What's the difference between a training aid and a management tool, or are they exactly what it says on the tin? As far as I'm concerned a training aid will help an owner teach a dog what behaviour is required, and then it can be put away. A management tool simply makes the undesirable behaviour .. well, manageable ... but doesn't actually help find a cure.

Piglet, for example, walks beautifully on a loose lead anywhere when he wears his Halti. But if I take him out separately on just his ordinary collar he'll lower his head and lean into the collar try pulling me along until I've stopped a few times and he's backed up properly so we can start again. Using the Halti hasn't trained him not to pull so it's not a training aid as far as I'm concerned, but it does mean that we can go for pleasurable walks, so it's a good management tool.

So what are some genuine training aids? Or don't they exist, and it's all down to owner input?

I would consider my clicker a training aid; it helps me mark the exact behaviour I want at precisely the right moment. I tend to use it for training behaviours at a distance from me, like emergency stops and sendaways.

It's funny you should say that, because my experience has been the opposite to yours; all dogs I've ever used a headcollar on were able to stop using it after a few months up to a year max, and never pulled again. I was thinking of it just yesterday whilst walking Rio (21 months old), she used to pull so much I couldn't hold her at all (despite just 20 kgs, she, as a mali, is VERY strong), so I used a Gentle Leader for a few months. Now she walks on a slack lead at all times and I ditched the headcollar over a year ago. Same with her older half sister Matilda and various others I've had.

Having said that, generally speaking I'd say a head collar IS meant as a management tool. Maybe it is sensitive breeds/dogs that learn from it? Because it makes a bigger impression on them?

Lori has a good point about clickers, but the again you don't need a clicker to clicker train -I never use one. I always use my clicker word. I try to do things the clicker way so leads for instance are there to keep the dog secure just in case but not to be used, same with collars. I guess the most important training AID had to be -THE SAUSAGE! :) I.e. food. Or toys, any rewards the dog enjoy.

It's only Piglet who still needs his headcollar; Harry's been the easiest dog ever on the lead, but I still put a headcollar on him when I take them all out, because he tends to forget himself if a rabbit or a squirrel or a cat makes an appearance! Beattie only has a lead on at all to show solidarity (and it's the law by the road)!

I would say a head collar and a lead are both management tools.

Maybe Piglet is extra intelligent. :) I mean that quite seriously, maybe he's the only one that has managed to work out that without it, there is NO need to walk nicely. :)

I know you're right, Piggy's definitely the one with the brains! I think it's his intelligence (Harry's a born beauty queen!) that makes him such a challenging dog. In many ways he's wasted with us because we don't have the time or the inclination to do as many things with him as he'd benefit from. Half a life, really.

I think you've got the idea down pat - training tools help in acheiving a future goal, management tools make the problem easier to cope with.

A headcollar IMO can be both, but it depends greatly on both the dog and the owner.  As you've experienced, some dogs will simply revert to old behaviours on-lead once the headcollar is off, whereas others will gain a measure of self-control from it (and I think these are more likely to improve the most if that is taken advantage of with specific training while the headcollar is on).  My youngest dog is one for whom the headcollar is management only - she pulls like a b*tch with it on, and is a heck of a lot worse with it off, regardless of what I do - training her to lead walk nicely is something that the headcollar won't help in.  It's similar with my boy, but he's nowhere near as bad for pulling when it's not on him (but that's sheer laziness!).

My oldest girl, though, has gained a lot of self-control through the headcollar - I think it's been the clincher for her lead walking, despite a lot of clicker work before I first tried it on her.  She's much better without it, and clicker work with and without is much quicker now.

I think it entirely depends on how the item is used - some people can use anything (within reason) as a useful training aid, where others will never get beyond using them as a management tool. It does also depend on the dog as well, some dogs will quickly learn they can pull if the halti is not there, and not when it is, and just learn not to pull into the halti, but revert very fast when its removed.

Other dogs generalise faster that pulling doesnt work and stop.