As I thought we were making progress, I thought I'd try to ditch the halti for our walk yesterday and concentrate on trying to get Sparky to walk to heel on his collar. He has been doing really well on his halti, and is even managing to walk up our busy road without pulling, so I thought I'd give it a go. He walked to heel on our walk through the park, and up the road, but then, just as we were about to cross, which we've done thousands of times, and where he always sits and waits when on his halti, he anticipated the move and made a dart for it, nearly pulling me into the road. Luckily there were no cars coming on our side of the road, and the biggest injury was to my pride as I ended up on all fours.

A timely reminder not to get too complacent or think that we've cracked it! Back on the halti today, needless to say, at least for the road walk home.

Gosh! you were lucky there wasn't any traffic. He must be a big fella Tracy, what breed is he?

He's only a 10 month old BC Harriet! Not that big, but really strong when he wants to get somewhere.
Tracy

What do halti's do to stop the dog pulling? Its not through pain is it?

No, not at all. They simply turn the dog's head. They can't pull forwards unless they are facing forwards.
:)

I agree with JG but also remember reading somewhere that the strap which goes behind the ears to fasten acts a bit like acupuncture(?) without the needles.  The slight pressure of the strap acts on some nerve points and create a calming influence.  I think there must be something in this as I have seen several dogs introduced to the halti for the first time because they are extremely excitable.  The halti calms them immediately they don't actually have to start walking to demonstrate the fact that the halti alters their behaviour.  The other advantage is that if you have a dog that leans into its collar to pull forward they invariable strengthen all the muscles around the neck and shoulders making them all the more powerful at surging forward.  With the halti there is nothing for the dog to lean into so it eliminates the powerful muscle build-up taking place.

Pretty much the same as having a halter on a horse except for a dog.....
It's very hard to go back to a buckle after using a halti, I was told in dog class that most people can never get back to a buckle collar. I was told if halti is what I want to use to be prepared to use it all the time, and I do use it all the time with Taz. The minute they don't feel it on their face cause their head is no longer controlled then they start to pull again, I have tried a buckle with Taz and it has never worked. Good luck and I hope it works for you :) Your lucky there was no traffic that could of been real dangerous:(

You can get a dog to walk without pulling after having used a halti but it does take training.  The halti should only be used as a temporary measure while the real foundation training goes on at other times.  If your dog pulls all over the place in training class you get to learn very little because you are so controlled by your dogs movements so the halti helps.  BUT, you should train the dog to walk on a loose lead at other times.

Or, as the poster first said, her dog was a danger near the road so a halti comes in useful but loose leash training should be done at home in the security of the garden.  Unfortunately, you don't get anything for nothing in life and good lead manners are no exception!

I agree suzieque, that there is no substitute for training! Problem here was, that he had been walking so well on his collar for the past hour, I just wasn't expecting the sudden lunge. I would like to think he was lunging to sit at the kerb, but it certainly didn't feel like it at the time, and at any rate he over-stepped the kerb and ended up in the road by a foot or so.  I suppose the only way to get him to do this without the halti is to train him to do it without it, but I'm not sure I dare risk it - dread to think what could have happened, especially if it had been my daughter instead of me.

We practise daily on the quieter roads, and try to do the training at his training class on a collar, except for the bit where he gets to run through a tunnel, which is just too much excitement for him to bear! :)
Tracy

Yes, excitment gets them all in one way or another.  Mine does great with his training and I can get his attention beautifully until someone else nearby squeaks a squeaky toy then all is lost!!

Still, they say patience and perseverance are virtues ..............

Oh poor you, been there done it and bought the Tshirt! All our scrapes have been down to the same thing, but to be honest you dont know if you dont try these things. Is Sparky still a bit spooked by traffic or is it just the collie over-tuned in to owners body movement thing, do you think? when we take our dogs out we should hang up our pride on the coat hook and collect it on the way in. But think what stunning progress youve made with Sparky, he walked at heel nicely for so long today, you should celebrate your achievements especially on such days. :)

Thanks Lorelei,
He still doesn't like the traffic, but is getting used to it. We'd walked for about a quarter of a mile along the busy road after our park walk. I wasn't even starting to turn, and I always make sure I cross at a different point every time we cross the road. This wasn't even the last point on the list of places we cross, so I'm not sure what did it. Maybe I was tensing up a bit as we got towards the end, as he's always on his halti at this point, usually, and he picked up on that. Told the girls I'm trading him in for a hamster ;)!