Dog Training With A Head Collar
By Mark Bensen, Fri Dec 9th

The head collar has become an increasingly popular dog trainingtool in the past couple of years. Two of the most well knownbrands of head collar on the market are the Gentle Leader andthe Halti, but there are many other brands that incorporate thebasic head collar concept.

Many people find the Gentle Leader easier to fit that the Halti,and in addition the Gentle Leader is designed to fasten aroundthe dog's neck. The advantage of this design is that even if thedog is somehow able to wriggle out of the muzzle, it is stillwearing a collar. This safety feature is very important,especially during training outside or in novel situations. Onthe other hand, the Halti offers better control of the dog, andfor this reason it is often favored when working with veryaggressive dogs.

Training a dog with a head collar has a number of advantagesover training with a traditional or training collar. For onething, head collars are often easier to use for beginning dogtrainers than are training collars. Head collars are also quiteeffective at preventing dogs from pulling, or controlling andretraining dogs that tend to pull.

Head collars can also be quite effective at controlling dogs indifficult situations, such as controlling a dog that wants to bewith other dogs. Most owners know of some situations in whichtheir dogs are difficult to control, and head collars can bequite effective at controlling these volatile situations.

Head collars can be excellent for controlling dogs that are verystrong, or for working with a dog in an area that contains agreat many distractions. For instance, head collars are greatfor when your dog is on an outing, or in an area where therewill be other dogs and other distractions.

Even though a head collar can be a great tool, it should not beused as a replacement for effective dog training. A head collaris most effective when it is used in combination with strong andsensible methods, such as reward training and otherforms of positive reinforcement.

Disadvantages of head collars

Even though head collars have many

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advantages, they have somedistinct disadvantages as well. For one thing, head collars tendto make many dogs dependent on the equipment, and they quicklylearn the difference between their regular collar and the headcollar, and adjust their behavior accordingly.

In addition, some dogs, particularly those not accustomed towearing a head collar, dislike wearing it and paw at it, try torub it off or pull excessively. If your dog exhibits thisbehavior, the best strategy is to keep it moving until it learnsto accept the collar. A good alternative is to have the dog sitby pulling up on the dog's head.

Another disadvantage of the head collar is the reaction thatmany people have to it. Many people think that a head collar isa muzzle, and react to the dog as if it may bite. While this isnot necessarily a defect of the head collar, many people do findit troublesome.

In conclusion, training with a head collar is much like trainingwith a training collar or any other equipment. While the headcollar can be an important and useful tool, it is important touse it appropriately, follow all package instructions, and tocombine its use with solid training methods. The eventual goalof with a head collar should be to have the dogbehave as well with a regular collar as it does with thespecialized head collar.

About the author:Mark Bensen shares more of his dog knowledge at his informativesite, LeashTraining.