I bought two K9 Bridles at a show at the weekend, one for my springer x collie who pulls like a steam train and one for my Bullmastiff who generally is pretty good but when she does pull me it is very difficult to hold her back! i had them both fitted at the show but know to get them used to them at home first but I now feel guilty buying them! I normally walk them in 'perfect fit' fleece lined harnesses so are comfortable for them and feel mean with having something on their face.  I know I'm probably being daft and I know it is important to have proper control over your dogs. My head tells me this is sensible that I can walk them without having my arms yanked out of their sockets but then my heart thinks it must be horrible having a headcollar on! I have no aggression problems with either dog but would be nice to walk knowing that if the need arises I can hold them. What are other peoples views/ experiences with headcollars?

Horses, alpacas, donkeys, sheep, cows etc etc do not have a problem with them.

Hi,

i use the Gencon all in one head collar on both of my border collies. My bitch doesn't care about this collar, she pulls anyway... the dog is fine with it and walks heel all the time. Yes it takes some time for the dogs to get used to it. They will sulk and probably throw themselves on the floor not wanting to walk at all... the best in this case is to make the whole head collar thing a positive experience. Each time you put them on, give them a treat so that they know it is nothing horrible but something good. When they start throwing a tantrum just encourage them to walk and try to discract them from the whole head collar. Give them good praise when they walk nicely next to you.

Just don't give up and be tough. I know it's hard but keep thinking about your and your dogs safety.

Think positive and keep going!!!

Penster

Even though I walked five dogs without any real bother for years I wish I had got head collars years ago.

It means I can let them have a longer lead when road walking knowing I can get them back by my side instantly with ease (and they know it). 

The sight of a fox or Cat does not have my shoulders sore etc, and they react less often as they know it is pointless.

I only got them because there is only 19 months between my youngest two, and they were being competitive with each other on walks. 

When I saw how much easier it was ( I call it canine power steering) I got two more for the next eldest, which helped with excitement on our visits to the country (they are townie dogs) with sheep and cattle being of interest.

Just be wary of using one on a reactive dog with fear agression. It may make him worse as he might feel too constrained and unable to defend himself if needed. Mine became a great deal less reactive once I switched to a Mekuti harness and ditched the headcollar, enough that I could start to desensitise him, which hadn't been possible before. I have also wondered if a headcollar might inhibit some calming signals. I'm sure I don't need to mention that a longline should not be used with a headcollar and if you have a very reactive dog, of the lungey jumpy up-on-two-legs variety, headcollars could actually cause neck pain or injury.

And be sure to take time and patience in introducing it gradually, as already mentioned. One idea might be to start off by putting the headcollar on when you feed your dog - hopefully he will be more interested in his dinner than the thing on his nose and come to associate the headcollar with something nice straight away. I didn't have any problem introducing mine to it, as the reward of a walk was enough, but I often speak to people who have given up, possibly because they didn't take enough time/patience to accustom the dog initially.

Although the K9bridle looks the least invasive because its quite fine rope, I wonder if makes using broader materials may be comfier and less likely to rub?

i bought a k9-bridle at crufts as i could not walk our akita with a headcollar on as he used to still pull with all the head collars on that i tried. i got home at night from crufts and decided even though i was tired he needed a walk so i thought here goes and i was so amazed at the results normally after 20 mins of walking him i was fed up with him pulling and yanking etc, 45 mins later with the k9-bridle on we where still walking and i have used it every day since, i was worried about how thin the  bridle was but he never seems to mind it at all and we use it three times a day when walking him and he wears it also when running along side the bike

I too changed to a head collar recently after being dragged down the street by my GSD. I have the gencon all in one. I have to say, Reggie does not like the collar and usually has some sort of tantrum each time he wears it. I  use it every day and have done for the past 6 weeks. I give him a treat every time I put it on but he is still fighting it. However, I feel in complete control of him and that to me is the most important thing. He's a big strong boy!!! I know the collar is not hurting him, it has not rubbed his nose at all. I have to just distract him when he decides to throw his head down in a tantrum.
It's hard sometimes and I often think, should I give in but the most important thing is to be in control of a large dog so I am choosing to be strong and ignore his juvenile tantrums. In the long run its going to be better for me and for him.
Good luck. You'll get there!!

My eldest wears one, the Lab wears one and it makes a huge difference. The youngster actually causes damage to himself trying to get it off, so he doesn't wear one..
I used Dogmatic collars. I think unless they are doing damage to the dog or the dog is doing damage to itself from having them on then I don't see any issues with them.
As long as they fit and don't rub or ride up into the dogs eyes then crack on.

Just be wary of using one on a reactive dog with fear agression. It may make him worse as he might feel too constrained and unable to defend himself if needed. Mine became a great deal less reactive once I switched to a Mekuti harness and ditched the headcollar, enough that I could start to desensitise him, which hadn't been possible before. I have also wondered if a headcollar might inhibit some calming signals. I'm sure I don't need to mention that a longline should not be used with a headcollar and if you have a very reactive dog, of the lungey jumpy up-on-two-legs variety, headcollars could actually cause neck pain or injury.

