As I have mentioned before Jessie LOVES people and LOVES other dogs and jumps up and pulls towards them. We are working through this, but in the meantime our trainer suggested a Halti head collar to give me more control over her. I bought one ages ago along with a harness with a front and back attachment and a double ended lead and this was just about enough to keep her under control, so I only used the halti once and didn't bother again. However, we've had a couple of incidences when we've come across people unexpectedly and she has reared up, so I thought I should try the halti. We have tried for around 4 days and she hates it and just spends the whole walk trying to get it off. I also feel it is having a detrimental effect on our relationship as she is just focussing on getting the halti off and not focusing on me. Also, when we walk on the harness she has a pretty good walk to heal, but this has gone out of the window. I don't know if I should keep trying for a few more days, or just give it up. Will she just get used to it? At the moment, I just don't see how it fits with positive reinforcement training as she is hating the way it clamps shuts and whilst it stops her jumping she is writhing around on the end of it which seems to me like a punishment? And she is not focusing on me which is what we had been working on, so not sure she is really learning anything from it, but maybe it is just early days and she will get used to it? Any thoughts appreciated!
I would stop using the halti. I think their only use should be if you absolutely have to take your dog somewhere on lead and can't cope (i.e. are in danger of being pulled over) and then only as an interim measure until you have trained a proper walk. I haven't used one but there was a lovely flat-coated retriever in one of my classes who wore one intermittently. When it was on he spent a lot of time rubbing at it. He did walk fairly well with it on, but once it was off he pulled like billy-o, so wearing it hadn't taught him anything. He was also so wagging and happy once it was off. I'd almost forgotten that Molly used to jump up at people. It is possible to train your dog not to, by preventing it whenever possible ( try to be aware of your surroundings and reward for four feet on ground when there's a distraction) and when the worst happens get the dog down straight away and apologise profusely. I was lucky in that I met many kind people who turned away and didn't reward Molly with attention but who were also nice to me. I think group training classes also helped as we did the exercise where two people meet to chat and the dogs have to sit or stand quietly. Good luck!
The Halti is really a coping mechanism rather than a training aid. That is, it lets you take your dog for a walk without having to worry about being pulled into the road if your dog sees his best friend on the opposite pavement. You need a two-pronged attack; Halti for safe walks and separate training for loose-lead walking / not pulling. This is the approach that we have used - it has been a slow process but we now do most walks on a harness (if going somewhere new we take the Halti 'just in case' as a new location can be hugely exciting).
Our dog Coco is very strong. When we were visiting him at the shelter before we took him, they always insisted he wore a halti, he pulled like Billy-O. He hated it and rubbed and rubbed it. His nose bled. They always walked him in it. We always took it off. When we adopted & started training, our trainer said "use a halti". I refused. He doesn't like it. He laughed at me. I persevered with a harness. He is OK on that now, until we see other dogs. Same trainer always suggests haltis to people with pulling, lunging dogs, they try them, see the dog doesn't pull so much and think they're great. They ignore the dog rubbing at it's nose, they replace the halti when the dog pulles it off. The dogs are definitely not happy. I think if you can take the time to get the dog used to the halti, and it will take time, then it's OK as a stop gap, it's a useful tool.
Thank you, Joy, for your thoughts (and the hope that this will pass eventually). It kind of conforms what I think, it is making us both miserable. As I say I can generally control her and we have been working on the things you say, both in a class and whilst out and about and are slowly getting there. I just felt I should try it out as I've been out with my children during the holidays so been less vigilant than if just me out with her and we have been to places with more people, so had one or two out of control moments! I think I will ditch it!
Thank you for that. Did it take a long time for your dog to get used to the halti? I can definitely see times when it would be really really useful, which is the reason I wanted to try, but her pawing at it, writhing around on the end of it whilst it pulls on her nose and generally seeming really distracted by it, I find quite upsetting. But maybe this is something that will pass?
Brogan loved his Halti (actually Gentle Leader, another brand), never fought it and even would pick it up and stick his head into the loop when I said "put your snoot on". It was a great tool (prevented me front physically being pulled over) while we were working through on leash reactivity. I introduced him slowly over several days with lots of treats. However, I did the same slow intro with my female Pittie and she HATED the thing to the point that she tried to rub it off on concrete and harmed her nose before I could stop her. I felt horrible. No matter what I tried to make it positive and fun, she was having none of it. I finally admitted defeat and donated hers to my rescue group. Based on these experiences, I would say it's either time to give up the head collar entirely or take a little break and re-introduce super, super slowly with lots of treats and praise. Like over 2 weeks super slowly. But having said that, it just may never work for you and you may need to try other strategies.
If you absolutely, absolutely can't cope without the Halti - and by that I mean your own safety or the safety of your dog is compromised, then you have to use the Halti. I'm a dog watcher, I watch dogs all the time, and many dogs look totally miserable in Haltis while the owner walks along looking happy to have a dog under control - totally shut down more like. Lots of dogs hate them, no matter how much warm roast chicken you use to put them on. Some dogs don't seem to mind them, in which case fine, I suppose.
I know this is a different issue, but I find it really strange that apparently so many trainers suggest using a Halti (or other corrective tool) which is the absolute antithesis of training! Everything else aside, it really doesn't seem like a very effective business model to get people to spend a tenner elsewhere to stop your dog pulling!
If you feel you need a Halti, I found the Gencon the kindness of all, doesn't rub up into their eyes and is a much simpler than all the other head collars.
I only use a head-collar in new places as Harley will pull me. Local walks I have persevered and have her walking nicely now from our house to the woods (10-15 mins walk) and also around the pet shop and other local places. It's takes a long time and I use what I know will help on that particular walk.
I have used a halti type head collar (Gentle Leader) with a previous Lab and, although I had to spend time getting him used to it, he was reasonably happy as I only used it to walk along the road until we reached an area where he could be off lead or on a collar and lead. However a trainer - not from our classes but one I met at a dog event - told me a halti would be wonderful for keeping Ripple under control. She insisted I should try it and stupidly I let her put one on Ripple. He almost immediately shut down, completely different to my other Lab, and I was really unhappy. This trainer more or less said how wonderful it was as he was now under control - this was not how I saw it at all. I think this illustrates the point JulieT was making, it really depends on the dog, and it takes an owner that is tuned in to their dog to know whether it is the right thing to use or not.
I think that is my issue, I don't absolutely, absolutely need it for safety, but there are times I can see it would be super-handy. I have 2 small children and if I am out with them in busy places I can't be as vigilant about incoming hazards as I would like and therefore she often gets left behind, which feels a bit sad. But then again I just don't feel she gaining anything from wearing it right now. She clearly minds it, and isn't focusing on me as she's trying to get it off! So perhaps it is not for us, I think that is the conclusion I am coming to!
