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If your dog has a lighter coloured face, uneducated passers-by may think your dog is wearing a muzzle. This is an unfortunate side effect, which can be frustrating to deal with. Prepare for sideways glances or strangers crossing the street to avoid your ‘dangerous dog’. Mugford has worked with more than 50,000 pets, written three books, including his most recent, “ The Perfect Dog ”, and has developed a variety of products to aid pet owners in their training and rehabilitation, including the popular Baskerville Ultra Dog Muzzle. What is a Halti? Halti is a brand that sells a number of head and body harnesses designed to prevent pulling in dogs. Their most popular and common product is a head harness that has almost become synonymous with the brand name. Many people report that their dogs don’t seem as happy when wearing a Halti. Their tails and ears may droop, they hold their heads lower, and don’t seem as excited on walks.
Whilst the fit of the collar itself might not be uncomfortable for your dog when standing still, this pressure when walking is most likely very uncomfortable. They have also shown that, not only do aversive collars cause fear and pain, but dogs can start to associate the presence of their owner with pain and punishment, rather than the action of pulling. Ziv, G. ‘ The Effects of Using Aversive Training Methods in Dogs – A Review’, Journal of Veterinary Behavior (2017)Below, we offer size suggestions for common breeds which can be a useful starting point. Do keep in mind, however, that not all dogs within a given breed have the same measurements. (press ctrl+f if you’re using windows, or cmd+f for mac, and start typing your dog’s main breed to find their potential size faster): Akita, Bernese Mountain Dog, Great Dane, Irish Wolfhound, Labradoodle, Malamute, Newfoundland, Old English Sheepdog, Rottweiler, St Bernard So, to avoid this, choose to train your dog using positive reinforcement methods. This will take time and won’t solve your pulling problem immediately. But, they aren’t inherently as cruel as other punishment-based methods people may use to try and stop their dogs from pulling on the leash. This is known as an aversive. It pairs the action of pulling on the leash with an unpleasant consequence.
Practice this a few times inside, then take it to the yard and repeat the game. Remember to mark the moment that she’s doing what you want her to (standing near your hip with a nice loose leash) and reward her. She should be walking beautifully with you in the yard before you take it to the street, so that she’s had plenty of practice walking nicely on the Halti. So, the best long term solution to prevent pulling is to use positive reinforcement training to teach the heel command. Not only is this more likely to work in the long term, but it will also help you build a much stronger bond with your dog. Are Haltis Cruel?Owners of reactive dogs may see faster improvements, which is worth its weight in gold all on its own (those of you who have faced this before will know what I’m talking about). So, ultimately, this product is no replacement for proper heel training. How is a Halti Different to a Body Harness?
So, if it doesn’t even work effectively, you may be left feeling disheartened. You could be left with a dog that still pulls, but one that also starts to hate going on walks because of the unpleasant consequences. How to Stop Pulling Lastly, as I shared in my story above, I found the Halti surprisingly helpful in managing my dog’s reactivity. Not only did it give me more control, it calmed him down, calmed me down and made training in the presences of his triggers much easier. He was more focused and clear headed, which allowed him to learn more easily during our outdoor desensitisation and training sessions. Aversive tools like this associate an action with an unpleasant consequence to stop the action from happening. Blake, S. (et al), ‘ A Systematic Review of the Biomechanical Effects of Harness and Head-Collar Use in Dogs’, BioRxiv (2019) The Halti head harness describes itself as giving the owner full control by gently directing and steering your dog from the front.
But, until then, you can choose to manage the problem with a body harness and leash. How do Haltis Compare to Gentle Leaders? Most body harnesses aren’t aversive. They are simply designed to distribute pressure over a larger area of your dog’s body than a traditional dog collar would. Leaving a Halti on your dog long-term can be cruel, as it is only designed for short periods. Leaving it on long term can cause fur loss and other injuries. Being from a country that has banned the use of pinch, or prong, collars, and is slowly phasing out the use of e-collars and choke chains, there are limited solutions when walking on a regular collar isn’t quite working out. The wide availability of the Halti Headcollar was a huge plus.
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