# Gentle Leader vs Halti...



## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

For those that have tried the Halti, what are your thoughts? Did it work for you? Have you ever tried a GL & why did you like the Halti?

I have a GL & have used off & on for the puppy. She is doing good without it a good bit of the time, but thinking of using again when in a pet store, group class, etc for a bit more control over the pinch collar. I need to get a bigger sz & up in the air about a GL or to try a Halti? I like the look of the GL better, but like the safety strap on the Halti's. Main thing though is the use & to do it's job.

Any suggestions?

Thanks


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

My golden did not like the gentle leader, he spent all his time trying to take it off in class, so I finally went with the easy walk harness and he did fine with that. I haven't had to get any kind of help with walking my shepherd, she is not a puller(thank god) but the second class she is starting requires the pinch collar...I'm not to thrilled with that but its all in the training I guess


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

Many use the Halti with good results. I had one to break.

A different but similiar type to consider is the Canny Collar. I used it temporarily with Woolf, but *I* wasn't comfortable with it for him. I do use it with my Lab, who is a tank and loves to pull, and am very happy with the results.


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## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

Oh thanks, never heard of the Canny.
I know all have the same concept, what is the pros & cons to each?


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## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

BTW, what sz on Canny for 60 lb & up GSD?
Ouch looked online, they are costly compared to GL & Halti. Was going with Halti b/c of cost, can get for less than $10, but did not know if they were junk & should just pay a few bucks more & stay with a GL?


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## Lilylongshanks (Jan 7, 2012)

We're about to try a Dogmatic head collar which has been recommended by several GSD owners at our local training club. It's quite costly but apparently very effective and doesn't slip up over the eyes. I'll let you know how we get on.


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## CeCe (Jun 1, 2011)

I use a halti on one of my DA dogs-it prevents her from staring at other dogs. We have been using it for a year and every single walk she tries to rub her face in the grass and get it off. She is used to the halti now but she doesn't like it. There is a clip that attaches to her collar in case she gets the halti off and it has worked in every case. I've heard that in older models dogs have gotten loose. I tried a halti on my puppy to prevent pulling-she didn't like it. I then tried the easy walk harness and it didn't give me enough control. Now we are on a prong and and it's working very well for us. I used her halti when we started a class 3 weeks ago and the instructor told me that the halti puts the dog in a submissive state of mind which isn't the best state to be in for learning new things. 
Good luck and I hope you find something that works for you guys.


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## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

Hmmmm, that's why I was seeking a head type collar over a prong. I am a prong user with our older GSDs at times, but read may not be best for use around other dogs if a fear reactive dog. Want to be positive around other dogs.
That is the first I have heard a kind of neg response about a head type collar. 
Do like you can control the staring, esp with a herding breed.


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## CeCe (Jun 1, 2011)

I absolutely recommend the head collar (and LAT training) for fear reactive dogs or dogs that stare at other dogs. It's made a huge difference. When my older girl is ready to take a class again, she will be wearing her halti in class. 
Dogs that just pull or are just a little curious about other dogs may benefit from other tools.
I've never used a gentle leader-just a halti which works fine. However, my girls wear one size smaller then the recommended size for GSDs.


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## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

CeCe said:


> I absolutely recommend the head collar (and LAT training) for fear reactive dogs or dogs that stare at other dogs. It's made a huge difference. When my older girl is ready to take a class again, she will be wearing her halti in class.
> Dogs that just pull or are just a little curious about other dogs may benefit from other tools.
> I've never used a gentle leader-just a halti which works fine. However, my girls wear one size smaller then the recommended size for GSDs.



Oh, you have a sz 2 vs a 3 Halti? What do your girl weigh?
Our pup us 61 & other 3 fall in the mix up to 90 lbs which is my puller & somewhat fear of dogs boy.


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## Cschmidt88 (Nov 24, 2010)

I like haltis (Not Gentle Leaders due to their design) when used properly. The only bad things I've seen happen with them were things that could've been prevented with research. (If you dog is still pulling hard on it, then you shouldn't continue to allow pressure, etc, stuff like that.) 

I have a American Pit Bull Terrier mix who was pretty DA when I first took her home (I'd label her reactive now.) and I use it with her when I'm going to a place with other dogs. It gives me a little extra control if I needed it, in the perfect world I'd be fine on a flat collar but some owners just don't listen and let their dog charge up to any ol' dog off leash. 

