Halti

[LasVegasNo1]

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Going slightly off subject here, we took Alfie for his 6 month free puppy check at the vets today. He was pronounced perfectly fit and healthy (don't we know it (w00t) lol!!).... but surprise surprise neutering came up :angry: They really do push it don't they?! Anyway we have all decided that Alfie will not be having this operation, as we see it as unnecessary - and we don't like the risks that surgery can have :unsure: I'm sure we're making the right decision :thumbsup:

 

[dessie]

I'm absolutely sure you are making the right decision!!! Vets are sooooooooo predictable!!!

Rae, luckily I was used to flighty horses but yes, my first Whippet, Dessie (now there's a name for you LOL!) is just the most perfectly behaved person you could ever wish to meet so she was a lovely introduction to Whippets.

 

[aslan]

I would recommend a check chain (chokers we call them here) - as I have said before in another thread. But of course you don't use one of those great heavy lumbering things that you use on a German Shepherd or Rottweiler, and they have to be used properly!

Very fine chain chokers are available for smaller breeds. All my whippets (and most of the others that I attend shows with) are trained and shown on fine chokers. I NEVER have to "yank" them, even in the initial training stages and they NEVER pull. I have walked up to six at a time on long leads and fine chokers and they don't pull. (Well not until they actually saw a rabbit anyway - and then of course they were all champing at the bit to get away) I am surprised to hear that many people have trouble with whippets pulling because I have always thought that was one of the greatest qualities of the breed - that they don't drag you around on a lead :unsure: I have never had to train a whippet not to pull on the lead because I've never had one that does it. Am I just lucky?

Other breeds of course are another matter.

The boxer lady who yanks on the dog's choker is not using the technique correctly - and probably never has which is why the dog doesn't respond to her yanking severely on the collar. She has probably never used the 'quick flick' and has always tightened the collar and draaaaggged him back to her, cursing all the while - this is not the way to go. Actually she has probably never actually trained him to walk on the lead at all - just put it on him and expected him to be a sedate, well behaved boy.

 

[bubblesgum]

Dont know if I can be much help as I have a GSD but I brought a STOP n PULL Harness from some site on the net. Cost about £10, its nicely padded and has a fur covering for the sections that go under the legs to stop any rubbing, its quiet easy to get on too. They come in different sizes and are easy to adjust. But the best thing is - it actually eased the pulling, I wont say it stopped - Lets just say my right arm is not 4 inches longer than the left anymore probably about 1 inch

The trainer I use suggested when walking as soon as the dog starts to pull, just stop and stand still until the dog comes back to your side. The first time I tried it, our normal hour walk lasted nearly 3 hours. In the end I just brought the harness.

 

[LasVegasNo1]

We tried the stopping technique with Alfie but he just used to look at us as if we were mad and then as soon as we started walking he would be right at the end of the lead pulling like crazy I think this method probably works better with a dog who has somewhere in mind were he likes to go (ie the park, to play ball etc). Then maybe the dog puts two and two together and realises if I walk sensibly I will get to the park, lol! :lol: Alfie on the other hand is happy to walk any-which-way so the Halti is a better choice for him!

 

[Rae]

I think you've hit the nail on the head Sarah, the dog has to actually realise it is being trained and what is required of him/her for it to actually work. We went to training classes for 2 years with Vader & Obi and they still pulled like steam trains, obviously didn't teach them anything other than to follow the treat. However the clicker training class we go to is different and they get a click and then the treat when they get it right, not just following the treat mindlessly, so it works like a dream

Anyway, the harness thing I mentioned earlier is made by Pet Brand, and called something like Easy Walker (God I forgot the name in the 10 minutes it took me to get from dog training to home.... I am turning into my mother OH NO :sweating: )

The danger with choke chains is if you put them on wrong and they tighten, they do not slacken off when the dogs stops pulling, so it can be dangerous. If they are put on the dog the correct way in the first place this won't happen. (You can get half chokers too, which can't be put on the dog incorrectly as they are like a nylon collar with a bit of choke chain attached.)

 

[dessie]

I personally do not like chains, especially for taking them out walking. I don't think I have EVER seen one used correctly. I do use half checks on some of mine but I can't really say that any of them pull as the normal thing. From when they are little and first going out, they are not allowed to walk at the end of a long lead in front of me, they have to walk with the others by my sidel. They soon get the hang of it, I have to say. If I am out with them and they see something and want to take off, I always stop and speak to them to get their attention or turn a circle with them to break the concentration before setting off again calmly.

 

[Rae]

Me neither Dessie - the people I've actually seen use them, do so in the way Aslan described and it's awful to watch. I'd rather get the dogs attention too, I don't want the kind of relationship with my dogs where I hurt them and terrify them into obediance/submission, which unfortunately is what I've witnessed too many times , even at some dog training classes we went to check out a few years back :rant:

We used to use half chokers on our boys but they went rusty as they used to play in the sea each morning, so we switched to nylon. Ofcourse the little buggers pulled in what ever collar type they had :- "

 

[therpan]

I have used a halti in the past to stop my now old boy pulling. (Yes I no I should have trained him not to but I was only 17) he hated it so I tried a loopy they are like a harness only they tighten when the dog pulls.

 

[OEH]

I have to admit I'm not too keen on Haltis. Our rescue lurcher Nana came with one as her foster parents said she pulled like a train, but that was probably because she never was let off the lead. When they put it on her she rubbed her face furiously on anything that came to hand, and now if she ever gets worried or nervous about anything she does the same thing which makes me think it made a bad impression on her. I threw it away on her first day and she has hardly ever pulled.

If she shows signs of pulling, I gently pull and give on the lead so there is nothing there for her to get a grip on to pull against (my first horse used to pull for England and bolt and a teacher taught me this, has worked on all future horses, and Nana).

 

[Janimal]

Oscar is a puller too Im afraid. Im thinking of going to obedience classes with them - my arm is taking the strain too. :angry: .. could anyone put a picture of the halters they use on here please. Or maybe Helen has a link....maybe - well :unsure:

 

[~Helen~]

:wacko: I was completely confused reading through this thread - and then I realised it was from 2004 and I wasn't going bonkers. I couldn't understand why Joanna only had one dog... and why ~Jo~'s Stanley was doing puppy training... and why Sarah's Archie needed a halti all of a sudden :b

And also it made me sad to read about the dogs that had since gone trotting off to the Bridge. Obi and Dessie RIP