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Head Collars - Good Or Bad? |
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My thoughts on head collars (Halti, Canny Collar, Gentle Leader etc)
I recently posted the following on a dog training forum and thought it was worth adding here for all to see. The thread was essentially a discussion of head collars. I know that lots of you use them to keep your dog under proper control. That's good, but there are drawbacks and I find lots of owners wish they could train their dog to walk nicely even without the head collar. Here are my thoughts:
 1) Headcollars rely on physically manipulating the dog around. It's no substitute for
training a dog to follow your lead willingly. The connection between
you and your dog should be as much mental as physical. It's not hard if you know how.
2) I've
seen a head collar pull off the dogs nose all too often which can be
dangerous in traffic. It only ever happens when the dog's
distressed and really pulls back - just when you don't want him/her to
break free! It can be prevented, but mostly they're not fitted in a failsafe way. Has it happened to you?
3) Generally, dogs
don't like headcollars. They irritate even if they're not cutting into the
eye. Some are better than others, I think. Most clients report the dog
sctratching at the head collar when fitted.
4) Even camels don't like head collars! (I'm not a camel expert but I'm fairly sure it's true!)
They can be useful
in some cases and I've shown some clients how to use them properly
but by and large I prefer to train dogs to walk nicely on a flat
collar without pulling. For 90% of dogs, it's not about what equipment you use, it's how
you use it, you see. Head collars are not designed to help you train your
dog - but rather to force them to go where you go because you've got them by the head. If you take it off and go back to a flat collar, you're back to square one. That's not dog training!
It's a rare dog that can't be trained quite quickly to
walk nicely on lead with a flat dog collar if you do it the right way though. (I know it's hard to believe
when you see some dogs, but that's been my experience - no expensive dog training collar neccesary for most dogs)
If you feel you currently need to use a dog head collar because it's the only way you have proper control, let me reassure you that I DO understand. Lots of my clients came to me like that - but many wished they could get to a point that their dog would walk nicely without the headcollar. Is that you..?
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If you'd like to teach your dog to walk nicely even without a dog head collar, please contact me
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I'm working throughout Northamptonshire every day (Inc Northampton, Kettering, Wellingborough, Higham Ferrers, Rushden, Burton Latimer, Rothwell, Desborough, Daventry, Towcester) As well as Northants, I
offer dog training and dog behaviour help anywhere. If you need dog classes, a dog trainer, a dog behaviourist or
a dog psychologist please contact me for details) Graeme Hall (Graham Hall) "The Dogfather"
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