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Oh my goodness... INVEST!!! That's all I can say!! Luke is 63 pounds and full of pulling energy!! It has been such a lifesaver, I can't even begin to tell you. We've had nothing but positive results with it :]
It's tough for them to get used to at first, but then it gets easier and easier for them. We love our leader collar and Luke is used to it now so he knows how it works!
I vote YES!!! :]
I asked this a couple of months ago, and got a pretty good split between this and the EasyWalk harness. I went with the Gentle Leader, and it SAVED MY LIFE. Walking Quil was a nightmare, he pulled me all over the street and he would choke himself on the collar until I was afraid he would pass out.
The gentle leader makes him so easy to walk. He gives us no trouble now...he still tries to rub it off his face on everyone he meets if they try to talk to him, but as for just walking...zero problems. He picks it up and brings it to us..no joke.
Oh, one thing...when we first started using it on him, it chafed the skin on the bridge of his nose a bit, but that went away after a few weeks, and it never got to the point where itwas a sore, just a light spot on the hair. Good luck!
I don't have a GL, but my friend who has a Great Dane puppy uses it! They absolutely swear by it! She can walk her 90 lb. pup with the leash in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other :)
This is TOO WEIRD. I was JUST going to post this same question today!!
ETA: and am looking forward to the answers!
A dog that was in our obediance school has one of these and the owners said it worked well. I think it is an easy way out though so i'm still stuck on the training.
Just something to keep in mind, what does a gentle leader look like if you were not familiar with them... a muzzle? I wouldn't want your dog to be preceived as a mean dog from people who are not familiar with those type of leases.
Growing up we had an Akita and a Rhodesian Ridgeback and we used a german collar. I know they look cruel but they don't hurt at all unless your dog pulls and if they pulls it pinches them like their mother would. If you in a store just try it on your arm and see how it works.
We went with the gentle leader HARNESS (the one that clips in front) because our Brutus looks a bit like a pitbull (hes chesapeake retriever and choco lab) and we were worried people would think it was a muzzle. Ive owned dogs for ages and the first time I saw a gentle leader I thought it was a muzzle. The harness SAVED US. Brutus pulled terribly even with various choke collars, and the second we put this harness on, he stopped. I have to hold him bak a bit when we walk to the park, but thats his favorite thing in the world so he gets excited =o) But that thing is a GODSEND
@roxy821- a lot of people do tend to think that it's a muzzle and they'll confront me about it. I explain to them that it's not a muzzle and it's a gentle leader collar to train him not to pull while walking. It's crazy how many people will ask you about it!! They can still open their mouth, it's just a little tight around the nose.
:]
KellyV brought up a good point about another type of coller and I think this is just a situation that you will have to see what works best on your dog. If you are thinking about the harness kind then just be careful because harness were designed for oxen to pull. This may not work in helping him not to pull. Does your teacher have different kinds of collars and leads that you can try on your dog before you decide which to puchase?
We use a Halti (which is essentially the same thing as a GL) and swear by them.... Chilly and Leah are both boxers, and they're.... not the brightest bulbs out there. They'd rather choke themselves to death than not try to chase that squirrel (or whatever else they see!)
I don't think it looks like a muzzle, it looks like a halter like you'd use to lead a horse (which is why they named our halti I think!).
We call it a head collar when people ask.
we have this one
http://www.buygentleleader.com/View.aspx?page=dogs/products/behavior/easywalk/productdescription
So I actually seen my neighbor walking his dog with one of these last week. I thought it was a muzzle to keep him from barking. lol Guess that proves me wrong. I might try this for my mutt....
We had one for my 28 pound dog who used to pull like crazy. It really did work to stop the pulling, but he hated it, even after months of using it. It got to the point where he was being really disobedient around walk times (we make him sit before we put the leash on, but I would literally be there for 15 minutes trying to make him sit so we could go, not wanting to give in, but also being late for work!).
Eventually we went back to his regular collar and he doesn't pull nearly as much, but still more than when he was wearing the GL. It's a great training tool, even if in the end it doesn't work long term. People did think it was a muzzle though, which was annoying.
