UPDATE: How long before your dood tolerated the Gentle Leader?

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

We broke down and bought the Gentle Leader for Peri (goes around the snout).  I know, I know, it "masks" the pulling that happens, but we had had enough.  Right now, it is too hard to train both dogs on a leash at once. 

 

So, DH had Peri fit for one on Saturday.  Our trainer told us to put it on her around the house, let her eat in it, etc...DH did this while I was out of town.  She is pitiful when we put it on her.  She just lies down and pouts.  DH called me during lunch and said she was asleep on his feet pouting with it on (we leave it on for about 20-30 minutes off and on to get her used to it).

 

Yesterday I took her on her first walk with it and the first 1/2 mile was terrible. She wanted to lie down and pull it off. Finally she started heeling perfectly, but would still end up behind me and jump/put her front paws up my legs - telling me "mom please...".  We did make it over 2 miles (surprisingly).

 

We are doing this for her safety and our sanity because she pulls so much.  Do any of you have tips to help her tolerate it or is this just something they will get used to????

 

Please keep in mind we do frequent walks, at least 3-4 per day for 15 minutes each. Tonight it is gorgeous and I am doing a 3 miler with the dogs.  So no pulling is a must.  We live in a condo.

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

Update 9/30:  After much thought, I decided Peri was not going to train me into feeling sorry for her and taking the head harness off.  Maybe I have some pride???  Anyway, I set out at 5pm last night for a 3 mile walk on the greenway. Told DH to hang with Taquito.  Dropped liver treats in my pocket.  Put the pink gentle leader on her and rubbed her ears, talked in that annoying baby voice with some high pitches, gave her a liver treat, and we set out.  Starting out was rough - she scooted in the grass and tried to paw off the halter.  As soon as she would stand up and concentrate on me and walking, she got the "yes, good girl" and a liver treat. Once we hit the pavement on the greenway, she was perfect. PERFECT the whole time.  I kept yesing and treating when she would focus on me.  She even peed on the walk (breakthrough with harness on)!  At the end, there is a big field (where we start out, right outside of my condo).  I spent 10 minutes walking her in grass - she did not paw at it once.  DH did not believe me until we took her out later - no pawing.  Same thing this morning. 

WHO'S TRAINING WHO NOW??  That walk was the most pleasant, perfect walk I have EVER had with any dog.

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

His first year. He is also only 38lbs and a lot easier to control than a larger dog but he responds very quickly to correction.

[Ann]

I am so glad I browsed over in this forum, I bought a Gentle Leader" for Bella & she hates it.She walks with a trainer lead for DH but me, well, it's a tug & choke session it seems, so just Bella & I don't go on many walks where I have to use a leash :( Thanks!!!!

[Adrianne Matzkin]

During Puppy Grad class the trainer suggested a head halter for Samantha. Not because she pulled when walking but because they wanted her calmer during puppy play - she was used to playing with bigger dogs and the dogs in our class were little breeds and afraid of her big feet, I guess. Samantha absolutely hated it - bucked like a bronco, pawed at her face until she scratched herself. That was the end of that. She really walked beautifully on a least.
THEN CAME CHARLI!
Ms. Perfect wasn't so perfect anymore. She had to walk in front of Charli and since Charli usually walks perfectly next to me Samantha was always in front of both of us. She pulls on the leash until she starts to cough.
PetSmart and 2 pink Gentle Lead Harnesses later, they both walk lovely on a leash all the time.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I can reassure you that a properly fitted EZ Walk harness will not cause any damage to the dog's axilla...as many of you know, those are two of Jackdoodle's problem spots, and if there was ever anyone who wouldn't use anything that would further exacerbate an already enormous skin problem, it's me.
Today Jack played ball for an hour at a friend's yard wearing his harness sans leash; he had complete freedom of movement to run and go airborne while wearing it, with no irritation whatsoever.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

You are supposed to take the dog into the store - that is what we did for Peri and will when we take her back to get the EZ Walk tomorrow.

I am with Karen - the main reason we need it is because Peri is so reactionary to: dogs, birds, mulch, you name it. She gets distracted and bolts.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And there's really a lot of margin for error with the harness adjustment. Jack's weight has gone up and down during the four years we've used it, from a low of 68 lbs (it was a bit too big then) to a high of 90 lbs (a bit too snug, but workable). I actually ordered mine on-line, using his chest measurement as instructed on the website.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I have used both and the Gentle Leader was a last resort as he was getting bigger and pulling harder and it definitly cured it.He absolutely hated the Gentle Leader as much as I hated his pulling. He would be just pathetic looking with all his gyrations and flopping around on the grass trying to get it off. I just stayed calm, ignored him and would give it a tug and say let's go. He was about 5 -8 months old when I used it and I was able to gradually do some leash walking with out it but if he pulled it went right back on. As he got bigger I got a EZ Walk harness and have been using it ever since. I feel very safe and secure with it on him as I know that I have firm control should he decide to take off after something. I never feel good about pulling on a neck collar although I know many dogs who walk well with a collar and leash. Murphy just doesn't GET it!!! So EZ Walk will be going on the next pup and I still have his Gentle Leader, just in case. Good luck.

[Camilla and Darwin]

We bought the gentle leader but Darwin hated it. He wouldn't even walk, just continually tried to paw it off his face. I think it's because it was close to his eyes and stuff... plus people thought it was a muzzle, which I hated.

So we bought him the easy walk harness. He doesn't mind it AT ALL. Even when we first put it on, we had no problem. And it completely stops his pulling. We still do training sessions without it, but when we are going somewhere that we don't have time to train, we put it on.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I guess I wonder why more people don't use pinch collars. My dogs don't mind theirs at all and it makes walking them very easy for me. Since I got ones with an easy closure they are literally a snap to put on. Mine are also stainless steel so they don't stain their fur and hey are very unobtrusive under doodle hair.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

For me personally, I just have an aversion to them. I have no problem with other people using them, I just personally can't get past the way they look and what they do. I know people say they don't hurt, but the sensation would have to be unpleasant enough to get the dog to respond to the correction or they wouldn't be effective. I do know they are safer and less painful than plain old training collars, otherwise known as "choke chains", but for Jack, it just isn't something I would be comfortable using. I don't use leash corrections with him. The beauty of the GL EZ Walk harness is that if the dog tries to pull, he ends up turned around facing you, going nowhere and forced to focus on what's in front of him, namely you.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I understand but it is so rare that I have to tug on the leash at all. They know they have the collars on and it keeps them from pulling. I have never heard the tiniest yelp from them with the collars. I hated when Rex would practically choke himself to death with a regular collar at times but I knew nothing and he was too old, perhaps, to retrain. Luckily he usually did great off leash in my neighborhood.
My two, on the rare occasions I just put a leash on their regular rolled leather collars are much harder to walk and then may start the coughing, which makes me feel awful. A couple of weeks ago my neighbor and I were walking my dogs near a garden we had visited. Calla saw a squirrel and my neighbor had her leash at the time. I think Calla weighs almost as much as my neighbor, well, not quite. But for sure Kathy would have had a very hard time without the collar.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I never knew this until I started working with Jack's behaviorist, but the old "choke chains", which I used for almost thirty years, can actually cause tiny fractures in the larynx. My past dogs were smaller and had nowhere near the pulling force that Jack has, but they did choke themselves all the time, and as you mentioned, it made me feel awful, too. I knew nothing either, I guess.