Premier Gentle Leader Head Dog Collar

This thing is AWESOME!! I have a very boisterous 136 lb male Great Dane. Even though he has been through obedience school, and obeys very well on command while indoors, it is still VERY difficult to control him when he gets excited on walks. Put simply: the dog is much bigger & much stronger than I am & as is common with Danes, does not realize his size or strength. With just one lurch from his excitement over a squirrel (dog, butterfly...whatever the stimulus is for that day), he can & has pulled me to the ground. Believe me: we've tried everything to remedy this & all else has failed. After expressing concern to our Veterinarian, he suggested that I purchase the Gentle Leader. It was the best Vet advice I've been given to date. I no longer risk getting pulled to the ground, or becoming a human kite everytime we go out. Maddox now walks right beside me, and listens to my commands with just a very, very gentle pull to the leash. His mouth is able to open freely & he is even able to take treats while the collar is on his head. Since he's more obedient, we go out more & for longer & more exciting excursions each time. This makes Maddox a very happy puppy.

If you buy this, definitely watch the DVD. Don't assume that you can just put it together & train your dog yourself. There are some really helpful & important tips on how you should handle your dog while on the leash. These tips *could* make or break your dog's response to the collar. Also, I do recommend going to a professional obedience school if your dog has obedience problems. Especially if you are dealing with a large dog. The Gentle Leader has been a phenomenal supplemental tool for us in the areas that could not be cured with regular obedience training: such as going on walks. In my opinion, the Gentle Leader, nor any other peice of fabric or leather, does not solely take the place of obedience school (atleast in problem dogs or large dogs) for this reason: Just as the animal must be trained, so must the owner. If you do not know how to handle your dog, nothing will help you. The training you both get from obedience school will make the Gentle Leader that much more effective.

One thing. As for the comment that this collar is cruel & a torture device, I have one word: RUBBISH. It is a far, far cry from a pinch or choke collar, and is much more humane than just being passive & letting the dog get gagged by his regular collar while he drags & endangers not only his owner behind him, but himself, as well.

Gentle Leader gets 5 stars from us! Wouldn't change a thing!

Now, they even have them in the south!

The Gentle Leader should not be confused with other head collars like the Halti. It is FAR superior for any dog breed or temperament.

I've trained both my Golden Retrievers as well as the dogs of several relatives and many friends over the past six years using the Gentle Leader. With the possible exception of toy breeds, this is a God-send for any dog owner with a rambunctious, head-strong or hard to handle canine or if you just wants more control without the extra work and even trauma associated with neck collars in general.

I had my first Gentle Leader dog and then my second, walking and STAYING at heel, sitting automatically upon stopping, turning both left & right and no longer lunging, pulling, jumping or straying...and all within less than 15 minutes for EACH dog! Golden Retrievers are, of course, wonderfully easy and willing to train anyway, but this was SO incredibly fast, it was almost like watching some magic trick being performed.

It was my vet at Fort Lewis, WA who first taught me how to fit the collar and use it. Application is simple once you see it done for the first time. Just place the nose strap short of the flesh on the nose (allowing the dog to breathe, eat, drink and even carry items) and tightten the head strap about one finger tight behind the ears (base of the head, really). This gives you control (nose strap) and the dog a sense of well-being (head strap). Nothing at all is on the dogs neck or throat. I strongly encourage you to have someone experienced with the Gentle Leader's use show you hot to fit it properly the first time.

For all dogs I've since trained or assisted in their training there has been the short-lived "leader dance". This is where, after placing the leader for the first time, the dog hops in the air and then bows to the ground all the while with both front paws over it's nose while trying remove the collar. As you continue to give short firm tugs on the collar while continuing to walk the dog, the dance quickly disappears within just a few yards. I was amazed at how consistant this behaviour and its let up always is.

The leader basically uses the same physical restraint that a mother dog or pack alpha male uses to control a puppy or young dog. A grip over the nose and pressure at the back of the neck. It's purely coincidental that it looks like a horse halter.

The control comes from the strap over the nose. The leash clips to the bottom of this strap (under the lower jaw). A short, quick (but not violent) tug on the leash leash brings the entire head under control. The head follows the nose and where the head goes, the body must follow.

There is NEVER any need for jerking, pulling or strangling of the dog. There is never leash rope burns from having the dog take control and lunging away with you. Your arms stay in their sockets, palm blisters are a thing of the past (especially if you use a cotton leash, or at least a leather one...NEVER use chain or poly-fiber leashes).

Some breeds with huge necks and a high pain tolerance, such as Rottweilers, are easily and gently brought into line. My brother's was 2 years old and completely out of control. He was at heel, sitting and turning within 5 minutes or so and after I turned the dog over to my brother for about 15 minutes I took the dog back and let his 6 year old daughter lead him around. My cute tiny niece was less in control than the dog, yet they both performed as a team with ease.

