I have a similar problem to the one Liz (Steve) has posted except that my dog (11 months) is not a large breed, in fact he is only 5kg and about 14" high. All Buddy's walks are on the lead but whenever he sees another dog he gets really bolshie and barks loudly at them, although not aggressively. He pulls like a train for most of the walk as well - I've tried everything I can think of to get him to walk nicely and to ignore other dogs but I'm getting nowhere. At home he is the perfect dog, very obedient and attentive but as soon as he gets out of the front gate his character changes.

I am thinking of trying either a halti or gentle leader and would be interested to hear if these can work with a small dog - he has a fairly short muzzle.

Any help/advice would be much appreciated.
Joyce

HI Joyce
all I can say is that they make them in different sizes !!!!!!
I do have both in the kitchen drawer I just prefer the halti and it does make a difference .My friend has an english bull terrier which compared to murphs is a small dog ( although her snout is fairly wide -ish ! --I mean the dog not my friend :D ) It was her who put me on to the halti -- we are finding we can take the halti off more often now .
each to their own --see what suits
good luck and let us know how you get on
liz :)

Why not teach your dog to walk to heel instead? This is a method that works with some dogs depending upon the amount of effort the handler is prepared to put in and it is hard work on the part of the handler but I have found it very effective.

Tighten collar so it is close fitting at the top of neck behind
ears - not strangling tight!

With dog on your left side put your lefthand so it is holding the collar behind head, back
of the hand facing forward.

Put your other hand in the left underside-side of her collar with the back
of your hand/arm under her chin and use your wrist/arm to make him/her look at
you rather than away.

Walk off briskly with whatever command you use keeping your body facing forward, do not twist around to face dog. You may need to walk on knees for small dog. Dog will probably struggle
(violently) but if you walk around in a large anti-clockwise circle for a
few minutes should start to get the idea of what you are aiming at.
Don't forget to praise when dog relaxes and reinforce the command
frequently.

When s/he seems to have the idea and you are throughly dizzy (this is hard
work on both dog and handler when done properly) then let go with your right
hand but keep the left hand loosely at the back of neck just to reinforce .

Repeat from beginning if necessary and at the start of every walk for a few
paces.

There is NO strangling of the dog or jerking involved in this method (just
exhausts trainer). I strongly recommend that you practice with something like a teddy bear first so that you get the hand positions correct (hold teddy upside down :) )

Christine

Christine pleeeeeeease come and show me this on my Dandie :D :D :D
Actually no it could work, what if I lay down on a skateboard and got hubby to push me :p:D:D

I' m going to try this I'll let you know how it go's --I feel sick just reading it :Dps imean dizzy --when I looked it didn't read too well
liz

Joyce,
I have two bitches that are 15-19 pounds. They wear a size Zero halti-- it's the smallest size. Supposedly, bitches do have smaller muzzles than dogs, but who knows if it's enough to make a size difference.

If you can't find one small enough or don't want to bother take Kerioak's excellent advice. I"m not sure what type of collar she prefers, but even on small dogs, the chain does work quite well --- if properly used :rolleyes: :)

One of my 'girls' will not EVER get used to her halti, so I use either a body harness on her or a 'choke' chain (proper term -- 'training collar'). On the harness, she will pull. But as soon as I put on her 'chain' she walks a perfect heel.

If I have her regular 'buckle collar' on, she really does forget to walk alongside and starts pulling to go faster :rolleyes: She'll correct if I "remind" her. (meaning just saying her name and she'll look, then ease herself back into position)
..but it gets really annoying after a while :)

Even though I never have to 'snap' her chain, just her wearing it makes her really conscious of staying next to my side. I have no clue why But it does work :)

Just in case you don't know (if you do, please ignore) : To make sure the chain collar is going on the correct way,
when you place it over the dogs head, (and you are looking towards the dog's nose) it should look like a letter "P". If it looks like a "9" it is upside down. When you pull on the "dangle" part and release it, the collar loosens up automatically.
hth and good luck
toodles

Many thanks for all replies. I've printed them off to study the advice properly. I posted this topic after a particularly bad walk this evening but sharing the problem and receiving constructive advice has certainly made me feel much more hopeful.
Will let you know how we progress.

Joyce

I should add to my post above - DO NOTuse this method on a young pup, 9 - 10 months is probably quite soon enough, as although it does not involve any jerking etc it is quite a harsh method because the dog does not like being restrained to start with.

Having said that as soon as I put my hands in that position with Maverick just to remind her what I want she now almost dances along with me and gets very excited as it means we are going to do some practicing together :-)

Christine

I bought a size 0 halti today for Buddy and he wore it this afternoon on his walk. It fits well but somehow he managed to get the nose strap off three times !

Hoping for better tomorrow !!! :)