# Halti or Gentle Leader?



## semper83 (May 6, 2009)

I was looking to see if anybody here uses one of these on their dogs, and which would you recommend. I have a fairly small dog (25lbs and 7 months) that usually keeps constant pressure on the leash up front. He's not hard to hold back but I'd really rather not have him pull like that. 

He's in obedience school right now and the trainer gave us a choke chain to use. She also said when we go on walks to keep him in a heel position the whole time, but I have trouble keeping his attention for about 45 minutes. And he only feels the correction when it's at the top of his neck, but it keeps sliding down. I don't really think it's that important for him to always be right by my side so that's why I'm going to try one of the head halters. I was also thinking of a front attaching harness but the ones on the head seem better to me. I'm still planning on working on heel but not when we're on his morning walk which is his primary means of draining energy. Thanks!


----------



## Pepper (Jan 27, 2008)

I have used the gentle leader before and love it. It's a great training tool to help with stubborn headed pullers who need extra work while still being able to be walked every day an not drag you down the street...This is just a tool to help teach your dog how to walk by your side, or not pull. I know some people use it for the dogs whole life, but you should teach your dog heel and phase out the leader.


----------



## Entwine (Jan 14, 2009)

Have you tried training him using the techniques listed here: http://www.dogforums.com/3-dog-training-forum/4547-loose-leash-walking-using.html?


----------



## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

We used an Easy Walk harness that hooks in front to train our dog not to pull. If she starts pulling hard, the harness forces her to turn around and face you. We also did a lot of 180 turns, walking away from the thing she wanted to get to. Every time the dog pulls, do a 180 and walk the other direction. You end up zigging and zagging all over the street for a while, but the dog gets the idea eventually that pulling is not good. Following the steps for a loose leash walk will get you there.

A side note on the 45 minutes of attention comment -- it's hard for a dog to maintain attention on you for that length of time, esp. a young one. IMO, it takes a lot of training to achieve that level of focus. If you're more of a casual dog owner like me, I'm happy to get the attention when I ask for it. So walks are a combination of heeling/paying attention to me and roaming/sniffing. The reward for paying attention is that she gets to sniff and occasionally roll in stinky things, meet other dogs, etc. We start out with a few obedience drills (heel, sit when we stop, down, stay, let's go!) for XX minutes, then as a reward I tell her to "go sniff!" and she gets to roam around on the leash with me following. Then it's back to heeling and obedience, then sniffing, etc. For a 45 minute walk, it's probably half heeling/paying attention and half roaming/sniffing. The dog has fun and I have fun because she's not pulling my arm off or dawdling when I want to get moving. Win-win.

P.S. I should say that I'm not a fan of head collars or choke chains unless it's an extreme case of pulling with a large dog and the person using them has been properly trained. For a smaller dog who isn't pulling you off your feet, I'd go the loose leash walking route first.


----------



## Pepper (Jan 27, 2008)

I agree with Winnie, I'm using an easy harness right now as many people mistake the gentle leader for a muzzle and are terrified of your dog(even though their panting and the dogs mouth is wide open, *rolls eyes*) 

The gentle leader helps with a lot more than pulling, it is also supposed to help with lunging and jumping, while the harness will just help with pulling.


----------



## opokki (May 30, 2006)

I'm a big fan of the Easy Walk harness. As far as Gentle Leader vs. Halti, I prefer the Gentle Leader because dogs seem to be able to get the Halti off fairly easily.


----------



## semper83 (May 6, 2009)

I think I might go ahead and get the easy walk harness instead and try that out. And winniec I also consider myself a more casual dog owner and have been trying to use the command "go sniff" to let him have more freedom. He hasn't caught on yet to what I mean but I just started recently. I don't really care where he walks when we're out on walks but just don't want the pulling. I still plan on teaching heel just like all the other commands I practice anyway though. He also doesn't pull normally for distractions it's just all the time. If I turn around he'll just get ahead of me and put the tension back on the leash.

I did use the tips for loose leash walking in the past, but they didn't seem to work. He's pretty good about sitting when I stop on the walks (we have narrow streets where cars need to pass and he does sit/stay until I say ok). So when I became a tree he'd sit which relieved the tension in the leash. I'd walk a step and he'd be right back to the end, and then repeat the sitting etc. And on those tips it says to only do the training for about 10 minutes, but what should I do for the rest of the walk? I don't have a fenced in yard (can't wait to move in a couple years because I'd love to have one, and no dog parks here) so he's pretty excited for his morning walk. But by the end he's usually a bit better about the pulling because he's starting to get a bit tired. 

