Head halters?

[plebayo]

We used to have a client that used them on her GSD mix and Rottweiler mix - the Halti kind.

I'm pretty sure she didn't go the extra mile and "properly" introduce them. She was by no means into dog training at all.

Her dogs would actually put their noses in the hole and were excited to have them on. Personally, I think it's like teaching a puppy to walk on a leash and wear a collar. They aren't wild about it at first, but if you make them wear it ALL the time, associate fun stuff with it, etc. I think they learn to accept it but I also think they have to wear it a lot in order to do so.

Personally I think the harnesses and head halters are worthless just in the sense that they don't really teach the dogs anything. Yeah so the dog doesn't pull as hard with the halti on, but when you go back to a flat collar they are back to pulling. I think the two leash idea would be good because with the use of the Halti you could teach them the feel of loose leash walking with a leash attached to their collar.

I think it's definitely harder to introduce it to an adult dog, but again, I think it's all about making them wear it and live with it. We had a client who had a dog that had seizures really bad and the dog kind of lost its mind after a really big one. The dog was a 5 y/o schnauzer mix, the woman had some mental issues [so again, not a dog trainer] and she made the dog wear a muzzle when they were out walking and the dog accepted it no problem. However, I think the dog was just forced to wear it and deal with it and the dog figured out it could wear it and still go for walks and still function with it on.

[Malli]

We've got a head collar for Patch. I can't remember which it is though... I've tried regular harnesses and they do NOT work with him. He can't walk correctly on his collar, so it was the head collar we went to and it worked. Although, he doesn't like putting it on (He doesn't like putting ANYTHING on, actually), but he walks like he's supposed to... However, he still pulled a lot. The one thing that bothered me is because it's a plastic buckle and I was always worried it was gonna pop (He has A LOT of freaking head 'fat') and if you clip his leash to it and his regular collar, it doesn't work as good...

Now, he's on a springer prong/pinch collar. He still pulls a little if I let him.... But we're working on his heeling, finally, and he's getting 'better'. Sucks, cause we've got him on OB/CGC classes right now, and the trainer will NOT let him test out with his prong at the end.... Sooooo I've got around 5 weeks to work with him on both collars and get him walking on his regular one. Can we say screwed? (This one also bothers me about coming open... But you have to squeeze the prongs to get them apart, so I don't know... And it doesn't work right with is collar attached.)

When Oscar wears his prong collar, I worry about it coming apart, so I got this :
http://www.companyofanimals.co.uk/produ ... halti-link

Its kind of dinky, but would probably hold up for at least one good tug against it, enough so that I could grab him.
I think they are getting harder to find, but somewhere like Collarmania might be able to make one for you.

[TheRedQueen]

Personally I think the harnesses and head halters are worthless just in the sense that they don't really teach the dogs anything. Yeah so the dog doesn't pull as hard with the halti on, but when you go back to a flat collar they are back to pulling.

You can say the same thing for any type of equipment...choke chains do nothing unless properly used in conjunction with training. Prong collars won't work for not pulling on a flat collar unless you train the dog and wean them onto a flat collar. E-collars don't work unless you are training also. That's why they're all considered "training equipment"...you train with them...none of them are mystical devices that magically make the dog stop pulling. I mean, they might work at *that very moment*, but once the equipment is removed, the dog will revert back...UNLESS you train. So no, the harnesses and head halters don't make the dog suddenly get a clue about what the person wants...but like any other type of equipment, it helps in getting the point across. The head halters are aversive to some dogs, but that's not really the way they are supposed to work (unlike prongs, chokes, etc).