://www.instagram.com/wolfmotherk9/reel/DDaQtbeylQF/ (Disclaimer: I know nothing about the poster or her other work, so I wouldn't consider this an endorsement of any of her other content! This vid is the only one of hers that I watched.)

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Emme Hones
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