I LOVE the gentle leader!!! I have a 100lb german shepherd that would take off if he saw a squirrel or something. It was pretty much impossible for me to walk him, but with the gentle leader it is seriously like a dream. And best part is is that it doesn't hurt your dog at all like a pinch collar, at first he would try to wipe it off with his paw and it was just annoying to him, but once he starts walking with it it seems like he forgets about it because he is just all happy go lucky :)
My first experience with a Gentle Leader was when they were just becoming popular several years ago. The family I was babysitting for had a rambunctious lab, and she had learned that the Gentle Leader meant "Calm down!" You simply picked it up, and she would instantly settle down (for about ten minutes, at least). Hehe!
I had heard great things about them, but had not purchased them until we fostered our first dog. She was a coonhound from the south, extremely underweight, and experiencing her first Minnesota winter. But BOY, could this dog PULL! With the Gentle Leader there was an immediate improvement. She didn't like it at first, (it feels weird for them to have something on their face), but soon she got to where she associated it with getting to go outside, and would sit nicely for it to be put on. We've since used it for several other fosters with a tendency to pull, and all but one got used to it very quickly. One of our fosters was DETERMINED to get this thing off his face no matter what, (he would walk fine with it, but once you'd stop for even a minute or two, he'd try to get it off). I am not sure if his adoptive family kept it up and if so, if he ever got used to it.
If you're not familiar with "It's Me or the Dog", Victoria Stillwell uses head collars frequently for dogs that pull. She gets them used to wearing it by associating it with good things...they get high value treats when the collar is being put on to entice them to put their nose through it and allow it to be fastened behind the head. I am not sure about Haltis, but I know Gentle Leaders come with a DVD that instructs you how to properly fit it for your dog, how to acclimate them to wearing it, and how to use it properly. They are not much money, and an excellent investment, not to mention an ARM SAVER! 
As to people who think it's a muzzle, I was surprised that so many people have commented that others think their dog is wearing a muzzle! I have never once had someone ask me why my dog was muzzled. I figured people were so acclimated to seeing head collars that they could tell the difference by now. Interesting.
Yes, they can be used instead of proper training, like one poster mentioned, but ideally they are used in addition to proper training and eventually used less or not at all as the dog learns how to walk nicely on a loose leash. Try one! I think you'll love it!
Oh yes, i forgot about the DVD. If you decide to go this route, take the time and watch the DVD! It was extremely helpful and informative, and it shows you the right and wrong way to use it, as well, as what to do with the negative behaviors your dog might have when you're starting out, ie, bucking, refusing to move, rolling, etc.
I've heard they are great - i took ours back when i bought it mainly cuz I couldn't get it to stay ON our dog!
I'm not deterring you from buying a gentle leader - but something that works for us...
I will play ball with our 75 lb lab for a good 15 - 20 minutes and THEN take her for a walk - but with the leash - she's on a harness, btw - the leash I will actually sorta make a "double harness" on her - put the leash under her belly and pull it back around THROUGH the leash's loop made on her back and that has helped her from pulling TREMENDOUSLY!
plus - the exercise (obviously good for her) tires her out and she doesn't pull when we walk! I've been able to take her on 40 minute walks!
GL's are pretty awesome. The only thing is that I didn't trust the plastic buckle to hold if he decided he really wanted to go. Since he was good most of the time I just walked him with his normal collar and lead unless he was pulling. If he started doing that I would just (leaving the leash attached to the collar normally) slip the end of the leash under his collar and slip the loop over his nose. Voila! Instant halti/gentle leader. (Ok, so I don't know what the difference is.)
Thanks everyone! I still don't know if I should just get the harness (with the clip in front) or the Head Collar. Maybe I'll just try the harness first - with training for the next 6 weeks - and if that doesn't work, try the head collar.
when we're walking in a very busy area, we use the gentle leader. but really don't need it anymore. As another poster said, sometimes just showing it to our dog calms him down. It really helped us get him to pay attention to us in busy situations, think street fair- where everyone is running at your dog, and there's food right there! I found the gentle leader to be a valuable training tool- that eventually you wont need (cause it trains him) - sorry i know i rambled a bit on this response.
