Going to try a Halti and feeling sad

Thank you for sharing your use of a head collar, you definitely need to protect your spine. I will continue to see how we progress.

 

I'll keep that in mind about the Dogmatic if we really don't get on with the Halti. Thank you for reassuring me.

 

It must so difficult when you don't know what is spooking your dog.

 

A failure is something you really are not, in fact I'd say the opposite. Xx

 

Thank you so much.
I planned our walk today, very wet and raining, had fish4dogs salmon mousse in an icing gun that I've never used. Dexter kept trying to eat the pouch yesterday in his haste to get at it, and also took his lunch kibble.
We started out through the garden but by the time I'd got to the gate, I could see that Dexter was not happy with the Halti, I couldn't seem to get it right today. I decided to take it off and clip it to my bag, I could always try again after we got going if I needed to.
I used the Halti lead which is much lighter and not quite as long and bulky as my other double ended leads and clipped it to the front and back of his harness. I went back to basics and he walked lovely to heel, with lots of C&T of the mousse. After a while I switched to using his kibble with occasional high value mousse, people must have wondered what I was injecting into my dogs mouth as my icing gun looks like a big syringe
On the occasions he got ahead, I stopped called him back to where I wanted him to be positioned, got him focused on me C&T. If he pulled to sniff, I did the same and then took him to sniff whilst saying, go sniff. There was a couple of times when we were on a more distracting part of this walk with different smells and an occasional person, dog, a stream and grass, that he forgot himself or stood rooted to the spot starring after he pulled. I managed to stand my ground and not budge, making different sounds to see what would get his attention back on me, if that failed I lured him by getting the salmon mousse and waving it near him or under his nose. As soon as he looked at me, C&T, sometimes I clicked when he looked at a distraction and he turned back to me, other times he was just and only just beyond doing it. Not totally full on over threashhold, but just outside of his range at the moment. Only twice did he pull to hard but that was when he first got on the grass, I think he forgot he was on the lead and was going for a free run .
The Halti lead was so much easier for me but also not a mega distracting walk like other places we go to and I was able to handle the treat giving better today with the icing gun and a new treat bag to replace the one he snapped off my bag last week .
All in all a very good walk, I'd say Dexter was 90% with me and only 10% distracted throughout the 1 hour walk. I broke it up with choosing to allow sniffing, doing a sit on verbal cue or whistle, turning to go back a few paces and the toilet stops.
I'm going to do this same walk for a couple of days and see how we progress and if it takes less time as he gets use to the new place rather than go to places I know will be to hard for him at the moment. He usually has a shorter lead walk with me to places where I let him then go off lead, my OH is the one who due to the times of day he can walk Dexter, does the lead walks and they have virtually mastered it. I'm wondering if Dexter anticipated his more exciting walks leading to off lead times with me and this is why of late I've had the problems. I'll see how we go by doing structured training on lead walks for a while and save exciting times for the garden just for a few days, to get us back on track, then build back up slowly to the off lead walks. I've ordered some more salmon mousse. Tomorrow it will be prawns and kibble.
If I can do this without the Halti I will but will be very mindful of my shoulder. I'm not going to plan on meeting up with anyone for a dog walk until I know Dexter can cope more easily. If you're with anyone else it just adds pressure that we don't need right now. He's coming along great in doors with his self control of thrown kibble and the ball and I'm about ready to do this in the garden, not throw the ball but start from the beginning with the ball by my foot. He will stay steady when out whilst I place the ball and go back to release him but couldn't do it if I threw it without my fingers through his harness.
Oh dear, I think I've digressed from my original topic

 

If you have to use a Halti, you have to use a Halti - and lots of people above have said why. If your dog isn't happy in it, and most dogs I see look absolutely miserable in them, it would be good to have an alternative.

I wonder if a professional around the waist lead would help you? People always put forward various reasons not to try these - such as it's easy to get pulled over in them (it isn't, it's harder to get pulled over in them - 101 physics....), it hurts when the dog pulls (it doesn't, but you can always add a lunge buster - bungee cord), what happens if the dog does pull you over (they come with a fast release safety buckle) and so on.

I found walking Charlie in a hands free lead speeded up my lead walking training no end - because all you can do is stop or treat. It makes you very consistent.

Obviously, building up to distractions your dog can cope with slowly, is a very good idea! Nothing is going to be a good way to handle a dog that can't cope with his environment at all (as I know only too well....).

