Hi Everyone, so I am about to start intermediate obedience with my boy and I am currently trying to decide what is the best set up so I thought I would ask what you all use

My problem is that I am clicker training Orion, so at class I have to try and hold onto his leash in one hand (and be prepared for any sneaky jumps at the tiny fluffy s he might try and execute) have the clicker in the other then somehow whenever he does something right and I click I have to fumble round to try and get treats (this is usually when he jumps lol he knows I am distracted!) so I obviously need a better system.

I have been looking at the flat out ruffwear leashes with the adjustable waist clip, does anyone use this? I thought it looked like a good option that would leave me both hands free while keeping Orion attached to me.
I really like the look of the mendota martingale leashes as well and I was considering just locking that leash to a belt with a carabiner clip would that work?

I am also looking for a new collar for training, Orion is currently wearing a ezydog checkmate collar and while I like it and we have other ezydog products I would prefer to have a actual martingale rather than a limited slip. Thing is though I can only find the Rogz obedience collars. Does anyone have a good brand they could recommend for me?

Thanks guys

I have the ruffwear flat out and I do occasionally buckle it around my waist to work on training. The problem is that is doesn't give you a ton of control in terms of those impulsive jumps. I say with it fastened around my waist, he still has around 4 feet of play (depending on which collar I have on him, but the nice thing about the flat out is that it also has a traffic handle that I can grab when I need to keep him under better control. I can hold the traffic handle and a clicker at the same time, and not worry about the rest of the bulk of the leash in my hand. The only problem that I have found with this is that if he jumps when I have the traffic handle looped around my hand and the clicker between my fingers, it can cause an inadvertent click.

For his collar, I have a many, but generally stick with a rolled leather martingale. I bought it at a dog show, and love it, but haven't seen any like it in pet stores. I remember you saying that your breeder shows, maybe you can ask her/him if there is one coming up and you could go check out the merchandise areas. I'm not sure if they have vendors at shows in New Zealand, but you can get a lot of great stuff at shows for reasonable prices. Plus, you are supporting an individual small business owner, rather than a big box store, like petsmart. Anyway, it works well for most situations, but I use a pinch collar in more exciting environments (although they don't allow those at the place we go for obedience), and I find myself using it less and less. The other nice thing about this collar is that it causes very little matting or fur damage around his neck.

The other collar I've liked is a nylon choke. It offers really good control, but it has to be positioned correctly. It needs to be higher up on the neck, just behind the ears (similar to where a show lead would sit for reference). The downside of this, is that it shifts lower on the neck very easily so it requires frequent adjusting.

i like to take blu out to baseball/football fields for training (useually when there are others around, like say your track people training or some kids playing fetch... they tend to ignore us while still giving blu the distraction element i want)

what i did was went to home depo and bought a carpenters aprine, and a padded toolbelt (one without the pouches) sewed the aprine to the belt and this gives me not only hooks for his training leash (i like to use a 30ft nylon leash.... it gives him the feeling of more freedom but he gets rewarded for staying focused a near me) and i have multiple pockets for easy access to toys, treats etc... although im sure any training belt would do the same... i just enjoy making my own gear whenever possible (im more of a DIY person).

for collars and such i just use his gentle leader, it works for me... its comfortable for him, why fix what isn't broken i say.

then again blu hasnt really taken many classes past his puppy classes, so im not sure if you need specific things for intermediate and up classes.