yea I was kinda wondering about that too. It really depends on the dog I guess. Kai has no problem with it. He gets alot of praise for wearing it and I don't tug on his head much so he still has freedom...the only time he doesn't, is when he's pulling but if I was using a regular collar instead, i'd be pulling on his neck instead. Kai doesn't have strong herding instincts either. I heard that shelties don't really use their head that much in herding. I thought it was a border collie thing? I might be mistaken..iunno. It's only during a walk anyways, so the dog wouldn't "have nothing" for long.