gentle leader WARNING!!!!!!

[Boxermom1434]

To all who use or are considering using the Gentle Leader...be warned and be cautious!!! These types of collars can and have wrenched the necks of dogs. Dogs are not horses so a head halter is not the best tool to use on them. If you have a dog who pulls , jerks, makes sharp turns you are running the risk of serious neck injury or even breaking their neck. Much like elevated feeders the theory is good but the true dangers are more than one should like to encure. If you have a dog who pulls hard and acts out while walking I would suggest more leash time in the privacy of your own yard, and showing that the minute they act out the walk is over. This cannot be accomplished if you are 6 blocks from home as then you still have to walk back home. You can make your own distractions and even employ several neighborhood children to help with distractions. If we are going closer to the route of nature a dog pack leader does not hold down one of the packs heads to their chest in order to get them to follow nicely, they nip at them and banish them from the walk. For all the talk here of the best foods and the best training I am saddened to see how ignorant some are of the dangers of the gentle leader. Just my two cents worth but in my opinion well worth a second thought.

 

[Simmons99]

I agree that a gentle leader can be harmful if not used correctly - just as you can hurt a dog by yanking really hard on a normal collar.

I plan on starting Chloe on one ALONG with a normal collar with a leash - that way if she starts pulling, I can use the regular leash to get her under control until she learns how to walk well.

Also - if you never let the dog go to far away from you - there is no need to yank or snap them backwards. Chloe is never allowed in front of my stride - so I think I only give her about 18" of leash at any given time.

 

[Boxermom1434]

This is not about you yanking your dog this is about them and how they behave on a leash. I have seen a dog suffer serious injury on this head collar and it was through no fault of the owner. they never had more than a short amount of leash but out of the blue her dog saw a squirrel and tried to dart, trust me the headcollars only work if your dog chooses to allow them to work. If the desire to get to something is there they will try no matter what, the only sure way to prevent this is with a strong commitment to teaching your dog any acting out ends the walk. But if you choose to use this type of collar I pray for your sake, and your dogs that you will not see any ill effects.

 

[Net45582]

This is not about you yanking your dog this is about them and how they behave on a leash. I have seen a dog suffer serious injury on this head collar and it was through no fault of the owner. they never had more than a short amount of leash but out of the blue her dog saw a squirrel and tried to dart, trust me the headcollars only work if your dog chooses to allow them to work......

Chancey has had a similar experience while on a normal collar and leash. She ended up on her back with the wind knocked out of her while I ended up with leash burn and hand strain. Anything can happen with any type of training aid. This is why proper training and being prepared for ANYTHING to happen is very important.

 

[tesster]

Boxermom1434, you are absolutely right. No device of any kind can control a dog. Control is achieved through training your dog to walk nicely on a leash. Great idea about doing that in the backyard! I'd never thought of that! You're so right about being 4 blocks from home and having to reward the pulling behavior because you can't very well carry the dog home!

With that said, the gentle leader is the least of the many evils that people have devised to keep dogs from pulling. If you use a gentle leader, I recommend that you clip the leash into the regular collar, as well as the GL. (The leash clip goes through the gentle leader and the collar.) It's a bit less effective with the pulling (still works), but it's much safer for the dog for a couple of reasons. The GL is relatively easy to get out of for a willfull dog. 2. As Boxermom1434 is pointing out here, if the dog darts, you're holding her by more than just her head.

**A pointer that we learned the hard way, though. You cannot clip into both with a lobster clasp because the collar will pull against the GL and unclip the leash. This happened to us! Luckily, Tess didn't notice before we did!**

Back to her point, though, the gentle leader is a training TOOL to help teach the dog how to walk properly, not a way of life.

 

[MyBoxerDewey]

I put a gentle leader on Dewey and my wife began to cry. Has anyone heard of the easywalker? The clip for the leash is in the front, across Dewey's chest. It is a harness style leash, but if he pulls or darts, he gets turned into a circle. No neck or head strain, and it is difficult for him to pull.

 

[SandyHG55654]

This woman in my neighborhood walks her yellow lab pup with one and I feel so sorry for the pup. Everytime I see them, the pup (about 7 months old) has the strap across one of his eyes and he's trying to move his neck to adjust it to see where he's going and she's contantly yanking him! :( Of course she doesn't make him walk along side her, he is out in front so she can't see his face to realize what the problem is. I prefer I regular leash and collar It's easier to see if it is twisted or tangled up in any way.

 

[Simmons99]

I think it is a personal preference. Even with some of the harnesses that keep them from pulling - it is because it is physically doing something to the dog that they do not like.

 

[Cami]

Has anyone heard of the easywalker?

We use the Gentle Leader Easy Walk Harness.
Works like a charm for us and doesn't harm our girl in any way.
It prevents her from pulling forward by where the leash attaches. If she pulls forward the leash makes her turn towards me (her right).
It has also helped me teach her that she needs to be at my side and not in front of me. When I have the leash attached to her regular collar she "remembers" where she is supposed to be.
I continue using the Easy Walk around the neighborhood because of all of the distractions, (wildlife, people, other dogs, blowing leafs etc) she hasn't mastered curiosity, nor do I think she ever will.

 

[Huggirl84]

I have to agree that using the gentle leader is just one part of training. You can't expect to just use the gentle leader and expect to do nothing else that's when you run into problems. We use the gentle leader on our dog Cooper and he walks like a pro now, not because of just the gentle leader but through our contiued effort to train him to walk right. I think with everything you just have to watch your dog and make sure your using the product right but I would have to doubt ( in my unprofessional opinion) that the gentle leader is anymore harmful than any regular collar