Is a head collar a good thing for my puppy?

Question

My labrador puppy is 5 months old and gorgeous, he has been to obediance school and is great with training BUT not with his walking....he pulls alot and i followed what my trainer from puppy school said with treats etc and telling him to heal but it just did not work for him, somebody suggested a head collar, do you think they are good? are they nasty on a dog as i would not want to hurt his face? they look a little like muzzles which im not keen on. I dont want to feel like a failure because i cant teach him to walk nicely, are there any other methods to try?

Thanks in advance for any answers : )

Answer 1

I wasn't keen on the way they looked at first either, I thought the appearance screamed "Bad Dog". But my dog, a pit, is really strong and I soooo prefer leading him by his head.  It will not hurt his face. It takes a few times for the dog to get used to the loop over his snout, but after that I think it is more comfortable for him than a regular collar. A head collar fits high on the neck and can't choke the dog.  However, there is a risk of injuring the neck if the dog thrashes about, fighting the collar  -- for example, to go after a cat. If your dog does that, you can add a regular collar and second leash in combination with the head collar. If the dog thrashes, you merely loosen your grip on the leash attached to the head collar and restrain him with the regular collar instead.

A head collar gives much better control than anything I've tried except a training harness (the kind of harness that tightens under the dogs arms when he pulls).There are times when my dog still pulls (for some reason, during our evening walks...). I've been trying everything -- stop walking forward until he relaxes, turn around and go the opposite way -- but too many nights I have sore arms anyway, so soon we will be training with a prong collar.

Whatever method you end up using, train him as soon as possible because Labradors grow to be quite big and have very strong necks.

Answer 2

Don't use a choke because you could damage a lot of vital things in his throat but a headcollar sounds like a great idea it gives you more control so that he learns to listen to you and walk at your pace on your terms.

Start out with a head collar and whenever he pulls even a little make him sit. Make him stay as you walk in front of him and when you are a little ahead of him make him stay for aout 10 more seconds and then say ok but don't make a big fuss because that will get him all excited all over again. Do this every single time he pulls even if it means stopping every two steps he will have to catch on or you will never get to the park  lol!! If he isn't responding try adding treats and a clicker to the mix that should get his attention.

Answer 3

yes because when they pull there heads come to the side witch will make the stop pulling but you dont want to pull him then it will be just un comfortable. he  will get use to it eventually.

Answer 4

no choke collars!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 5

Someone advised me that if you are having trouble getting your dog to heel, while you are walking, quickly change and walk in the opposite direction. Pretty soon your dog will stay by your side so he will know where you are going. This might be worth a try before you go out and buy a head collar.

Answer 6

lol he IS only 5 months and labs are VERY stubborn and hyper. You may have to restart him in obedience several times. They can be hard to train, especially in their walking. Until it is ABSOLUTELY necessary I would keep him in a regular collar, but a harness might work better with him as it covers more of the body. But since it's still so young, it is just puppy hyperness. He just has to be taught over and over.

Answer 7

They work, but you have to remember that it's a tool. It prevents pulling but does not teach them anything - that's what training is for. You remove the tool and the dog will return to pulling. The only tool is use is the Prong collar, which is self correcting. I used it for a week and she no longer lungs, even when in regular collar (i backed the correction up with training.)

You need to stick with the training. Find different methods. Nothing happens overnight or within a few days. Sometimes it takes weeks, or even months, for a dog to learn some commands. My dog still has trouble walking nicely because of her hyper nature, but it's gotten better.

We were told that if your dog pulls you, then you either STOP or turn around and walk in the other direction. For stopping, you only resume the walk when the pup returns to you. For turning around just walk a few steps and say "lets go" while turning around.

If you do that often enough the dog will learn that pulling gets him no where. As far as "heel" it can be done the same way, just tack on the "heel" command and use the turning method. When working on heel, do so in an open area and do it slowly. Reward the dog for every few steps, then lengthen time between treats.

Answer 8

We got a standard schnauzer a few years back, and he pulled something awful when we walked him.  Someone recommended a face/head harness so we tried it out.  It works great.  As soon as Indy tries to pull, his head gets turned around so he's looking right at you.  But it's not painful for them, it's actually quite gentle.  But when they pull, instead of pulling your arm it just turns their head.  Your puppy won't like it at first, and will probably paw at it to get it off, but Indy got used to it and now he walks amazingly well.

Answer 9

A head collar is a good training tool but it shouldn't be a forever replacement.  We used it on our older dog who would pull something awful on lead but would be fine off lead and walk next to us oddly enough.  After several walks with the head collar and reinforcing the good behavior she got the message and is fine to walk with or without the leader.

The head collars are perfectly safe and much better than a choke or shock collar.  It operates the same way a halter does on a horse on the the basic assumption of wear the head goes the body will follow.

If your dog starts pulling you can also start walking in the opposite direction and keep doing that untill the dog starts to get the hint that pulling means he can't see what he wants to see.