# Halti - dog HATES it....



## elevenelevenxo (Dec 24, 2009)

Does anyone here have experience with Gentle Leaders or Haltis and getting dogs used to them? ERackley88 was kind enough to send me a Halti to try after reading my thread on leash pulling and LLW. However, Jack flipped out when I put it on him last night. All I did was put it on without a leash attached so that he could get used to the feel of it. He kept digging at it with his paws and almost doing these weird sommersaults (which he also does when he wants extra attention...lol) to try and get it off. I tried to distract him by putting him in a "sit" and giving him a couple treats, then took it off after just a minute or two. I'm planning on just doing that a little each day until it's no big deal, but was wondering if maybe there's another thing we could try that would make it a little easier to adjust him to it. 

Any advice is appreciated!


----------



## Labsnothers (Oct 10, 2009)

Several of my puppies haven't liked head collars. I don't like pulling. I find it a useful tool, but it still requires good technique. Some dogs will still pull even with one, just less.


----------



## ERackley88 (Feb 6, 2010)

eleven, I think in the handbook I included it talks about ways to acclimate your dog to the halti.


----------



## GreatDaneMom (Sep 21, 2007)

you can give him more time and acclimate him to wearing it- associate it with good things, use distraction, etc. but i also want to add some dogs just WILL NOT wear one. i knew a pit mix who no matter what clawed her face bloody to get it off. just like there are SOME dogs who just WONT crate. dogs are cookie cutter, and sometimes you need to find what works best for your dog. you may want to look into the GL harness, or even the SPORN no pull harness. i have used both. GL works for some dogs, others not, and same with the sporn. this is why we have so many different tools because dogs are not all the same. good luck


----------



## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

Since you didn't start right off with the desensitization/acclimating to the halter it may be a little harder but it usually can be done. Use a VERY high value treat (chicken, cheese) and just slip the nose loop over his nose, treat. Take it off. Do it again...wash rinse repeat. EVentually leave the nose loop on and clip the neck piece (keep it LOOSE, you can adjust the fit later) and repeat the whole process. Do this a couple of times a day for a couple of days and then add the leash and walk him around the house a bit, treating the entire time. The special treats should ONLY happen when the GL is on him. 
Then you can take it outside.

He may not ever love the GL..but you should be able to get it so he will tolerate it while you train. 

Good luck.


----------



## ruckusluvr (Sep 20, 2009)

both of my dogs never tried to take off the halti, and never even paid attention to having it on.

I did this!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wakterNyUg


----------



## pamperedpups (Dec 7, 2006)

Like ruckuslover, I followed the Jean Donaldson video to get my Lab/Shepherd mix to love the Gentle Leader. I broke the process down into many little steps and it took a few weeks, but now he'll wag his tail when he sees me get the GL out and trust his nose in it so we can get going. We didn't work on it every day of those few weeks, and when we did work on it I was careful to keep it extremely positive and leave Sam wanting more, so to him the GL has incredible value. At first he would only see the GL for a few seconds, long enough for him to see it, then target it, etc., but as we went along the criteria for his interaction with the GL increased until now he'll walk with it on for as long as I like.

I honestly don't see how almost any dog couldn't be trained to accept the GL this way.


----------



## glasgow (Jul 11, 2008)

I waited until Charlie was due to go out, put the Halti on him with one hand while feeding him chicken with the other, snapped the lead on and took him out. He was distracted enough by going out that he wasn't too bothered about the Halti, he did try and paw it off first but chicken can distract him from nearly anything!
If every experience with the Halti is positive, your dog will soon get used to wearing it.
I use it when we are going out for a long walk but although Charlie is quite happy to wear it now, it's me who hates it, people see it on him and think he is a vicious dog which couldn't be further from the truth.


----------



## tlaver (Feb 25, 2010)

Exactly, when training him, always give him a treat and make it positive


----------



## skelaki (Nov 9, 2006)

elevenelevenxo said:


> Does anyone here have experience with Gentle Leaders or Haltis and getting dogs used to them? ERackley88 was kind enough to send me a Halti to try after reading my thread on leash pulling and LLW. However, Jack flipped out when I put it on him last night. All I did was put it on without a leash attached so that he could get used to the feel of it. He kept digging at it with his paws and almost doing these weird sommersaults (which he also does when he wants extra attention...lol) to try and get it off. I tried to distract him by putting him in a "sit" and giving him a couple treats, then took it off after just a minute or two. I'm planning on just doing that a little each day until it's no big deal, but was wondering if maybe there's another thing we could try that would make it a little easier to adjust him to it.
> 
> Any advice is appreciated!


Maybe he's trying to tell you that he's not a horse. 

Head harnesses like Haltis are more preventative tools than training tools. In other words they prevent (generally) pulling or at least reduce it. That's why my sister got my mother head harnesses for her dogs a few years ago. She knew mother would not use training collars (or use them incorrectly) so she optd for prevention and trained the dogs to accept them. In her case it was easy as they accepted them right away. Some dogs take time to accept the feel of the halters and some never do. I've also heard that the halters can cause neck and spinal injuries IF the dog is a very strong, persistent puller. This would not be most dogs.


----------



## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

For Nash I put it on, fed him a meal, took it off. Also through out the day I would put it on (its was very loose at this point), feed him a good treat and then take it off. I slowly increased the amount of time it was on. I went from feeding one treat and immediatly taking it off to feeding a treat, waiting 1 second, feeding another treat and then taking it off. Did this for awhile, slowly increasing the time it was on, and then tightened and did it again (but quicker, only over a couple days verses about a week).


----------



## Ty_Tyler (Sep 17, 2009)

I use a gentle lead with one of my dogs. He doesn't like it. While I walk him I keep him from putting his head towards the ground because he tries to rub it off which he can never do. I have to say it makes a big difference. He doesn't pull at all and once we are walking if he is not pulling I will take it off his snout. It is a great training tool.


----------



## elevenelevenxo (Dec 24, 2009)

I ended up just buying an easy-walk harness.  He likes it much better and it works great!


----------

