sorry if this is an obvious question, but was in PAH today looking at gentle leaders, and the sales assistant came over, and said oh no, you dont want one of those, a halti is a lot better, more control. im not entirely sure what the difference is, but i left without anything as i was confused.
i want something for my ridgeback puppy, not for all the time, only for situations where he is likely to get excited as he pulls like a maniac, hes fine on normal walks, and walks well to heel, but when distracted he chooses to completely ignore me and ends up half choking himself on his normal collar and lead.
any tips or personal experiences would be most welcome.

I have used a canni collar which is brilliant. Unlike other headcollars the lead attaches behind the neck as with an ordinary collar. Google for the canni collar company and you can see a video on their website as to how it works. It is only available on the internet though as far as I remember.

Haltis tend to ride up into the eyes more on very pully dogs.  I've used both - I used a GL on a spaniel boy (just about the strongest puller I've known aside from my youngun now) and it was very good; at the moment I use haltis (because I got them free! :-P), they are fine on two of the three I use them on because they don't pull much but on the littlun - who pulls like a steam train come what may - she spends most of a lead-walk with only semi-vision in her left eye (she walks on my right) because it rides up so much.  Would go for a GL every time if I had a tenner spare!

Incidentally, I was advised to try a harness and headcollar combination for my big dog - she used to be an absolute 'mare on walks, terrible puller, no self control whatsoever, so on and so forth.  The idea is that with a harness and headcollar, you have two points of control (so it balances the dog), and regaining control is much easier because you can alternate between gentle pressure on the headcollar and the harness.  Usually best with a double-ended lead, although I did it with a 6ft lead with a carabiner clip at the handle end attached to the harness.

It worked wonders - she now has the headcollar on for security only, and because she's a total b*tch for snaffling food off the pavement.  When she spots it she lunges - and she is a 44kg dobermann so has a bit of pull, especially when she catches me off guard! :-P

Edit to add: I have also used the canny collar but find its effectiveness depends on the dog.  A friend uses it to great effect on her GSD, and it is fabulous for that dog, but it didn't work for Soli - she figured out in literally 2 minutes that if she moved herself just so, quick enough, the nose loop came loose enough for her to slip it off and carry on pulling.  But I have seen it work very well on a few dogs!

Prefer the Canny out of the two but I don't think you can beat the Dogmatic

I prefer the gentle leader over the halti any day, mainly because the loop under the chin can be made snug with the gentle leader and the webbing has Round edges that do not mark the face the way the halti does.  also it seems less prone to twist up under the eye.

Both are available to try and for sale at our training classes adn peopel fidn the Gentle leader works better and fits better than the Halti.

I use the Halti on my male ridgeback - but it is the harness not the type that goes over the muzzle!

Like you, my boy was perfect until I put him in training classes and he then used to pull like a train, making himself sick on two occasions!  My trainer at the time, suggested the harness as she had some in class and it was fantastic!  You can get a double ended lead that clips onto the chest ring and then on the ring between the shoulders but I think this is if you have an ingrained 'puller'.  I just clip my lead onto the chest ring and this has worked fine for me and him.

You still have to train them not to pull and I can walk him on a collar, just I prefer not to now.  My boy is over two and and I've used the halti harness since he was 3.5 months old.  Interestingly enough my female ridgeback who is coming up for 5 months is fine with her collar and lead, yes, she still pulls when overexcited but is nothing like he was!

I sympathise with you - I've had many a sore arm from my boy lunging/pulling when I wasn't paying 100% concentration.

I've used Dogmatics with my RRs - when you're walking 5 at a time, they do help!  Mine got used to wearing them when I took the leads off and they were running free.  They never got them off.  I've got the leather ones and they did take a bit of time and effect to soften them, but they do last.
HTH
Carina 

At various times I've used a halti, a gentle leader, an easy walker, a lupi and a canny collar...and he pulled with them all.
But put him on a flexi lead and he's a lot more manageable.

> I use the Halti on my male ridgeback - but it is the harness not the type that goes over the muzzle!
>

The main advantage of the head collars is that you have control of the head, so if you have problems with eye balling over excitement at the sight of other dogs or other stimulus you can direct the dogs attention away.

> The main advantage of the head collars is that you have control of the head, so if you have problems with eye balling over excitement at the sight of other dogs or other stimulus you can direct the dogs attention away.

Which is one of the reasons I use it for Soli on walks - the lure of that discarded sandwich is just too great ;-)

I must stress the importance of training though - and I don't mean just for lead walking, but generally, it does make a difference.  With SOli, her total lack of self control was an absolute nightmare, especially if we saw another dog - through clicker training and bits of training out on walks she's gained a LOT of self control, and as a result I was able to take her into a very full class last tuesday on a halti body harness and didn't have any issues with lunging; she's able to think first these days!

