Tried a Halti Headcollar.

[marcelo]

I've been having a hard time with Halo our 13 month old male GSD on walks because he liked to walk ahead and would lunge at rabbits and other dogs. So I searched the forum for solutions and decided to try a head collar. Decided on the Halti over the Gentle Leader because of the safety strap that connects to the regular collar. I ordered it Monday evening and received the Halti today from ebay seller artiesvarieties for $12.75 shipped. Got the Size 3 recommended for GSDs. Fitting was easy. Guided his snout through the nose band, closed and snugged up the collar, and attached the safety strap to his regular neck collar. Halo protested at first, pawing at the cheek straps and nose loop. But he quickly got used to it and stopped pulling with only light pressure. Had him heeling nicely in no time. And only very light pressure to get him back in line when he got ahead of me. We walked by the "rabbit patch" and he never pulled or lunged once as he normally loves to do. Just gentle pulls (no jerking) calmed him right down and got his focus back on me. Halti made our usual walk much more enjoyable, it works great!

[manb1]

Glad you're having success with the Halti. Ours hates any head halter (we tried the Halti and Gentle Leader), but did have better success with the Snoot Loop. That was working pretty well until we got to a situation that she wanted more control in and the battle was on. It was like having a tuna on a hand line!! Back to the old familiar prong and leather lead. I may try the Snoot Loop again - it's been awhile. For those who have had trouble fitting the head halters, the Snoot Loop worked best for us.

[shadow mum]

Glad that the Halti is working for you. I had to use one for Shadow, but are gradually phasing it out so he just walks on his flat collar. Still carry the halti in case of emergencies, or should I stay, doggy stubborness.

[Chicagocanine]

I've had good results with the Halti too, I used it while working on Bianca's leash reactivity (and lunging/pulling) and it really made a difference compared with other training collars she has been trained with before (a prong collar worsened her reactivity.) I now can walk her on a flat collar most of the time, and I'm working on phasing it out in more intense situations.
She hated it at first too, but I worked very slowly in conditioning her to it and she learned to like it. If anyone has a dog who hates it, I'd suggest trying that. We started by just putting a treat in one hand and the Halti in the other, holding the treat so that she had to put her nose through the Halti to get the treat. Once she was comfortable with that I started putting the Halti over her nose, giving a treat and immediately taking it off. The next step when she was fine with that was putting it on her nose and neck, giving a treat and taking it off. I only had to do each of those things a few times (so maybe 6 treats total) to get her to associate it with a treat, so it wasn't a huge long process or anything. The next thing I did was put the Halti on when I fed her meals, removing it as soon as she finished eating. At that point she was pretty comfortable with it and I just started using it with no more objection.

[Namara]

I'm glad that it's working for you. A lot of people bash head halters, but they obviously work for some dogs!

Mine, however, wasn't one of them. He hated the Halti and it was battle to put it on him. Granted, I didn't do the best job conditioning him to it... But it didn't help with the pulling anyway - he would still be out in front, leash pulled taught, with the Halti pulled right up next to his eyes. The straps kept slipping so it wouldn't fit him right. He was always agitated when he had it on - constantly rubbing his face on stuff and it made him more reactive to other dogs, plus he tuned me out a lot easier.

I finally switched to a prong collar and it's awesome. We're working on "heel" and making progress. He actually enjoys going for a walk now!

[Dainerra]

we tried conditioning Rayden to the head color he HATES it. It was to the point that the trainer we were working with was concerned that he would seriously injure himself. He would even growl at the sight of the halti. We've used it on other dogs with zero problem, so I'm not sure what his issue with it is.

[marcelo]

Well we've had it for a couple of days now and have been using the Halti on our twice-a-day walks. Halo loves it, 'cause when he puts it on he knows we're going for a walk! Still working great. I've been slowly getting him closer to the proper heel position and to sit when I stop. Lunging for rabbits and other dogs have almost disappeared with less severity, and occuring less frequently with each walk. I believe it's much gentler to him than the flat collar or choke collar. Sorry to hear it hasn't worked for some of you.

[bunchoberrys]

The Halti rocks! Tried the prong, same thing, worsened the reactivity. Of course Kane bucked and jumped around and tried to take it off the first couple times, but consistency paid off. Now when he sees me getting it out of the cabinet he gets excited. Happy that its working for you Marcelo.

[Chicagocanine]

Yeah, Bianca gets excited whenever I pick up the Halti too. Of course sometimes I am just moving it, but she still thinks it must be time for a walk.

I guess I'm lucky that Bianca almost never lunged for a rabbit. If she sees a rabbit she'll stop dead in her tracks and then start to inch forward s-l-o-w-l-y instead. Now other dogs was a different matter...

[Bama4us]

We tried the halti on Bear when he was younger. There was a little struggle getting it on him at first, even with treats in hand, but he finally let me put it on. Our first walk, he was doing great, drifted ahead of me a little, but wasn't pulling. He seemed to be walking a little slower than he normally did and then I noticed why. Dang dog chewed the cheek strap off! Haven't tried another one yet, but walking with a belt pack full of treats keeps him more interested in me that anything we encounter, so it's not needed.