Gentle Leader®

newguy18 · Post by **newguy18** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 7:04 pm

who owns the Gentle Leader® Head collar? I am looking to buy one but i want to know more about it before i get it.(only $16)

newguy18 · Post by **newguy18** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 7:06 pm

well either that or the sure fit harness, i kinda need a harness Jersey hates collars but the harnesses he tried on he seemed happier.
http://www.entirelypets.com/surefithrns.html

Post by **Auddymay** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 7:35 pm

I use the gentle leader harness. works good. I was at the beach tonight, and was talking to a guy who had a 100 pound PBT there. He also had that same harness for his Lucy.

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 7:50 pm

Auddymay wrote:I use the gentle leader harness. works good.

Ditto

sauerka · Post by **sauerka** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 8:17 pm

My Ginger hates the Gentle Leader I got for her. (A friend swore by it for his Labradors.) She will wear it around the house but once the leash is on and she is outside, her paws are on her nose pulling it off. I tried a Holt no-pull harness on her and she became a sled dog. (My shepherd is happy to wear the harness.) The only thing Ginger is happy with is a choke chain. I also use a choke chain on my blind chow mix, Pumpkin. I had tried other things on her as well. If you buy the Gentle Leader at a store, most will allow a return if it does not work.

jacqui · Post by **jacqui** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 4:24 am

we tried the gentle leader with kito,because of his heart surgery he could not wear a collar for 3 months.he kept trying to paw it off his nose.he was not a 'puller' so I got a harness.that worked better than the gentle leader.maybe you could buy one and try it,return it if you don't like it.

Dogdad · Post by **Dogdad** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 5:31 am

I use the the harness on Yoshi, I don't trust his collar on walks. We call it the harness of pleasure , because we get walkies when it is put on. I really love it. much more secure than the rolled leather collar

David

enchantedonyx · Post by **enchantedonyx** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 8:55 am

Tess can get out of any regular, buckle collar put on her if someone is holding a leash at the other end. She has that duck, twist, pull free manuever down to an art form. I'd never use a choke chain on a dog- too damaging to their throat and with a chow, it'll pull their hair and damage their mane. I also have a fear of them getting it stuck and it choking them to death. Just too many "what ifs".

Tess wears an H harness, where the leash attaches on her back. Doesn't pull on her throat, she can't get free, and it gives us more leverage over her (I don't know how some of you manage with your 70-80lb Chows, Tess is so incredibly strong at 40lbs, I can't even imagine).

She also wears a collar all the time that has her license, rabies tag, and phone number. Tacia does, too, but for walks, we just put a leash on Tacia's collar. She has always been a fantastic walker.

As for training them for collars/leashes, I'd just put it on him for short amounts of time at first until he gets used to it. Then attach the leash and let him drag the leash around until he is used to it. It's been my experience that puppies are not fond of walking so you have to get him used to it. With Zoe, we started out walking around the block. When she got to a certain point, she'd sit down and refuse to go any further. I'd pick her up and carry her but continue around the block. When we started to get closer to home, she'd want down and would walk the rest of the way. Every day she'd walk further to begin with and want down sooner. She learned that we were going back home! She also went on my paper route with me after conquering the block. When she got tired, I'd put her in the paper bag! As she got older and bigger, she could go further before going in the bag (which is good, because she wouldn't have fit with all the newspapers in there!). She learned to walk and got socialized at the same time

.

sauerka · Post by **sauerka** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 12:51 pm

enchantedonyx wrote: I'd never use a choke chain on a dog- too damaging to their throat and with a chow, it'll pull their hair and damage their mane. I also have a fear of them getting it stuck and it choking them to death. Just too many "what ifs".

T:D .

Rule #1 with a choke chain - the dogs only wear it with the leash. Our dogs have a regular safety collars for their tags that they wear around the house.
http://www.keepsafecollar.com/

Rule #2 - you only apply pressure when you need them to do something. (This is similar to a bit on a horse. If you have ridden horses, you know that you do not pull consistently on the mouth.) Most of the time the chain is relaxed and a small, quick tug is given when needed. If they do act like they are choking, the dog and owner have not been trained properly to use the chain. If put on and worn properly, the chain will not get stuck. True, it will not work for all dogs and owners but it will work when used properly.