Hey all The other day I was walking my boy and he sees another dog. He obviously pulls forcefully because he HAD to go say hello to his friend. The other dog owner started lecturing me that I wasn't a good owner and my dog needed training. I mentioned to him that he his a very social and happy dog and loves to play...also he his still very young. He lectured me about trying the hilti collar which goes around his mouth/nose ...which if ever he would pull it would twist his head back towards me. Any thoughts on this??? It may be a good tool but is it "healthy" to put that much force on twisting his neck? I currently using a body harness not to put any strain on his neck. He walks perfectly with no pulling unless he sees another dog or must absolutely go smell something. Thanks for your comments
And another thing....he said my boy may be pulling to see other dogs because he isn't neutered, which I refuse to get him neutered for personal reasons.
I don't like Halti collars at all , for the reason you quoted . My dog never wore a harness either, but I honestly believe that a good harness can be worth its weight on gold ! Labs are sociable dogs , and it is difficult to train them out of wanting to love every single person or dog that they see ! Neutering or not neutering doesn't really have any bearing on pulling on lead, unless its an entire dog pulling to get to a bitch on heat !
I used the Halti, which yes really stopped the pulling. But I wish I had never used it and just trained him from a little pup. He never got injured from it mind you, and I know lots of dogs who use them. It’s just the norm where I am from. I only wish I had done differently because of what I have learned on this forum. Plus once the halti is off he is crazy and pulls me around with zero effort. I have been trying to train him with the harness to walk to heel and we have had progress but yet we still have a ways to go. Sigh. Basically I wouldn’t suggest taking the ‘easy way out’. Just keep up the hard work, get him to focus on you instead of other dogs and people. I use treats for this because he won’t even register me saying his name when he is that excited.
I haven't need to use a Halti with any of my dogs but I train from day 1 that they don't get to meet and greet every dog/puppy/person they happen to see on a walk. I do advise their use with clients where there is a need to introduce more control. They are a training tool to help stop pulling and should be phased out asap having encouraged new behaviours while walking.
I agree with Kelsey above. If you can manage with the harnes then continue persevering with it. I have used / sometimes use a K9 bridle head collar (pulls their head up, not to the side) as I never persisted when Harley was younger, but use it as a tool only when I really can't hold her on the harness (usually in new exciting places). I used it as a tool to walk down our street, but once she could do this, we moved to the harness then the flat collar. It took months and months to be able to walk around the block or to the shops on a flat collar by using the head collar then harness.
We just use a harness. Stanley sounds very similar to your boy - walks very nicely but if there's another dog he pulls to get to them. I just put a treat under his nose to walk past usually If it doesn't bother you him pulling a bit (it doesn't bother me with Stanley too much as like I say he's easily distracted with treats) I'd ignore what they said. It's your choice how to let your dog behave and it doesn't sound like he's out of control in anyway, just a typical overfriendly labrador
