Our Labradors always pull on the leash, so I bought the Gentle Leader dog collar for both Henry and Charlie Pup. The pulling on leash has stopped.
I used to be able to handle it when one of the dogs pulled on the leash, but after a recent back injury, I couldn’t manage the dogs and walk. I’ve seen several dogs in our neighborhood and in the park with the Gentle Leader dog collar, so I went to our dog supply store and the manager Chris said they work.
You might think this harness hurts the dog, but it doesn’t. What it does do is get the dog’s attention, and they walk with you, rather than pulling against you. I can’t stand seeing dogs on a choke collar, and watching them pull against it and choking. This collar works much better.
You do have to adjust the collar properly, and there is a huge instruction sheet that comes with the collar, plus a DVD to walk you through the process. It took me 5 minutes. It isn’t obvious how the snap under the snout part of the collar works, I tried it a few times before I put it on the dog for fitting. The part that fits around the dog’s neck needs to be tighter than a regular dog collar.
Watch the DVD that comes with the collar, it gives important tips for acclimating your dog to the collar.
The collar comes in several sizes and colors, so double check you are purchasing the correct one for your pups.
Our Brooklyn neighborhood has some food debris on the sidewalk, plus Charlie Pup eats napkins and paper towels, so steering the Labs clear of all that stuff was a constant battle. Walking to the park today was much easier. The Labs tried to get the collar off, by rolling in the dirt, but it stays on. They’ll get used to it and I’ll be able to walk them without re-injuring my back. Money well spent.
Julia
Yes, the halter style collars work well. There’s a reason we use a similar design to lead around big animals like horses!
I have one that I use sometimes with my 90lb Beauceron.
Sharon
I love the Gentle Leader! I spent a small fortune on harnesses and collars that claimed to prevent pulling , and even used the choke collar at our trainer’s suggestion, which was a complete failure. The owner of the kennel where we have left Maxi, suggested the Gentle Leader. What a difference! Maxi still tries to pull, but since the leader turns her head back when she does, she can’t pull hard. She has, however, managed to figure out how to stand up on her hind legs when wearing it ( the poodle in her) and to put her weight into it , so I am still at a disadvantage, but no where near what it was like before. With a regular leash and collar, she’d pull me to the ground easily. And it doesn’t take an engineering degree to figure out how to put it on- unlike many of the other no-more-pull leashes and collars.
Eric
@sharon the Labs haven’t figured out how to hack the collar, so its been easy to walk them. such a big difference walking to the park in the city. eric.
Eric
@Julia, i never thought of it that way, but it makes sense!