collar the disc guard 22 surrounds the tube 12 nearby the hand grip 14 a protective sleeve pad 28 is cylindrical and has a central opening therein for receiving the tube 12 the protective sleeve pad 28 surrounds the tube 12 at a position closer to the handle means 14 the protective sleeve pad 28 provides cushioning for the user while walking a dog as demonstrated in fig1 otherwise extended use of the animal control rod as it is employed in fig1 may cause chafing or irritation the protective sleeve 28 may be formed of woven or knitted nylon or similar smooth fabric material a polyurethane foam cashmere wool or other soft non abrading material the present animal control rod 10 can be used to train walk dogs and the like the dog can be attached to the lead line 18 whereby the dog can be held at a distance from the user the rigidity of the tube 12 enables the user to substantially directly steer the dog toward and away from the user side to side as well as push up and down in this way the animal control rod 10 can be used as a training device to teach puppies and or full grown dogs not to jump or otherwise misbehave during walking and or training the.