Battle of the Headcollars - Halti vs. Gentle Leader

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Originally Posted by theterrierman

What type of accidents if you don't mind me asking. PM me if it's graphic. I was considering that exact harness, but I'd never seen one used, and I knew headcollars worked well. Do you know anyone who's had success with one?

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I have a website upon which there is one page that is dedicated to the prong collar. One reader that visited was Bonnie Dalzell (Borzoi) who has done postmortems on dogs and has viewed the results of collar injuries. I'll quote part of what she says here -

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As an anatomist and a serious breeder I obtained thorough postmortem reports on many of my Borzois after they passed on and I was surprised to find that a number of them had healed fractures of the lateral bones of the larynx. This sort of injury narrows the opening into the trachea and, in extreme cases, could also produce respiratory insufficiency at heavy exercise.

A lateral radiograph read by some one who knows what they are looking at can reveal these injuries in a living dog.

Haltis and Easy Leaders have the potential to severely injure a dog's neck in the case of an out of control dog who bucks on the Halti. Dogs do not have the massive neck ligamentation of horses and, while their necks are stronger than ours, they still can be injured, especially if suddenly pulled up and back. Haltis do have their place in control of a powerful dog, I regularly use one on one of my best lure coursing Borzoi who has injured his trachea from his enthusiastic attempts to get at the lure while we are waiting for him to have his turn to run. However one needs to be careful that the dog does not get up speed and run to the end of a long leash while in a Halti, because the leverage on the neck that can be exerted by a high speed Halti stop could be very damaging. I would not use one on a dog working on the high obstacles of an agility course because if the dog fell from the A-frame or the elevated walk and was jerked by the Halti it could be severely injured.

In addition I have observed that since Haltis do not deliver much correction, they are good for control but not training.

I have found that a useful tool for leash breaking long necked sighthound pups without neck injury is. . . read the rest here

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Have just "googled" prong collars because I have never seen one and :eek:

While I respect everyone's choices on this thread I can't see myself ever using one on Tobey or Archie. Having said that, I am going to put a bit more effort into getting the boys to walk "nicely" instead of just ambling along behind them :D

Like I said...while they might look barbaric they are much less damaging than chokers and even Gentle leaders or Haltis...IF they are used properly.
But you're absolutely right, hard work is the better choice of any collar.

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Originally Posted by cali

I like the Haltie, Misty has one, and I used it as a training tool, NOT a bandaid solution, the only time I use it now is when the girl that walks my dogs takes Misty, she maywalk fine for me now, but she still gets exited and yanks when she sees a park, and a little 11 year old CANNOT handle that lol. when it comes to Halie or GL, I am Haltie all the way, I tried a GL once....Misty had it off it seconds, because it lacks cheek straps, and Misty knows how to pull to get the thing off her nose, so without the cheekstraps she mid as well be wearing a normal collar.

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Actually, the reason Misty had it off seconds was because you didn't fit the Gentle Leader properly. Headcollars don't really NEED cheek straps. :rolleyes:
As for me, I like the Gentle Leader better, because it applies pressure to accupressure points, which calms the dogs down. Maybe Halti does that, too, but I still like GL better. GL is also adjustable, so you can have a custom fit. ;)

Hi all,
Have to say I'm a fan of the Halti (have a dog that is headstrong when walking). I would like to add that my dog IS trained - but he is unpredictable when he sees something that looks like it needs to be chased. It bothers me a little to read someone berating someone else regarding their collar/halter choice - as far as I am concerned, if it helps you spend time with your dog in a way that is safe FOR BOTH OF YOU, what is the problem? As for the dog "not being trained" because a halter is used - if your dog IS trained, why are you using a pronged collar (isn't that the same solution in a differnt package)???

Some dogs will never be leash trained because of their personality. Digi is a great walker (heels), but if given the chance she will chase or run around like a crazy dog on speed. Digi always walks with a loose leash & she wears a halti. I use the Halti for those OMG WHATS THAT I WANNA SEE IT OMG OMG OMG, I see & hear nothing else.

It's just the type of dog she is. She will not obey when shes in that mindset & she can not be trusted either. She also doesn't pull on a collar, but due to her being a bag of bones, I can't keep her collar on tight as it'll choak the life out of her (no meat/fat to protect her throat).. it has to be a large dog collar & on loose. So when I walk her with it, the collar falls off & then she runs around like a dog on speed. Shes never managed to get the halti off, not even when she's scared & tries to back up hard. Its on her tight & it's fitted properly.

When it's time to go outside, she jumps trying to get her nose through the halti & is nothing but pure excitement.

I see the halti as a training device where the dog is less likely to get away & run over while being trained. Same with the Prong Collar. However the Prong Collar is too dangerous to use on Digi & she doesn't need it as shes not a puller.

Oh & sure some people think the halti is a muzzle, but I correct them. However most people don't even notice it (its red, hard not too) until they are already petting & getting kisses from her & then they ask, does she even need a muzzle? is she dog aggressive? .. nope & nope.. Just an alternative device to walk her with.. she likes it, doesn't hurt her & I'm always in control, so its great. She attracts crowds of people when we're downtown Toronto. I don't mean 1-2 people, I mean 10+ people.. it's nuts, I never gt anywhere I need to go :p :D So you can't tell me it's making her scary.. I'm fairly anti social so all those people are mostly unwanted within my bubble. But Digi does LOVE it & they love her, so why not..

I prefer to use a regular dog harness and loop a flat leash around the stomach. I've yet to meet a dog who has had to have the leash tighten around the stomach more than once before they walk nicely. It may seem mean because they normally overreact when they first get the sensation of tightening around the midsection, but I believe it is less harmful than the neck or head. It also allows them the freedom to sniff around a bit since their head isn't involved.

I do not consider controlled walks at heel to be enriching exercise, be it a walk around the block or 5 miles at heel. That kind of walk does nothing for the dog's brain and can hardly be expected as a release for their pent-up boredom. If you have a dog you simply can't walk on a loose lead then you need to find a way to get that dog some off-leash exercise in a safe area.