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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I have a 3 month old Pomeranian puppy (almost 5 pounds) and purchased this harness based on very good reviews of other sizes. Tightened all the way, it fit my little guy pretty well. Pros and cons:
