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Have any of you used or still use a head collar? The type that fits around the muzzle and goes up behind ears? A dog-walker recommended using one for Rio, to try to keep a little more control when walking.
I get the logic behing them, and seeing as Chows can be sooooooooooooo easily side-tracked by a blade of grass blowing in the breeze 100 yards away or a bird flying 300 feet in the air. Oh and the obvious one, other dogs!
The fact that you can guide their heads away from said distraction kind of appeals to me, knowing how stubborn Chows can be and Rio fits very nicely into the 'I heard you but I will listen when I have finished looking thankyou' category.

Loo owns one. Haven't used it in ages. It came with a "may break your dog's neck if not handled correctly" warning, which turned me off the thing immediately.

Wow that would put you off!!! I think the newer ones have been re-designed. A lot of collars can cause vertebrae damage (like whiplash in humans) but I guess most retraints have their problems if you are overly-corrective.

It is a halti. That is what you meant, right?

Yes that is the type, that was the brand I was looking at aswell, so thats now of my list of maybes, thankyou Sarahloo.
I will keep looking.

I've used a gentle leader head collar (same as the halti) and I liked it at first... Then HATED it. Dixie was miserable wearing it (she became anxious and then reactive to other dogs) and it rubbed the fur off the top of her muzzle. Pair that with the "neck breaking" warning, and I packed it away.

Now, I use easy walk harnesses on all of my dogs for walks around the neighborhood, and prong collars on Dixie and Jasper when we're out in public.

Like Jess I use the easy walk harness and I love it. We have a lot of dogs in our neighborhood and I find that if I have Cocoa just on the leash and collar she is always trying to pull me in one direction or the other to meet up with the other dogs. I have no experience with the halti myself.

What is the easy walk harness? Is it available in the UK? Maybe we call it something else.
Thanks for the input though.

It's called the Premier Easy Walk and I think is made by the same company that makes the Gentle Leader halti. I'm not sure if it is available in the UK, you could try googling it to see. If not maybe you could find somewhere to order it on line. Try going to http://www.premier.com. - gives a good description of both the Easy Walk and the Gentle Leader.

Thanks Cocoa will have a look at the link.

I used to use a halti for my dog Sabbath, then one day I was walking him, and my other dog Chance, and another dog came up to us, Sabbath panicked and managed to the thing right off of his face, and that, combined my second dog, and the commotion of the third and he was out of my grasp and into the road, thankfully i was able to grab is regular lead and get him back home, but many dogs seem capable of pushing them off, especially those with shorter muzzles. I don't like them. :/