And it can be handy if you're going to have your dog in a very busy area and would like to be able to manipulate their head to keep them from getting into trouble. 

I'd recommend for the first week or so, just get her used to it. Make it a fun thing. When it goes on fun things happen (like getting their daily meal or training), and the first time you take them outside with it reward the good reactions and do some training exercises and keep the session short. And if all that goes well you should be fine.


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

LuvourGSDs said:


> BTW, what sz on Canny for 60 lb & up GSD?
> Ouch looked online, they are costly compared to GL & Halti. Was going with Halti b/c of cost, can get for less than $10, but did not know if they were junk & should just pay a few bucks more & stay with a GL?


That is true, they do cost more. To me, they are made more sturdy, stronger material. What really made my mind up on the Canny was instead of pulling the head to the side as the Halti does, the control is from the back.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

I use a Halti on my dog, it has worked great and helped her training a lot and I've never had a problem with it.
I have used a GL breifly with a friend's dog. It was ok but it seemed to ride up into the eyes some which the Haltis I've tried don't do, and I've also heard a lot of dogs can paw it off their nose easily.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

I like the Halti. to me, it's easier to put on and take off, and I like the safety feature. A friend of mine had a very DA dog and when she put on his Halti she could take him anywhere without worrying about him going after other dogs.


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## Ucdcrush (Mar 22, 2004)

I like the Halti since it comes with the backup safety leash in case the dog slips out of it.

I tried a collar very similar in design to the canny collar, and my dog reacted terribly to it. It must have been very uncomfortable because when there was any pressure put on it it pushed her over the edge. If I remember, she was pulling towards another dog, I pulled back a bit, and the pulling turned into an aggressive bark. Have no idea why she had that reaction, but she never had that reaction with any other collar including the Halti.

One of my dogs has been reactive in the past and the Halti was good to physically redirect his gaze, BUT I found that I was relying on the Halti too much. I was over correcting since it was so easy, and I think that introduced more stress and held us back a bit, at least in our (my!) case. I now use an old fashioned choker collar, the fact that it's more of a challenge with the old fashioned collar has helped me step up and use energy, body blocking, verbal signals etc. in dealing with reactive stares.

A big part of reactivity IMO is overuse of corrections when trying to solve the problem, so if reactivity is the main factor in looking at Haltis keep in mind the dog needs to experience other dogs with as little stress as possible in order to desensitize.


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## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

Size of Halti suggestion?????


Thanks


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## the_butcher (Sep 28, 2011)

I used the Halti and thought it was fantastic. Recently though, my gf took Butch for a walk and he somehow chewed through one of the straps. I will be buying another one again soon though, I would highly recommend one. As you said, they are only cheap so you may as well buy one and give it a go!


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## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

Ok, cool, thanks so much all! I was just unsure of it compared to the GL, because to me it looks more aggressive look wise compared to a GL. Hate that most mistake head collars for a muzzle. 

Size???? Thinking 3


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## CeCe (Jun 1, 2011)

Both of my girls wear a size 2. They are 63 and 56 lbs. I had bought a 3 first and it worked OK but it rode up and got it their eyes. My 90 lb male wore a 3.


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## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

cece said:


> both of my girls wear a size 2. They are 63 and 56 lbs. I had bought a 3 first and it worked ok but it rode up and got it their eyes. My 90 lb male wore a 3.


thanks!!!!


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

Ucdcrush said:


> I like the Halti since it comes with the backup safety leash in case the dog slips out of it.
> 
> I tried a collar very similar in design to the canny collar, and my dog reacted terribly to it. It must have been very uncomfortable because when there was any pressure put on it it pushed her over the edge. If I remember, she was pulling towards another dog, I pulled back a bit, and the pulling turned into an aggressive bark. Have no idea why she had that reaction, but she never had that reaction with any other collar including the Halti.
> 
> One of my dogs has been reactive in the past and the Halti was good to physically redirect his gaze, BUT I found that I was relying on the Halti too much. I was over correcting since it was so easy, and I think that introduced more stress and held us back a bit, at least in our (my!) case.