I use a Gentle Leader harness on my 6 year old Corgi/Jack Russell dog, who is very hyper and a mega-puller when we go for a walk. She's not a huge fan of it but we both get a much better workout when i use it; highly recommend!
We have both a Halti head harness and an Easy Walk chest harness---both work, but the Easy Walk is WAY better for our dog. Very much depends on your dog, though---ours doesn't like things on his head, so when the Halti is on he spends the whole time pawing at it, trying to get it off. The Easy Walk is worth its weight in gold. :) After 2+ years of it, we are finally slowly transitioning him back to just the leash (which is happily working) but wouldn not have gotten to that point without it. FWIW, he's an 80-pound BIG dog.
We're planning on getting one for our lab/german shepherd puppy (he's only 3 months old and already over 30 pounds and able to pull me over! eep!) but my only concern is that I REALLY want to train him to walk without it.
We're in obedience classes as well, and our trainer has emphasized that you shouldn't use the gentle leader until you have some results with training them on loose-leash walking. For us, that means ANY time he pulls, we stop walking and wait for him to sit down before we continue. It's really frustrating at first (especially when he doesn't understand what the hell you're doing!) but he's finally starting to get the hang of it and doesn't pull a lot unless he's really excited.
We'll probably get a gentle leader for him soon, but we are waiting until we get a little better results with loose-leash walking! Just wanted to throw that in, because my biggest concern is always what will happen if we use that and then put a regular leash on him and he goes right back to pulling!
These head harnesses are fantastic. I found though with my border that I had to try on a few different brands because he has a wide head but a very petite snout. I ended up with a Black Dog Infinite 8. It has a martingale attached at the back, and the section around his mouth is completely adjustable and does not in anyway inhibite him from opening his mouth.
The only drawback I have about these is when walking down the street I tend to hear comments like "stay away from that dog, he is dangerous, see he is wearing a muzzle"
I have tried to explain to a few people that it is not a muzzle, and as you can plainly see the dogs mouth is open in his large smile with his tongue hanging out the side. But in the end I gave up trying to educate those who really werent interested anyway.
Another suggestion that is similar to the gentle leader but harder for your dog to wiggle his way out of is the Haltee. I have one for my cocker spaniel who pulls like a work mule and it instantly made her heel almost perfectly at my side and stopped her from pulling (except when she decided to go with her hunting instinct for a squirel and ignore the haltee). It straps on a little bit more than the gentle leader and she has yet to work her way out of it even though she can get out of a gentle leader in 10 seconds flat.
My life is greatly improved by my dog's gentle leader. We walk and jog comfortably together now.
I manage a dog bakery and boutique, so I work with dogs everyday.
2 things I always suggest to folks who have pullers
1. gentle leader or easy walk harness
2. a Wacky Walk'r leash <-------------- this is a MUST
https://wackywalkr.websitesource.net/
this combination works great!
I highly recommend the Gentle Leader as well. Our 80-pound lab mix is incredibly strong and was not really accustomed to a leash when we adopted him as a full-grown dog. His first night and day at home, only my fiance could walk him, because he pulled so much. I went right off my feet the first time I tried to hold on. The gentle leader was suggested by the shelter, and again by the trainer we went to for after adopting him, and it has been a life saver. He does try and rub it off from time to time, but he mostly forgets about it when out and about. We live in a condo, so he gets a minimum of three long walks every day, and the gentle leader has made it possible for us to give him the exercise he needs. It's been just over a year now, and I hope that within another year or two we can transition back to a regular collar. By that time he will be pushing 6 years old, so he'll be slowing down a little anyway.
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Hi-
Last week we started obedience classes with our little Derby. She is a strong girl & an intense puller. Our trainer recommended getting a Gentle Leader harness (with the ring in front) so that she doesn't end up scarring her trachea and coughing (or something like that) while we are walking her & still training her.
I did a lot of research and the GL Harness and GL Head Collar get raving reviews. Of the 98 on Petsmart, there were only 4 unfavorable reviews!
Just curious as to what other dog owners (with really pull-y dogs!) think? If you use either of these, do you like them? Thanks for your help as we make sure Derby is trained and acclimated properly. She is the best!