bradpattison.com

Just wondering about hard and soft pinning and why there is a destinction? The book only talks about "hard", however recently saw an episode of At The End Of My Leash, where it is recommended to soft pin? What's the deal?

Hard pinning is typically harder to do, depending on the dog. The dog involved could have many reactions to it, including biting and snapping, falling into a dead weight, etc, and not everyone is physically (or mentally for that matter) capable of handling that properly. There is less chance of this happening in a soft pin because the dog's head is down, and you're controlling it by stepping on the leash, not holding onto the collar which is more "in your face". Brad teaches both methods, and uses both. I'm not sure of what his opinion is on whether one is better or not, or whether they're used in different scenarios, that would be best answered by a CET. But the soft pin is an easier exercise to do for someone with no pinning experience (or if you're uncomfortable doing the hard pin), since it's important to do both exercises properly.