I have found that I sometimes have relied on the Halti too much, not due to over-correcting but just because it has a calming effect on my dog so I didn't always realize that some of her improvements were just due to the Halti and not due to an actual improvement in her reactivity. Meaning if she was not wearing it she would react in situations she would not with it on. So I started reducing my use of it and taking it off as much as possible, for example I would arrive to class with it on her but take it off during the class, or put it on when we first went out and then take it off. Now I almost never use it on regular walks, and only in some high-stress or high-trigger situations. However when off the Halti I just use a flat buckle collar. When I first got Bianca any neck pressure, even a flat collar (don't even think about a training collar) connected to a leash would cause her threshold to be MUCH lower and she would react a lot more quickly when she had any type of collar on. I also think her previous owner's using prong corrections likely increased her reactivity. So the Halti helped with that by removing any pressure from her neck. She did improve though to where a collar is just fine. However I have no plans to use anything more restrictive/correcting than maybe a martingale.




LuvourGSDs said:


> Size of Halti suggestion?????


Bianca is around ~70 pounds and wears a size 3.


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## Ucdcrush (Mar 22, 2004)

CeCe said:


> Both of my girls wear a size 2. They are 63 and 56 lbs. I had bought a 3 first and it worked OK but it rode up and got it their eyes. My 90 lb male wore a 3.


I can't tell which size the Halti I have is, I think it's 3, but I have also seen oversized Halti getting up towards the eyes. It really annoyed the dog who was wearing it.


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## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

I have to been off & on with using the GL. She has been walked on a leather martingale or choke & does fine 1 on 1. Pulls a bit if dogs & chaos is going on. I was going to wear the halti say in a pet store, in & out of class, just where it might be alittle crazy. 

I have used the prong on my 5 yr old slight dog reactive boy & now thinking that a head type collar might have been better to use on him. I remember trying way back & he was so so on it & I did not like people thinking it was a muzzle & our big baby GSD bit.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

LuvourGSDs said:


> I have used the prong on my 5 yr old slight dog reactive boy & now thinking that a head type collar might have been better to use on him. I remember trying way back & he was so so on it & I did not like people thinking it was a muzzle & our big baby GSD bit.


Yes that is a problem with the head collars. I have a lot of people asking if my dog bites when she's wearing her Halti, or telling their kids not to go near her because she's wearing a muzzle so she bites.  It can be annoying. I've tried putting stuff on her like a bandana or button that says she is friendly but mostly people don't read it.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

Oops I wanted to add this to my message but the time ran out to edit...

My dog recently got a purple Halti so maybe this will help people not think it's a muzzle as often.


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

I like the halt better then the gentle leader. I just got the newtrix easy way collar which I'm excited to try


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## Chance&Reno (Feb 21, 2012)

I like the Halti better than the GL for several reasons.

The Halti has the security strap in case a dog slips the Halti. I have also found that dogs tollerate the Halti better than the GL because of the padded nose piece and it doesn't stay taught on the face all the times. The Halti is a learning tool so dogs can be weaned off of it simply because they learn that tension on the leash will ultimately close their mouth and drop their head. There is a process to the weaning, though. It give so much more control during LAT and other behavior modification training as if a dog lunges, it will drop their head and spin their body. What ever trigger they are looking at will subsiquently go away and the dog can calm down. To a point, it will also control jumping. I have not found this to be true of the GL.
I've been able to attach a blindfold to the Halti for trust exercises for those severe cases of visual reactivity. 
If fitted properly, the Halti is a great tool for reactivity and aggression cases. 

I also find that the GL EasyWalk is a good tool for brachiosephalic dogs and dogs with Lupus who can not wear a head harness.


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## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

Thanks SO very much all!!! I ordered 2 today in black. My GL was red & caught your eye more so, was hoping black would not. I know most savvy dog people know what it is & just got to learn to block the reg public even tho I hate we get labled.


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## kennajo (May 20, 2011)

I swore I would never use a head halter but after our walk today ,I am seriously reconsidering! He has hit the 1 yr mark and if another dog starts making noise on our walks it's all I can do to hold Rocky back!! Tried to take him for a walk just a few minutes ago and he nearly pulled me down trying to get to the other dog and Rocky was on a prong collar! The other dog was in a fanced yard thankfully. I was definitaly worried. He wasn't like this before and I can just hope this will pass with uping our training and exposure to different environments Whew!!


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## wildrivers (Sep 28, 2011)

Shade, Did you get and try the New Trix collar? I am trying to decide which to go with the New trix or dogmatic?


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