And be sure to take time and patience in introducing it gradually, as already mentioned. One idea might be to start off by putting the headcollar on when you feed your dog - hopefully he will be more interested in his dinner than the thing on his nose and come to associate the headcollar with something nice straight away. I didn't have any problem introducing mine to it, as the reward of a walk was enough, but I often speak to people who have given up, possibly because they didn't take enough time/patience to accustom the dog initially.

It usually only causes a problen in reactive dogs if they aren't introduced correctly and actually it can work in the opposite way as there is a pressure point on top of the head where the band sits across that can have a calming and relaxing effect.  I only ever use a headcollar with a double ended lead and with one end on the headcollar and one end on the flat collar or a harness (usually the harness) just incase of reactiveness as they shouldn't have pressure put on them.

The trouble with headcollars is that people often introduce them far to quickly, even those that think they are introducing them slowly.  Popping it on to eat it's dinner is way down the list, and I wouldnt''be doing that till day four or five, maybe more of introducing a headcollar, depending on the dog.  There is no reason if introduced correctly why a dog should be doing the rub of death trying to get it off - it's perfectly possible to have a dog wagging at the appearance of a headcollar *if* introduced correctly, just as it is with a muzzle.

I start off on day one of introducing a headcollar by bringing out the headcollar and a pot of treats, have the dog infornt of me, pick up the headcollar and give the dog a high value goodie, put down the headcollar.  I do ten reps of this one after the other, picking up the headcollar means a treat.  Then I put the headcollar and treats away.  I would tend to do five or six sessions of this on the first day - with most dogs this is enough to ellicit a conditioned happy response to the picking up of the headcollar.

Day two I start off doing the same thing for a couple of session.  The I move on to holding the nose loop open and holding a treat the other side so the pop their nose in the loop, take the treat and then move it back out again.  Again I do about ten reps of this one after the other and do sevreal sessions throughout the day, maybe extending them to keeping thier nose through the lop for a few seconds by the end of the day.

The next day I start off doing a few sessionas the day bnefore and then move on to doing the head collar up quite loosely, feed a few high value treats and take the headcollar off, this should literally be a couple of seconds, as soon as the headciollar comes off the treats stop.

The next day I would work on building up the length of time by feeding the goodies for a second or two more at a time, probably till the dogs is wearing the headcollar for maybe thrity seconds or so.  I would do the headcollar up to the right tightness slowly over the day. (not while it is on the dog).

The next day I would do some more of the sdame and then start putting the headcollar on for feed times and  then taking it off straight away.  I would also if the dogs is toy motivated play games of tuggy and ball.

When the dog is to the point that it is happy wearing the hedcollar for a few minutes I would then add the lead and use it at home and in the garden again rewarding regularly.  I tend to do this and gradually build up the time over a few days.

Doing it this way, you can usually have a dog that is really quite happy to wear a headcollar and usually with in a week and a half or so depending on the dog.  It al;so emeasn that you don't get your legs rubbed to death all the time or the dohg scooting it's nose along things because it hates wearing it.  If you do introduce them then have a try doing it this way - it can make all the difference in the world for the sake of a little bit of time :-)

Agree with karenclynes completely. I first bought a gentle leader around four years ago, my one year old gsd used to pull really bad. I made a huge mistake of rushing her into it, I thought she was okay with it but wasn't. The next time I got it out she hid under the table, so going back to square one and getting the chicken out, well she then associated the chicken with the head collar :( It was my own fault. I remember I posted on here and got some great advice, the above post being the routine I followed. It took me two weeks going very slowly each day, was definitely worth it in the long run.

Thank you for all your replies I will introduce them slowly :)

I used one on Taz he was a huge dog, worked wonders. The only problem was that when you tried to hook a lead up to his collar he wouldn't walk lol

I walk my large dog in a head collar, I wish I'd got one from the start, it works wonders and he and I enjoy our walks much more.
He took a while to get used to it and got alot of strange looks as he's throw his face to the floor!
He does infact show fear agression and I've actually found it helps, I think because he generally feels in control of me and protects me, but with the head collar on I'm in control and he is good as gold.

ps... I walk him with a harness as well as the head collar, I have a training lead with one end attached to the head collar and the other to the harness, this way he's not always got the pressure on his face, I only hold it tight when needed, just having the head collar on stops the pulling without me even having to tighten the lead x

Headcollars can be a great asset for walking and control, but I must admit I am not in the camp of "the dog must get used to it". If introduced correctly, most dogs can and do wear them quite happily. However, I think occasionally you can get a dog who, even when introduced to the headcollar perfectly, can still be upset by wearing them. I liken this to someone who wears glasses, but who, although forcing themselves to wear them, never quite feels 100% in them and is relieved when they get contacts, or have the op! So I'd say for almost all dogs, theyn can work well, but if any dog continues to show signs of discomfort/stress/annoyance etc even after careful introduction, my advice would be to ditch that particular equipment if the situation allows it :)

Or alternatively, try with another type of headcollar, which may sit/fit differently.

On another tack, I have heard a dog's neck "crack" when it was wearing one and pulled back by its owner. I have no idea exactly what happend, except i heard this cracking noise. So I'd be extra careful with a  lunging dog, and perhaps use headcollar/harness/doublelead combo :)

Lindsay
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