The coolest thing about the Head Collar is how the dogs get really excited when they see it, knowing that it's going for a walk, training or just out in public. They LOVE the Gentle Leader.

The Gentle Leader is only used for training or control. The dog STILL wears its own neck collar, but only to keep his tags on, since dogs don't normally come with pockets.

The Gentle Leader is also a huge facilitator for "off-leash" training. The dog is so comfortable in taking properly given commands on leash, that doing so "off-leash" seems to take only one half to one third the normal time I was once involved. That, my friends, is a super endorsement, alone!

One last caution...I pray you are in no way a person who "stakes" out a dog for ANY reason. Regardless, the Gentle Leader should NEVER EVER be used to keep a dog attached to a stake or wire run. Running out to the end of the line and coming up short by the neck/shoulders is one thing with a neck collar. Staking a dog and KNOWING that a head collar will actually jerk and twist the head to snap the neck is nothing less than cruelty, if not out and out murder. Use the Gentle Leader ONLY with a leash with YOU on one end and the dog on the OTHER, please.

I hope you found this useful, as I KNOW you find the Gentle Leader to be. Take care and pass a good time with your canine friend.

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I have used this particular head collar on four different dogs with mixed results. Please note that all dogs were slowly and carefully desensitized to the Gentle Leader head collar, as directed by trainers and the training materials included with the head collar.

The first was a dog-reactive dog.

The collar did discourage pulling under low stress conditions and made pulling less painful. It allowed for greater control of the dog. However, if the dog was not kept soundly distracted he would return to fussing over the nose strap. He became so frustrated by the collar that he would rub his face on the concrete, claw at the nose strap, and come away bleeding. I returned to desensitizing him to the collar, assuming I had not given him enough time to adjust. I found myself spending more time training him to accept the collar than working on modifying his unwanted behaviors.

The second dog was a fearful dog.

The dog would completely shut down whenever he wore the collar away from his safe zone. We spent more time trying to desensitize him to wearing the collar outside of his safe zone. Because he would shut down and stop responding we could not get any results.

The third dog was a confident, social dog.

This particular dog had pulled his whole life. To my knowledge, no one had attempted to discourage the pulling behavior. I noticed improvement as soon as we left the yard. It didn't just lessen the pulling, it stopped it.

The fourth was an untrained and social puppy.

Not accustomed to rules or boundaries, the puppy was constantly testing the limits of the collar. If he was not properly engaged in training he would return to pawing at the nose strap, hindering training. Distraction caused by the nose strap was lessened by padding the nose strap with faux fur. He was doing fairly well on the collar and with training. One day, another puppy approached and he began that endearing puppy wiggle, wagging his tail so hard his whole body shook. Without warning, he lunged forward. Despite being on a short leash, he hit the end of the leash hard enough that the collar jerked his head sideways. He let out an ear-shattering yelp and acted subdued thereafter. For safety reasons, we discontinued the use of the head collar.

Pros:

Gives greater control to the dog handler, regardless of the dog's size and the handler's strength.

Lessens or eliminates the pain and discomfort the handler experiences when dogs do pull.

Discourages pulling.

Can be used with either traditional punishment based training or progressive reward based training.

Will not choke the dog when used with nose strap

Cons:

Requires time for dogs to become accustomed to this training tool.

Requires careful adjustment of straps -improper fit impedes training.

Can rub hair off and/or cause irritation if worn or fitted improperly.

Capable of injuring a dog that lunges or does "zoomies" while worn and leashed.

May cause fearful dogs to shut down and inhibit behavior change.

May exacerbate reactive or aggressive dogs' unwanted behavior.

The nose strap may irritate the dog, requiring padding to be sewn on by owner.

The nose strap is not durable and can be easily destroyed by chewers.

Dogs CAN learn to ignore the head collar and pull anyway, meaning you will still need to teach the dog how to walk with you.

Short-muzzled dogs may find it easy to remove the nose strap.

Results vary.

For successful training, I recommend developing mutual respect and trust with your dog. With mutual respect and trust there isn't anything you can't accomplish with your dog.

If I can teach my dog to walk nicely with me, ANYONE can. Don't give up!

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I previously purchased a pronged collar to aid in training my 1yr old pit bull. That felt cruel and painful, so I purchased the Gentle Leader Head Collar on a recommendation from an employee at a local pet store.

It came with a 15 minute training DVD which demonstrates, put it on, and fit the collar and some property training techniques. We spent about 15 minutes, putting it on, and getting the fit just right and letting her get used to it before we headed outside. As the video suggested, I had several treats which helped putting it on the first time. The collar fits exactly as advertised: it doesn't choke, and allows her mouth to open and breath without restriction.

