Recently there has been an increase in popularity in using a head collar for dog training because it has been found that head collars would give you the better control over your dog. The two most popular head collars available in the market are the Halti Training Collar and the Gentle Leader Training Collar.
How Does The Collar Works
The Halti and the Gentle Leader collars provide control over a dog’s direction and movement without restricting airflow, panting, drinking or grasping objects in his mouth. Pressure on this type of collar pulls the dog’s head towards the handler. When you have control of your dog’s head, you have control of the dog.
These training collars look more like a horse’s halter, with a band going around the back of the head and another around the nose. The leash snaps onto the collar under the chin. When you pull on the leash, the dog’s head will either be pulled down or to the side – this makes it virtually impossible for the dog to move ahead or pull you forward.
Why Train With the Halti Collar
Training with a Halti or Gentle Leader collar has some advantages over a traditional training collar. Head collars are usually more intuitive to use than a traditional training collar. If walking your dog is important to you, head collars make this much easier. Head collars also make it easy to keep your dog from pulling you when walking. Head collars are a good tool for those who are not strong enough to control a dog with a regular training collar.
Head collars can be effectively used to control dogs in difficult situations or where training the dog would require too much effort. This could be situations were you know you will have a hard time controlling the dog, and it can include times when the dog will have a difficult time with self-control. It’s better to physically restrain the dog with a head collar than have the dog learn to be out of control.
When to Use The Head Collar
A good time to use the head collar is when you are on an outing where you know there will be high level distractions and you’re also aware that you will be paying more attention to having fun than training your dog. Training a dog with the head collar is most effective when done in combination with reinforcement training (giving your dog a reward for good behavior).
There are some dog owners who are hesitant to use the collar because they feel it looks more like a muzzle than a collar. You may even find them asking you about the collar and it may make you feel uncomfortable. You can take some time off to explain the benefits of using the head collars and tell them they can use it to aid in their dog training too!
