What is harsh about a Halti? It doesn’t hold the dog’s mouth shut (despite the fact that it looks a bit like a muzzle from a distance). It’s not used for correction like a choke chain. It works similar to a horse halter in that it leads the animal around by the head rather than the neck. Because of that, it does give you added control, but there’s nothing harsh about it.
Yes, dogs shouldn’t tug, you should be able to walk along with a nice loop in the leash, and you shouldn’t rely on a Halti or any other device as your only way of controlling a dog. However, as mentioned, proper training takes time. In the meantime, a Halti can help give you added control and safety without being uncomfortable for the dog.
Both of my dogs pulled on their leashes when I started walking them. My technique was just to stop in place the second they’d pull and we wouldn’t start walking again until doggie stopped pulling! The older dog picked it up right away (about 2 or 3 walks) and never pulled again. The younger one took quite a bit of time (about 2 or 3 months), and even now we have to go back to remedial lessons on occassion.
My dogs were jumpers too. The older one stopped jumping with a stern “NO” from me the moment I’d see her prepare to jump. The younger one wasn’t as tuned in to obeying me from the first as the older dog. After lots of training, he’ll now stop whatever he’s doing with a verbal reprimand. But that took some time and I had to correct the jumping in the meantime. It did take a bit of the knee tecnique SusanStohelit and Cat Jones described. I didn’t really hit the dog with my knee. Instead, I sort of positioned my knee so the dog would hit it on his own when jumping. He learned pretty quickly that jumping at me was uncomfortable.
Unfortunatley, the urge to jump on people hasn’t totally gone away. If I don’t put my dogs in a sit/down or give them a verbal reprimand when I see them prepare to jump, they will jump. A big part of it is my family and friends. My dogs are relatively small (shelties) and very cute. People who come over often encourage them to jump by slapping their thighs and calling to them. My mother is the worst culprit. The dogs stayed with her for a week, and she taught the younger one to leap up into her arms when she came home. Yeah, it’s cute and all–but I had just taught him not to jump! You have to be consistent. No jumping means never, ever.
We’re wandering into pit territory here, but so far, I’ve only seen rationalizations from people who have failed to train their dogs when they were puppies and now have to use stronger means to get them to obey.
There’s a reason the halti works - think about why and if this is something you want to do to your dog.
When it comes to shelter dogs, it’s different of course. They may or may not have gotten proper training, but with an adult dog, harsher stuff is necessary. If I worked in a shelter and a grown rottweiler tried to jump mean, no matter how affectionate, I’d put up a knee too.
But doing that to a puppy is wrong and if you need to do that when your dog’s grown up - that can only mean you didn’t train it properly when it was young and eager to learn.
I used the choke chain on my dog when she was a puppy - it was part of her training and it is not cruel at all. She is a fully trained and obedient adult dog now.
Are you responding to me? Where did I say that my dogs don’t obey and I have to use “stronger means?” All I said was my younger dog sometimes forgets the “don’t pull” rule on walks and I need to go back to remedial lessons–which I explained earlier involved stopping when he pulled and waiting for him to stop before starting to walk again. How is that any kind of a strong measure or bordering on pit territory behavior?
I did admit my dogs haven’t totally gotten over jumping and will jump *if I don’t put them in a sit or tell them “no”. * As mentioned, they get inconsistent direction due to well meaning family and friends (looking at you mom)–which is why I said you have to be consistent with no tolerance for jumping.
It works because it directs the dog via the head rather than the neck. The same way a horse’s halter works. It’s just more natural for an animal to go in the direction his head is pointing. There’s nothing more harsh about a Halti/leash combo than there is with a collar/leash combo.
Even though I have no problems with Haltis, I haven’t used one on my dogs. Frankly, I never got around to buying them. My dogs are shelties, so they’re not big enough for pulling to be anything other than a minor annoyance. I did use one on my mother’s Australian shepherd when I kept her while mom was traveling. Frankly, I was worried the dog would pull loose and I didn’t have a chance to train her in the short time she was with me–which is why I said the Halti shouldn’t be your only means of control but is a safe way of containing a dog that still needs walks while you’re building that control.
I guess we look at a knee up differently. Perhaps we’ve had different experiences with the technique. Now that I think about it, I have seen some people use their knee in a sort of kicking fashion. I don’t do that. I don’t propell the knee into the dog or anything. Rather, I put the knee up as a barrier and, should the dog decide to jump, that’s what he encounters. And it’s not like it ever did more than perplex my dog anyway. It certainly didn’t hurt him in any way, though it probably wasn’t comfortable.
When I first met my dog, she was Bird Man’s dog. Bird Man was not so into training her (and still isn’t) so she was a jumper. Think giant, 40 lb Jack Russel. Yeah, not my thing. So when she would jump on me, I would just take a step backward. Usually she would be so off balance from me not being there that she would fall forward. If she still managed to contact me, I would just push her sideways off me. Eventually she would come to me and not jump up, and receive tons of praise. Worked pretty well.
It works because it makes my dog turn her head the way I want her head turned. Where goes the head, goes the body. I’m thinking…thinking…thinking…and yes, it’s something I want to do to her. If there is another reason you are thinking of, I’d like to hear it.
A halti will pull the dogs head to the side. Ever notice how fast a dog can go from standing still to full speed running? Even with a normal 8’ leash it’s enough to hurt the dog. And if someone uses a flexi leash with the halti…
Jerking the leash when the dog wears a halti might lead to injuries:
Cite.
Your sarcasm aside, you’re forcing the dog to do your bidding, instead of cooperating with the dog. Do you seriously think that everyone who uses the halti (working gently, with patience and during training sessions) use it the proper way? Stupid and ignorant dog owners are legio.
Speaking of which. MaddyStrut doesn’t fit that label at all, based on the latest post.
This being good training, of course.
All in all - With proper obedience traing (and having all family members treat the dog in the same way) at an early age, gadgets like the halti, flexi ASF shouldn’t be needed. This takes time. Dog owners who let their puppies run wild and then tire when they’re adult, keep them in the fenced in back yard, and can’t keep them back when they’re pulling (“he’s too strong”) have got the wrong breed of dog and haven’t spent enough time raising it properly.
n.b. Dogs are, of course, dogs. If you’re out walking and they sense a dug buddy or an interesting smell, they will pull to examine further. If it’s not in heel mode, the dog will pull or jerk in that direction, often without warning (which is when the halti becomes dangerous). That’s not the same thing as a dog that constantly pulls on the leash (which is when the halti is less dangerous).
ooooo everyone, the google ads include: Rex and Molly - they are the NZ Telecom dog and cat. Sorry, gets a little exciting when NZ gets a mention…such a small country, far away from everywhere else.