Once we got outside, she knew exactly what to do! Because there was no tension on the leash, she was able to detect the slightest pressure to know that she was not doing what I wanted. She was very attentive, and I was able to reward her several times along the walk, when she stopped on command.

Positive, painless reinforcement is definitely the way to go. We've only had this collar for a couple walks, but so far it seems to be a winner.

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Despite what the previous two reviews say, I have found that this product WORKS! I have an 85 pound German Shepherd who loves to chase squirrels, and he is able to easily pull me off my feet when he wants to chase one. "Leash training" just did not stick with him. Perhaps I wasn't consistent, but it became a chore to take him for a walk and so I started to not do it. This ended up creating even more difficulties!

Contrary to what earlier reviewers say, if you fit the Gentle Leader to your dog correctly it does *not* apply constant pressure and is *not* like being mouthed over the muzzle by another dominant dog. What it does do is allow you to control the dog by its nose, rather than by its throat. This has huge advantages: A) the nose and bone are composed of bone under the Gentle Leader, as opposed to soft tissue (like the windpipe), so if the dog does run against it no damage is done; B) the nose does not have the large amount of muscle that the neck/shoulders have, so the dog is less inclined to pull against the halter; C) when a dog pulls a leash, his/her attention stays fixed on the object it is running after when a dog pulls against the Gentle Leader, the dog's face (eyes and nose) is turned back to you, allowing you to recapture/refocus its attention. Think about it, would you try to control a big strong animal like a horse by putting something around its neck/shoulders? No, you use a harness!

I like this product so much I am getting 2 more (one has worn out with time 3 years and we have another dog as well). It allows me to control my dogs easily, and I don't have them gasping and pulling against the leash.

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SmartPets 4 in 1 Dog Romote Training collar with LCD display for 2 small/medium dogs SP 209

I purchased this item in December 2010 and have found it to be effective initially, the features are practical and usable however the battery for the remote is not a common find and will last about 3 months maybe less depending on how often the unit is used. Of late one of the receiver collars is not responding to any signals from the remote even with fresh batteries and additionally the static correction needed to be turned up to the highest setting for my pitbull (100) and he would just turn his head and start stratching his neck as though he had an itch, my boxer on the other hand is set to 23 and that seems to be enough to get his attention. Bottom line, good idea but at this point I feel as though I got what I paid for in that this was one of the cheapest remote electric collars I have seen and I suspect a whole lot less went into manufacturing it.

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PetSafe In-Ground Deluxe Ultralight Collar with Radio Receiver, PUL-275

The features of the collar work well. I bought it to replace a Petsafe ProLite collar that failed after many years of service. The only issue is finding replacement RFA-67 batteries that are fully charged. The old collar used standard cell batteries, but this collar requires the RFA-67, which uses a Petsafe proprietary from factor. I've tried buying replacements from several stores and found that the low battery indicator will light up immediately or a few days after installing the replacement battery. There seems to be an issue with the shelf life of the replacement batteries. However, I found that several vendors are selling RFA-67 adapters that allow you to use normal CR2032 cell batteries with the collar.

UPDATE: After using a battery adapter and trying several brands of cell batteries, it looks like the problem is with the collar, not the batteries. Batteries do not last more than a few weeks. Since I will most likely replace the collar due to this issue, I'm changing my review to 2 stars.

My 2 dogs have used the invisible inground fence for years without a problem (old collars). When my friends 3 dogs moved in, I bought 3 RSC UL-275BM collars. The first collar's battery failed immediately and I returned the collar. The batteries in the other 2 collars failed within 3 months outside the Amazon return period. The collar indicates battery failure via a blinking light. I contacted petsafe who advised to reset the unit by removing the battery and draining the capacitor. Did not work. Old collars work well. I have not located any info on battery failures on these units but 3 failures is not acceptable.

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My kids left the old collar on the grass and it was mutilated by the lawnmower. So I ordered this new one, and price and service were excellent.

For those considering an in-ground radio fence, these things are great. I have a border collie that was digging under a 6' privacy fence, so I put up an above ground electric fence to stop the digging. He got shocked once, ran around to the other side of the yard, and jumped the 6' fence. After that, he knew he could clear the fence, and would get out frequently. We knew when he would get out because our female dog would yelp and endure the pain of the electric fence while she dug to get out with him. Finding them was another matter. Soon after I moved to a house with a three rail fence, and rather than put mesh up that I knew would do no good, I tried one of these in ground radio fences. As long as the fence is working and the battery is charged, my dogs have never gotten out. It is very humane, as the fence beeps prior to a shock, so after the initial training period, my dogs have only been shocked maybe once or twice, and then they understood the boundary. My female dog would run her battery out rather quick because she would always run around in the beep zone. I started using this 7 years ago, my female died and my 12 year old bought him a Brittany (very high energy)one year ago, and she trained quick and understood the whole fence thing with minimal training when we brought her home at 10 weeks.

