How Do the Chest Touch and Collar Touch Work Together?
The Chest Touch and Collar Touch Together
Quick Summary
Here’s what tends to happen over time when a dog walks in the S-K9 ChestCollar: walks get quieter. Not because anything was suppressed, but because the pattern becomes familiar. The Chest Touch always comes first, so your dog starts to recognise it and adjust before pulling builds. As that happens, the Collar Touch is needed less and less. The sequence does the work – predictability, more than pressure, is what changes the walk.
When the first contact becomes predictable, the second is needed less often.
This article is part of the Contact Hub
How the sequence works
The S-K9 ChestCollar creates two contacts, always in the same order:
- Chest Touch – a light contact at the sternum when the lead first draws taut.
- Collar Touch (previously called the Scruff Touch) – padded pressure at the base of the neck, only if the dog keeps moving forward. It stops as soon as the dog eases off.
The sequence matters more than the individual parts.
Because the Chest Touch reliably comes before the Collar Touch, it becomes a signal the dog can learn to respond to early. Awareness shifts earlier in the process, and adjustment can happen before pulling fully develops.
This does not happen through suppression. It happens through learning a predictable sequence.
What we see on walks
New dogs often take a little time to register the Chest Touch, so early on the Collar Touch appears more often. Then it becomes less frequent. Then the Chest Touch itself becomes less frequent, until the dog is walking on a loose lead with little contact at all. In our experience, this often happens within a few walks.
The Collar Touch remains available.
But it appears less often because the Chest Touch has already done its work. The walk needs less contact, and less intervention from either end of the lead.
Predictable contact reduces surprise.
Reduced surprise leaves room for earlier adjustment.
Key Takeaways
The Chest Touch always comes first; the Collar Touch follows only if movement continues
A reliable first contact means the second is needed less often
Over time, many dogs need less contact – and handlers need to intervene less
FAQs
Does the Collar Touch disappear completely?
No. It remains available for moments when a strong trigger means the Chest Touch doesn’t register.
Is this about stopping behaviour?
No. It’s about giving the dog earlier information, so adjustment can happen before pulling builds.
Why does predictability matter?
Because a contact that always comes in the same place and the same order can be learned. A random one can’t.
Is the S-K9 ChestCollar pressure-free?
No. The contacts are real, but they are designed to be light, early and away from the throat – and they become less frequent as the dog learns the sequence.
What happened to the Scruff Touch?
It is now called the Collar Touch. The mechanism has not changed; the name now describes what actually makes the contact – the collar, drawn down by the dog’s own movement.
The Chest Touch reduces the need for the Collar Touch.
Continue Exploring
-> What is the Chest Touch? | The First Contact
-> What is the Collar Touch? | The Second Contact
-> Why timing matters | Contact Timing Matters
-> How shared overload develops | Shared Pressure Stacking