was told halti's and other harness only encourage pulling...

... but we need help. I have a front ring harness and it worked great but Jellybean eventually stopped walking all together with it on so we stopped using it. Also, our trainers (Alpha Dogs) told us it only encourages pulling anyway. So we decided to try teaching her to just walk on her leash by stopping every time she pulls (and another version of that method), we have taught her HEEL... is there any other way to get her to stop pulling or should we just go back to the harness? she's about 50/50 on not pulling and pulling. It feels like she isn't learning any more though and that we'll never get to even 75%

Have you tried a Halti head collar?

no we haven't - i'm wondering if we even should though, as we have been told harnesses (of any type) encourage pulling. I'm debating whether to try the one we have again as I don't want to encourage more pulling. Do you agree with the idea that harnesses encourage it?

I'm not really one to answer that because I don't like harnesses (nothing wrong with them, it's just me!).

The Halti head collar isn't a harness though - it goes on like a horse's halter & so controls the head. If the dog tries to pull, the head is turned towards you so they can't pull!

Have a look at the new competition announcement though....

Done!

We have tried the Canny Collar on Rocky and it did show some improvement in his walking skills on the lead. Think you would need to be persistent with it though and not give up. You do need to keep the lead straight up in the air when you use it as it can go a bit loose.

Speaking for me, personally, the harness doesn't encourage pulling, Loki walks better on the harness than on the lead. I guess it depends on the individual dog, so it can't hurt to try.

But when he's back on the lead, does he just go right back to pulling if not worse?

Definitely can't hurt, I am losing patience

It's really interesting hearing what information is given to people from such different sources.

When we rescued Percy we were asked to use a harness on him. This was followed up with lots of information about how sensitive their necks/throats were and also they had already began his training with a harness so it enabled a little bit more familiarity when he came to his new home.

So we have used a harness ever since, thankfully it doesn't encourage pulling with Percy, and he walks really well on the lead. We do occasionally clip his lead onto his collar, and Percy tends to pull just slightly more when we do, he's also very confused having the tension in his lead at neck level and will sometimes try to chew the lead....I think this is just because he's not used to having the lead within reach of his mouth as our harness clips on his back.

There all so different, but all so scrummy

Girly wrote:But when he's back on the lead, does he just go right back to pulling if not worse?

Definitely can't hurt, I am losing patience

No, once a dog has been taught what "heel" means (or whatever word you use to get him to walk with you) it won't matter whether you have a harness or a collar on.

she knows what heel means she just doesn't always stay in that position. if i can get her attention she will come right back to my side when I tell her heel, and even when I don't tell her she often corrects herself and goes to my left side and walks next to me when she realizes she is not there. But then she pulls and pulls again. i can't get her to just stay in heel position all the time, i wish I could! keep working at it, I guess, but help would be good so might try something else soon.

Not sure what they are called but we use a check collar with the Wilfmiester as he used to pull really bad with the harness..

The check collar is like a normal leather collar for 70% of it but the other 30% has a choke element to it, hard to desribe but basically sits lke a normall collar but when the boy starts to pull we check him TO THE SIDE not back as this encouraeed his pulling and he is soon trotting along either just at heel or behind.. briilliant i will have a look for a link and post if i can find..

As if by magic...

http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/woofles/product/half-check-leather-collar-personalised?utm_source=GoogleShopping&utm_medium=Gifts&utm_campaign=132731&gclid=CL62me_c07MCFW_KtAodphUAtA

i've seen an all chain version of that Wilfred, i thought it was like a pinch collar though so I didn't want to use it. Perhaps I'll try that if one of the others don't work

Try a halti.

With my pup Tank (8mths) he walks perfect by the side of me, occasionally pulling but a gentle tug and vocal correction works.

Now, my girl Diesel could have a career pulling trucks, no matter what we tried she pulled. She is however comfortable walking loose leash if she is a foot or two in front, she won't protest at all.

Wishing u luck with a head collar and a bunch of treats. Hotdogs work really well !

Stick to a collar but a strong one. If you go online pets at home have one especially for staffys. If he pulls give a quick pull/tug on the lead from the elbow not the shoulder and praise them every time the lead is slack. Look up Steven Havers on google he is a dog behaviour trainer and is excellent. He believes it is the owners that need the training and not the dog. Would reccommend him to anyone..

I just had a look at Steven Havers on youtube - looks pretty decent & speaks a fair bit of good sense.

Roxy D, why not come & introduce yourself properly here....
https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/f7-new-member-introductions

when charlie came to us he had a collar, he would pull terribly. I tried in vain for weeks with him on a short lead to stop pulling. I bought a harness and his walking was much better but if he decided something looked interesting he would pull again. I relented and bought a halti and he is fantastic on it, no pulling and walks beautifully. I still put his harness on, much easier for me to grab hold of him when he's off his lead if I need to. But take the halti off and just use just the harness and he pulls again.
IMO the halti is a god send.

I agree with all the people that have recommended the Halti, I used it with Buddy when he was younger and it worked a treat. I alternate between a harness and a collar now but Bud is 10 and walks to heel on or off the lead but I do think that the Halti helped to get him that way.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

Hi there,
Have used Haltis in the past and think they are great to stop dogs from pulling, but there is a word of warning, do not use them on a long lead, if your dog takes off and gets to the end of the lead the jerk on the Halti can be enormous and can possibly cause damage to the neck.

Anne

thanks guys - tried her front ring harness again this weekend and she actually walked with it! apparently her minder used it while we were on holiday a few weeks ago and she will do anything to walk with her boyfriend Hamley so harness it was LOL little tart. Oh well, at least it's better for now but still might try the nose lead

Glad to hear you found something that works for you, well done

I'm thinking of asking her minder if we can adopt her dog, Hamley, who Jelly L-O-V-E-S and will do anything for! Her minder has 2 or 3 other dogs, she won't miss him. hahaha!

I swear by heads collar if you need the control i personally use the dogmatic head collar on Chance and he walks beautifully with it!

Roxy D wrote:Stick to a collar but a strong one. If you go online pets at home have one especially for staffys. If he pulls give a quick pull/tug on the lead from the elbow not the shoulder and praise them every time the lead is slack. Look up Steven Havers on google he is a dog behaviour trainer and is excellent. He believes it is the owners that need the training and not the dog. Would reccommend him to anyone..

Thanks, I will have a look. The trainer we went to in Sept/Oct taught the same method basically, and it does help for a bit but not 100%. I'm willing to keep trying though.

I spoke too soon - she is back to just standing there with the stupid harness on, won't budge. I'm going to need a second dog who she's in love with or something, as well as a different collar/halti sort of thing lol