Pepper: I'm hoping the Easy Walk harness will assist me in the walks, but as you say I'd like to slowly wean him off it eventually.


----------



## Erick Aguilar (Jun 9, 2008)

Well, for walks in the streets, the harness won't beat the gentle leader.

Your dog could jump or lunge at something or someone, the harness won't correct this, but the headcollar will.

Apollo has been using the GL for a week, and i have seen serious improvement on his behaviour, inside,and outside the house during walks.

It takes time for YOU to adjust the GL properly before it works like it should.
This is why you should REALLY see the DvD before attempting to put it on your dog.


----------



## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

Sounds like you’re on your way to a good loose leash walk if he’s already sitting when you stop and he slacks off when you act like a tree. In fact, you may only need a little tweaking - tighten things up a bit - to fix the issue. Read this article on “Sit Stay & Walk on Leash.” We did something pretty similar to this that, when combined with the harness, got our dog to stop pulling.

http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/all-or-none-reward-train-sit-stay-and-walk-leash


----------



## semper83 (May 6, 2009)

winniec777 said:


> Sounds like you’re on your way to a good loose leash walk if he’s already sitting when you stop and he slacks off when you act like a tree. In fact, you may only need a little tweaking - tighten things up a bit - to fix the issue. Read this article on “Sit Stay & Walk on Leash.” We did something pretty similar to this that, when combined with the harness, got our dog to stop pulling.
> 
> http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/all-or-none-reward-train-sit-stay-and-walk-leash


Thanks a lot for this article. I really think this could help me and him a lot. I did decide to go with the Easy Walk Harness instead and just ordered one. I think I'll start carrying some kibble with me on walks and give it just for sitting. When I would give pieces of treats when he was walking in heel next to me he'd jump in front of me after the treat because he was excited. It's the same thing when I would say "good dog" when he was in the right place he'd get excited and try to lunge back in front. But when we're out and he sits he usually stays seated. I guess food and praise sometimes just gets him excited.

I only have two more obedience classes so I'll use the choke chain there, but I really don't like using it either. The thing I like about the classes is it's good practice to do things like sit/stay with other dogs around. Since other dogs are his biggest distraction and wants to play with all of them. I'm feeling much more optimistic that'll I'll have a dog that will leventually walk well on leash.


----------



## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

It's funny you should mention that he's crazy for other dogs. I think that's what actually made our dog turn around so quickly and stop pulling. We used her love of other dogs as a reward to get her to stop pulling. When she saw a dog, esp. one of her friends, she would pull like a freight train. So we just turned around and walked in the opposite direction. Just about drove her mad. But she got the point. We would wait her out and when she calmed down, we would approach the dog again. If she started pulling, we stopped or turned around again. And so on. She had the strongest motivation in the world to stop pulling, better than any treats we could offer. I think if you use that desire to see other dogs, your pulling days will soon be behind you.

Good luck and keep us posted on how it's going!


----------



## poodleholic (Mar 15, 2007)

> =semper83;590616] have a fairly small dog (25lbs and 7 months) that usually keeps constant pressure on the leash up front. He's not hard to hold back but I'd really rather not have him pull like that.


First you need to teach the Watch Me cue, to get and keep his attention. Try having him walk with you in the house first, on or off leash. For correct heel position, you can use a wooden spoon with some peanut butter on, to guide/keep him in place. 



> He's in obedience school right now and the trainer gave us a choke chain to use. She also said when we go on walks to keep him in a heel position the whole time, but I have trouble keeping his attention for about 45 minutes.


That's asking way too much of your dog (ANY dog!). My adult dogs are excellent at heel position, but I never make them heel constantly on a walk - boring for the dog. I have absolutely no dignity when I'm training - the goofier I act, the more interesting and fun my dogs find me. I keep the dog's attention any way that works! 

When training heel position, I do so for short stints, and I mix it up (heel forward, move faster, stop; forward, stop, then heel backward; do figure 8's, etc.). The dog really gets into it, trying to figure out what my next move will be, and to keep pace with me. Makes a fun game for us both, and tires the dog out - mentally AND physically.


----------