Yep I use the  Dogmatics and they work beautifuuly and don't ride up.  I had the leather ones and love them so much I bought the fabric ones for the wet weather and they look realy very very nice and each has a colour that matches their look.  :)

I used the Halit and GL with my previous dog but he pulled with both of them so this time I taught mine to walk well on flat collars while one to one first before introducing the halters which I use when they are together or for family walks where my concentration is not on training the dogs.

was looking up the dogmatics online and they sound quite good. i am working on his heelwork on a one to one basis, and hes doing brilliantlly, doesnt pull, and trots alongside, however he loves other dogs and if he sees one he goes crazy trying to get to it to play. its easy to forget his age given his size, and ive had a few disapproving looks along the lines of "she cant control that dog" . always had GSDs before, slightly more obedient haha! will order a dogmatic and let you all know how he gets on. thanks for all replies. suzanne

Hi Suz1985
I imagine that a RR is a bit of a shock after GSDs!  Rather different mentality :)
Carina and my 5 RRs (and 2 Aussies for variety)

I got through quite a few leather dogmatics with my GSD, I was advised afterwards to soften them before using them. They all perished in the same place unfortunately, they are a bit expensive to have to be replaced on a regular basis. I now use the Gencon, it's basically a figure of 8 design, much cheaper & wears extremely well.

you can say that again carina!! i love him to bits though, hes a great pup, waited a year for him. is quite good at obedience in house, will sit, down, stay, leave, roll and give a paw, however that disappears as soon as there is a sufficient distraction haha, as does the walking to heel. oh well...
hes already displaying the great ridgeback trait of sleeping up on my couch, never allowed a dog to do that before, but ive gave in with him, he looks so comfy!
my mum still has 2 gsds, i moved out a year and a half ago, and my pup goes down several times a week for a run around, he loves it!

Just wait til you've got more than one (did his breeders warn you, there aren't many people with only one RR!!) then you won't have any sofa left to sit on :)  My boys are cuddled up together on one sofa and I was sharing the other with Tanzi.  The fire's going so a couple are lying in front of that.  The Aussies are on the floor at the moment, though I was almost wearing the pup a little while ago :)

We use a halti on our Border Collie no problem on my spaniel at (Crufts) I got a bungi lead its as it says on the tin, a bungi type I stop walking when he pulls and it pulls him back. In two weeks he walks at heel. Its available on www.dog-games.co.uk and its a bun-gee pup EE you can get I strand for little dogs two for medium etc. Worth a look on the web site it has worked for me. Husband swears by Halti for his Border Collie though.
I think its a suck it and see type thing what works for one will not always work for another dog - hope its a help

Hi

I bought a halti lead for my patterdale terrier, but stopped using it after a few weeks.  Basically, it did stop my dog from pulling on the lead, but because she is a smallish dog, when she was running around on the extendable lead, she kept getting the lead caught up underneath the legs as the lead connects to the halti underneath the chin.  This spoilt the enjoyment of the walk for both her and me.  I have seen larger dogs using haltis and they didn't seem to have the same problem.  I am trying to train my dog to walk without pulling by using the stop or turn around method each time she pulls, which is working ok except for when we go somewhere new and she's so excited with the new smells etc it turns into a battle ground, so if somebody has suggestions on how to stop this, it would be appreciated.

A head collar should never be used with an extendable lead.  the whole point of the headcollar is that you should never jerk the lead or need to.  with a flexi the dog can come to the end abruptly and injure their neck.

Oops, I didn't realise, Bess is my first dog and I am trying to do things right, although I am learning as I go along.  It's a learning curve for both of us as we only got her in November when she was 18 months old.  Like I said, I stopped using the halti anyway and am trying to train her myself by either stopping each time she pulls or turning around and walking the other way, and by giving her lots of praise when she's not pulling on the lead, by doing this I can see an improvement already.  She now only pulls when we are somewhere new and is eager to explore and no amount of stopping or walking the other way stops her, can anyone give me tips on how to stop this.  Also does anyone have any advice as to how to train dogs to come to you.  Bess will come to me on command when out walking but only when she wants to, if there is something getting her attention like another dog, there's no chance.

bought him the gentle leader to try as it was the easiest to get hold of and wanted to see how it was. oh my goodness! what a result, immediate calming down and even when he saw the other dogs he walked his tail and got excited but didnt pull at all. made a real difference. i used the collar and lead later on him when no other dogs were around to comintue walking to heel training, but for when theres a lot of dogs around, i think the gentle leader will make a huge difference! and he didnt seem bothered by it, didnt attempt to remove it or rub nose along ground!

They can be a really useful tool even when you have trained your dogs.

For example a friend of mine likes to use head collars on her males when we arrive at shows.

With three dogs and bags to carry it means she can keep them from sniffing and then wanting to pee on every spot hundreds of other dogs have peed on.