Here is a blog entry from Dr Sophia Yin on the Buddysystem (with diagrams for the physics doubters.... ).

http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/r...aist-leash-which-is-safer-when-your-dog-pulls

 

That all sounds very promising. It's really important to protect your shoulder, so don't worry about doing without the Halti. If you damaged your shoulder again you would run the risk of not being able to walk Dexter at all.

I'll have to get some salmon mousse to distract Wispa! There are times when she sees things which I simply can't see at all - i just know that something's spooking her because she becomes very alert and starts walking differently. Must be fairies!

 

Thank you Julie, I've been looking into hands free systems and couldn't make up my mind on the many available in the UK. I might order this from US as all the items would be from the same source, not scattered around from various companies to get the size and extras that I'd like to try.

 

I've found the actual fish4dogs site really great and free p&p even on a small order, which means you can try 1 pouch to try it and then buy in different quantities if your dog values it and delivery was very quick.

 

It's those pesky gremlins , surely not fairies

 

Oops replied to my own post
It must be those pesky gremlins , surely not fairies

 

I have a different 'nose collar' called Gentle leader. I don't use it all the time, but for training walks. He gets treats for walking nicely with the lead loose and to heal. It was very useful when my dad was staying with us and wanted to take Homer for his walks as I knew he would walk nicely with the gentle leader and not pull my dad over. I gave my dad one to use with his dog, a Aussie cattle dog, which has been a great success.

 

This is a good idea and one I hadn't considered. Slightly different, because it's not a proper "system", but I occasionally clip Shadow around my waist using my double-ended Halti lead so I have my hands free. He has suddenly pulled like this, and it feels very strong and stable. It's a lot easier to brace with your big hip joint than having first point of tension on your smaller arm joints. Definitely worth thinking about.

 

I might be able to do this with my new double ended Halti lead as has extra D rings for using multiple ways. Just to see what it feels like. Bracing with my hips would definitely be easier.

 

It's difficult isn't it?

Even dogs which walk nicely occasionally pull. I use a front fastening harness for Tatze when there's a possibility of pulling.

Twiglet isn't allowed any kind of harness so I simply don't move when she pulls - but this doesn't stop the initial pull of course.

.

 

Do be careful, and try this out on flat, clear ground. I do use a leather across the shoulder hunting lead with Charlie and he walks very well on it, but if you have a dog that pulls, you want to think about a thick belt, bungee cord, and the length of the lead - so if you are just tying something round your waist, do it where it's going to be safe.

I did train Charlie with a hands free lead and it works fantastically well, it removes all sorts of nonsense that a human can do with a lead while training.

 

I have my order, poised ready to go to US as can't find the Buddy system and bungee (only at stupid prices) online in the UK. I definitely couldn't use the over shoulder as I can't bare pressure on my right shoulder. I've had to really loosen up my bra strap since the surgery, let's hope I don't creat another trip hazard

 

I don't know if other people have found this but I have been bracing with my hip when Ripple pulls on the lead, I now have considerable pain in one hip and down one side. This may be as a result of a previous disc problem 5 years ago but I know that bracing with my hip does not work for me. Perhaps if it was both hips it would be ok.

 

I brace with my hips, when Dexter pulls but I've also already taken a step forward if it's a hard pull. With one hip taking the strain first, this is a problem.
I've just had a walk around the block with Dexter using my Halti lead around my waist, I did this in the garden first. I went to a couple of places where he seems to pull the most, ie on the grass and down a road where there is one house that for whatever reason he finds difficult to pass. I don't do this road often but now and again to see if we are improving.
I wanted to see if a narrow belt was comfortable in this situation. I can't ware normal wide belts as my body length is short and I find them uncomfortable. Okay, so he didn't pull mega hard, I didn't want to deliberately set him up to fail, what I did find was that I think I want a belt that the lead could be moved around on not anchored on one spot, not sure if that's as important as I think. I'd want a safety release and also be able to take it off his harness for off lead work. I'd want to be able to adjust the lead for my height to have the option of a shorter length.
I could use both feet/hips to brace myself evenly, may/may not be the case if he really pulled but didn't pull my shoulders.
He mainly trotted along beside me like he does off lead.
Very short experiment but I liked it and Dexter wasn't upset in any way.
I'm writing this quickly as I need to go out soon.

 

@JulieT, one thing that is concerning me about the Buddy System is that on their web site I zoomed in on the pictures but they become blurred and I can't make out what looks like protruding metal bit on the short attachment section that goes to the harness/collar. Can anyone else see what this may be?

Did you use the buddy system @JulieT?