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I was worried that the 5 different correction levels would not be enough for my stubborn dog. However by level 4 he got the point and we had him trained in 1 1/2 weeks. I am also impressed with how small the device is (since my dog is only 40 pounds) it's nice that it doesn't weigh him down like the typical receiver collars. My dog also swims in our stream constantly and the collar has proved to be very waterproof. The seller shipped the item promptly. I am very pleased with this purchase and have now purchased 2 (I ahve 2 dogs). :)

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Original replacement...PetSafe Products are outstanding... This replaced one I purchased 6 years ago, and it works with my system, just as the original one did....

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Innotek Automatic No-Bark Collar, Rechargeable

We bought this collar for our English setter/Springer Spaniel mix who loves to bark. It came with a CD-rom, an extra set of prongs (for longer haired dogs) and a battery charger, which we wanted. A red light illuminates when the collar is shocking or resetting itself as well as if it needs recharging, which we liked. The length of the black nylon collar is very long so you can cut it to fit. We also liked the fact the collar is water resistant too.

We didn't think the bark collar was working as our dog continued to bark even after a week of wearing it so we called Innotek who had a very knowledgeable customer service rep. She advised us how to test it on ourselves and it did shock my husband so it was, in fact, working. However, our dog continues to bark with the collar on, especially if there is someone at the front door. I guess he just endures the discomfort. We were hoping for a miracle cure to his barking, but unfortunately, this hasn't been it.

An additional word of caution: We bought this collar through an Amazon.com vendor because it had the best price. When we called Innotek (the manufacturer) for advice, they advised ut that the vendor was not an authorized Innotek dealer. I don't know if this would void the warranty or not???

my neighbors came out and complained that their 5 year old kid cant play in the back yard cuz he is afraid of my dog. my year old boxer is all bark. since he was a little guy he had an above average bark. i have 6 foot brand new fence around the whole yard and they still complain. for the first like 3 days i gave up on the bark collar. my dog still never stopped barking and the thing was fully charged. i tried it on myself and nothing. the instructions say to test to see if it is working, to rub it on a non glass surface, creating vibrations. the light started going crazy and i tried it on myself. startled the crap out of me as i tried to make it work on me like 30 times, but this time i was 100% sure it worked. so i put it back on my hommie. he went on a barking rampage and it shocked him. how could i tell? was it the look like he needed to scratch it off his neck? no it was the dog running away squawking. i felt terrible but it scared me just as bad when i tried it on myself. after that day he was over the scared feeling. everytime i put his collar on he wont bark at all but hes smart enough to know when i take it off hes open game. i really dont think he minds wearing at all anymore. i just make sure i put it on him whne i leave the house and take it off when i get home. i have a pit bull as well and they play all day and tug on each other by the collar ALL DAY and the collar is still alive about 2 months later so i would give it a 5 on durability.

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I have purchased 4 other bark collars ranging from Citronella to sound and they all suck compared to this one. I would never buy any other brand and the fact that this collar is rechargeable is huge. I used to burn through batteries in less than a week. No more batteries and no more barking...a double wammy!!!

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Works great! I like that it senses vibrations from your dog rather than sound His old collar would shock him when his sister would bark no fair.

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This collar seems to work well, comes with good documentation, but if you have a barky dog, u have to recharge it alot. The rechargeable battery feature is by far the best selling point, making it much more economical than most other brands with the disposable batteries. The dog is definitely quiter, but if the dog does go on a roll barking, he can usually defeat the collar. It's worth the money, and works most of the time...

Herm Sprenger Pinch Dog Collar with Quick Release Snap LRG

This project is better than many you'll find in stores because it's easy to put on/take off your pet. It's not as "sturdy" as similar products, though, so it may not be appropriate for a very strong dog.

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Simple Solution Extra Large Training Pads 200 pk (4x50pk)

These are the best large pads for a decent price. I have a minature aussie that has trouble stopping for anything much less doing her business. These pads are large enough to give her room to travel and absorbant enough to stop overflows if she is near the edge of the pad.

These pads are big enough for my two indoor yorkies to use all day. They rarely miss because they are a great size and the absorbency is terrific, as is the odor control. They are also a great size for car seats to keep muddy paws off the leather after a long walk at the local nature preserve. I used to use two of the regular pads every day but one of these does the trick.

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HAVE TWO SMALL DOGS SO GOT EX LARGE AND WORKS GREAT. DOGS LEFT INDOOR ALL DAY AND NOT SHREDDED WHEN I GET HOME FROM WORK.

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Sometimes my Chihuahuas prefer to use these over going outside. Especially in bad weather. I like the large size and they are very absorbent.

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these have been a saving grace, The tiny ones for my morkie were always seeping thru to the floor these are mucc better and give her more room as she seemed to hang over the smaller ones. Thanks for such fast delivery too.

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