In all honesty whilst i think a Halti is a useful tool..... its NOT safe on a dog that lunges, unless you are very very adept at using a double ended lead with the other end on a body harness.
If a dog hits the end of a lead attached to a halti, his head will be turned sideways and if that happens with force its going to hurt.
When i use a head collar i have the portion of lead to the headcollar several inches longer (looser) than the portion going to the harness... i then only pick up the part going to the headcollar to remind the dog to walk to heel.
Using Matties method as linked is less hassle really, and safer!
Em
The Halti head collar
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
We started with the Halti head collar with my GSD, but changed to the Gental leader as the halti road up into her eyes. The GL is ajustable so doesn't ride up as the halti does.
Some are better than others with dogs with short noses so I think its a bit of trial and error, but the GL is a good place to start.
While I agree that you don't need them to lead train, with some dogs it is helpful to have a little bit more control over their head.
The linker from the headcollar to the collar is just there as a safety so the dog cant rub the head collar off, as mine did last week when we didn't use it.
Some are better than others with dogs with short noses so I think its a bit of trial and error, but the GL is a good place to start.
While I agree that you don't need them to lead train, with some dogs it is helpful to have a little bit more control over their head.
The linker from the headcollar to the collar is just there as a safety so the dog cant rub the head collar off, as mine did last week when we didn't use it.
Thank you very much for the tip. 
I will try to practice it more like this.
I have been trying to stop walking when he pulls, and then wait till he relaxes before I walk further... but perhaps I havent followed it up well enough.
So far I have been using a "chestcollar", I am not sure if it is the correct name for it. But it is those collars that dont put any pressure around the dogs neck, it goes over the frontchest and around the back/underchest. I guess this gives him more strength when he pulls. And i also have a flexi line, but many times I lock it in one position, so he doesnt get that constant pulling from me.
Well again, thanks for the advice!
Have a nice weekend everybody!
Greetings from Anita
I will try to practice it more like this.
I have been trying to stop walking when he pulls, and then wait till he relaxes before I walk further... but perhaps I havent followed it up well enough.
So far I have been using a "chestcollar", I am not sure if it is the correct name for it. But it is those collars that dont put any pressure around the dogs neck, it goes over the frontchest and around the back/underchest. I guess this gives him more strength when he pulls. And i also have a flexi line, but many times I lock it in one position, so he doesnt get that constant pulling from me.
Well again, thanks for the advice!
Have a nice weekend everybody!
Greetings from Anita
When I first got Gracie she was dog aggressive and I was recommended to use a halti. The first time I put it on she took a chunk out of her nose with her dew claw trying to get it off. I never bothered with it again.
There are many ways to teach a dog to walk on a loose lead, a lead attached to a harness and collar/halti or the lead put in front of the chest and the handler holding the lead at both sides so you stear your dog. You can also put up obstacles to walk round etc to keep your dog's mind on what he is doing.
I have tried all these and sometimes they would work better for one dog than another, but the only method that hasn't failed, is the dropping the lead in the left hand and a quick turn.
Even harnesses can have different effects, some work better than others. I have found that those that go round the chest encourage a dog to pull. If you look at a horse's harness, that is round the chest for the horse to push into.
The harness I prefer is a trail/tracking harness, that is a circle of webbing that goes over the head and round the neck, it should be long enough to be round the dog's V at the front of the neck. There is another circle round the body and joining these is a strap between the front legs and one on top of the withers. The top strap can also be used as a handle if you need extra hold.
This is Bonnie in her harness, the strap round her body is misleading, it looks behind the fron legs but is much further back than them. I have found that these harnesses don't rub the dogs either.
There are many ways to teach a dog to walk on a loose lead, a lead attached to a harness and collar/halti or the lead put in front of the chest and the handler holding the lead at both sides so you stear your dog. You can also put up obstacles to walk round etc to keep your dog's mind on what he is doing.
I have tried all these and sometimes they would work better for one dog than another, but the only method that hasn't failed, is the dropping the lead in the left hand and a quick turn.
Even harnesses can have different effects, some work better than others. I have found that those that go round the chest encourage a dog to pull. If you look at a horse's harness, that is round the chest for the horse to push into.
The harness I prefer is a trail/tracking harness, that is a circle of webbing that goes over the head and round the neck, it should be long enough to be round the dog's V at the front of the neck. There is another circle round the body and joining these is a strap between the front legs and one on top of the withers. The top strap can also be used as a handle if you need extra hold.
This is Bonnie in her harness, the strap round her body is misleading, it looks behind the fron legs but is much further back than them. I have found that these harnesses don't rub the dogs either.
[url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/Nethertumbleweed/PIXIE.jpg][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/Nethertumbleweed/th_PIXIE.jpg[/img][/url]
Dogs that pull
Hello again!
A couple of days ago, I was in a pet store and decided to try to with a GL and a new collar.
I tried it on King in the store, he wasnt too pleased about the GL, trying to chew it and turned his head much.
Then I came home, and we were going for a walk.
I took the new collar on him, and thought I d wait with the GL till he started pulling.
But I discovered that just with putting a normal collar instead of the harness (that he has been having for over a year) the pulling was already reduced with like 80-90%!!! So I am very happy! Havent been using the GL.
Still practising on going loose lead next to me though. He is good at it after we have walked for a while, but almost never in the beginning.
Have a nice weekend!
Anita
A couple of days ago, I was in a pet store and decided to try to with a GL and a new collar.
I tried it on King in the store, he wasnt too pleased about the GL, trying to chew it and turned his head much.
Then I came home, and we were going for a walk.
I took the new collar on him, and thought I d wait with the GL till he started pulling.
But I discovered that just with putting a normal collar instead of the harness (that he has been having for over a year) the pulling was already reduced with like 80-90%!!! So I am very happy! Havent been using the GL.
Still practising on going loose lead next to me though. He is good at it after we have walked for a while, but almost never in the beginning.
Have a nice weekend!
Anita
The loose lead walking will come if you practice is every time you go out. King has been pulling for some time so it will take time to correct.
3 of my dogs have throat damage because of pulling before I got them, they were walked on collars and check chains so be careful if King does pull on a collar. That method of teaching to walk on a loose lead should be practiced on a harness, you can jerk the neck if you have the lead attached to a collar.
Sounds like you are making quite a bit of progress, well done.
3 of my dogs have throat damage because of pulling before I got them, they were walked on collars and check chains so be careful if King does pull on a collar. That method of teaching to walk on a loose lead should be practiced on a harness, you can jerk the neck if you have the lead attached to a collar.
Sounds like you are making quite a bit of progress, well done.
[url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/Nethertumbleweed/PIXIE.jpg][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/Nethertumbleweed/th_PIXIE.jpg[/img][/url]
I use a Gencon (figure of eight or all in one) on a very hyper WSD at agility training classes and It calms her down a lot. I don't know if anyone else has one of these hyperactive dogs but they can get a bit hysterical in exciting situations. We all enjoy the classes a lot more now that Sasha has the Gencon and I would recommend it.
Getting eliminated is all part of the fun, or so I was told