Eazyloop Systems
eazyloopsystems@gmail.com
Out of her love and understanding of animals, Deborah White of Carlsborg has become the inventor of a dog collar that controls medium and large dogs without hurting their necks when they strain on a leash.
“I came up with the Eazyloop System seven years ago because my previous service dog, a golden retriever, was pulling all the time,” White, a disabled veteran, explained. “I needed something that was a collar that had some action to it — like a martingale collar but engineered differently.”
A martingale is a type of dog collar that provides more control over the animal without the choking effect of a slip collar. White capitalized on that concept and took it several notches up by developing a nose loop/collar system that actually rewards a dog psychologically for not pulling.
The adjustable loop, which stores in a holder on the collar when not in use, features a nylon cord encased in soft plastic tubing that goes under the chin and over the muzzle.
“It’s never tight across the nose so the dog can eat and drink. First and foremost, it has to be comfortable — there’s no pressure on the dog’s neck or nose until the dog pulls,” White said. “The dog walks into the loop and feels pressure, which equals submission, and no dog wants to be in submission because it’s not natural, but they can learn that. Pressure on their nose is constantly asking them to be in submission.”
White said choke chains, prong collars and even harnesses put constant pressure on a dog’s body even when it’s not straining, “so it’s not rewarding the animal when it is behaving. That’s why I came up with the Eazyloop System — it rewards the dog immediately when it stops pulling.”
White has seen the Eazyloop System work wonders on her rescue dog, Bella, a 6-year-old black labrador she’s had for nine months.
“Bella had aggression problems I didn’t see until I got her home and started working with her,” White said. “Bella had no direction because for her whole life she was tied up in a backyard and yelled at. When I first got Bella, without the Eazyloop, I would have had to completely remove her from the room when someone came over. Removing her from her pack is not enjoyable for me or her.”
Now, instead of hurling her 65 pounds at a visitor, Bella, wearing her Eazyloop collar, is the perfect portrait of politeness, sitting calmly at White’s feet before sliding to the floor for a nap.
“I want her to be a service dog and basically mind her own business, no matter what’s going on. Without the Eazyloop, I never would have been able to get her this way,” White said. “It keeps her in submission because the nose is really, really sensitive.”
In what started out as wrangling with Bella on walks, especially dangerous because White has health issues that make her prone to falling, the “gals” and Ace, 250 pounds of miniature horse, now can stroll trails near White’s home with only a light touch. Bella’s also been trained to prevent her owner from falling and helping her get up when she does.
“With my disability, there’s not one product on the market that I could safely walk my dog during what I call ‘dog moments.’ With the loop on, I could control her while waiting for another owner to get his loose dog off the trail.”
Jaques Dulin of Innovation Law Group Ltd. in Sequim has helped White apply for a patent for the Eazyloop System and when he found out she’d been holding back on marketing her product, he told her, “You go, girl!” And so she has with an online store and several demonstrations with Bella at the Co-op Farm & Garden, which now carries the patent-pending Eazyloop collar.
At a recent demonstration, White had her own “Cesar Millan” moment. Millan is a well-known dog trainer whose mantra is “calm assertive energy.” As White tells it, a woman came up to her display and described her golden retriever as out of control and impossible to walk. After encouraging the woman to bring her dog inside with its harness, bounding, the dog drug its owner down the aisle. Within a few minutes with the Eazyloop, White was walking the woman’s now very calm retriever around the store.
“The owner was in disbelief and she started crying with happiness,” White grinned. “She gave me the biggest hug. To get their dogs to stop pulling is people’s biggest wish.”
White stressed that the proper way to use the Eazyloop is to stand fast and let the dog walk into it — without jerking — which is counterproductive.
With other collars, the dog thinks, White said, “You’re jerking or pulling on me. What does that mean? What do you want?”
The Eazyloop System is for dogs with muzzles at least 2 inches long and comes in two sizes: 14-20 inches for medium dogs and 17-27 inches for large dogs and each package comes with a detailed brochure on how to adjust and use it.
“My goal is to give owners the opportunity to go on safe walks and have control with their dogs and to prevent injuries to the owners and the dogs,” White said. “A happy dog is one who feels safe.”
For more information, see eazyloopsystems.com.
