harness or halti

[helsbels]

hello, we got a cocker spaniel/retriever cross in august he'd just turned one year old. too be honest he's a little bugga on the leader pulling. i was wondering whats the best as i'd love to walk him with my little one in the buggy. i keep pulling back but he's a live wire and pulls i've got visions of him pulling the buggy in half

 

[pink-sarah]

we have a boxer, and she pulls like hell if shes on her normal lead. so we bought a halti and we have never looked back. its a total godsen, no pulling wot so ever, walking her is a joy now.

when we put it on her she rubs her face along the ground coz i dont think she likes it very much, but shes fine once we get going, she might have a little rub at it to get it off but soon forgets its on.
she can still open her mouth , catch a ball, drink etc with it on. but definatlet get the halti...

 

[helsbels]

thanks sarah for replying. i was looking at pets at home today whilst i was killing time and i noticed they had a halti harness!! we were given a halti with him but think it's got a bit missing. the lady in the shop told me to bring him in so he can have a fitting and maybe a walk round to see which ones the best but i thought maybe a halti like you said. thanks again.... roll on nice strolls down the street instead of being yanked down and me screaming like a loon "BACK" thanks again

 

[helsbels]

hi sarah, we got a halti at the weekend as well as control harness. left the harness on a bit to long in the garden and he started to chew at the sides so went onto the halti. yep you were right loads better, mind you i've had his toes a couple of times whilst trying to walk with the buggy. he's still at that dancing around stage trying to get it off but i'm sure he'll settle after a while when he realises if he don't put it on he don't go out. thanks again

 

[Duchess_wobbles]

harness

 

[TeddyP]

I would be careful with the halti. It does indeed work wonders, but if your dog is super stubborn it could lead to injury. My neighbours dog got hurt from a pretty weak tug. Now of course she could be exagerrating how weak her tug was, but the dog was definitly hurt.

Our local pet store also told us about people preturning them for the saem reason. I am sure if you are careful the halti should be no problem to use. Personally I went with a "Lupi" harness and had more success with that. I walk a BEAST though (doberman/lab mix).

 

[helsbels]

funny you should say that teddy, tonight when i was walking him whilst he's doing his little dance every now and then down the road i noticed blood on his nose at the end. it was much but he's obviously caught the end of his nose whilst he's been scratching to get it off. when my partner takes him out later i'll tell him to put his harness on although once he's walking he does walk better with his halti. but don't want to see him scratch himself all the time.

 

[pink-sarah]

morning, i can honestly say we've never had any problems with the halti, and our boxer used to pull like hell, but shes never had an injury off it.

good luck with it

 

[helsbels]

his nose seems ok today, think part of the point was because i had a buggy and my 7 year old so i couldn't keep stoping gand saying "no". when i'm out on my own with him it's a lot easier to control him. anyway we'll see but if he keeps injuring himself i suppose i'll have to just stick with old fashioned pulling him back.

 

[Ro Laren]

My insane GSD broke three Haltis in a week, so I now use a harness. It's great - very strong and she can't get out of it (unlike a previous one where she hunkered down, lifted her front legs and wriggled out - the minx!) It's got two control settings, along with a convenient 'handle' for more manual procedures eg. into the dreaded bath.

I don't know the name, but it was from Argos.

 

[Fat-girl-slim]

We had a Rottie that used to pull, I bought a Halti and tried it on him, he hated it and used to roll around on the floor trying to get it off so I used a harness too.
When he started pulling I would switch to the Halti, when he stopped I switched to the harness.
He never got hurt with the Halti and believe me he could pull when his stubborn little mind wanted him to.

 

[helsbels]

thanks everyone. i took him out lastnight in the bloody rain (was wrappped up like so i didn't mind quite enjoyed to be honest as there wasn't many people out. i scratched at his face a bit then when i let him off he rolled about in the bushes so i took it off him and just put it back on when it was time to go back on the lead. he doesn't have to walk that far on it if he goes on his noraml walk over the fields/woods it was just more for if i wanted to kill to birds with one stone (orrr) and walk him to pick my oldest son up with the buggy. i'll just have to have a play around i think. thanks again everyone for giving me your input

 

[hevGsd]

i would keep sticking with the halti,yeah its hard work for the first while but your dog will get use to it!
i use a harness on my gsd for tracking because it allows your dog to pull freely without her having to worry about weather she is pulling my arm off or not! you should try walking with a reward method,show your dog the treats while walking when he pays attention to you reward him, he will soon get the msg that when he doesnt pull he gets rewards you can try this with the halti on.
also be carefull with the halti as with any headcollar type of thing you CANNOT pull hard on the lead i have seen so many dogs come to training with cuts on their tongues and lips from owners pulling to sharply when wearing a head collar!
good luck and if you put all the hard work into your dog it will pay off so much, i promise you!