Recommend me a head collar to help with a strong 'puller'?

[NinkyNonker]

One of our dogs came to us at nearly 2 from a stray dog rescue centre...we think she had been quite cruelly treated and then abandoned. She is a lovely, affectionate girl, we think she is a Collie/Staffie cross.

Anyway, she is very insecure we think and just bounces everywhere, we have been very consistent with her but she still pulls on her lead whenever we go out...which I find quite heavy going as she is very strong. At the moment we have a harness on her as we didn't want to be restraining her by her neck, and whilst it helps it isn't great. A friend had a great head collar, but I forgot to ask the name (only bumped into him at the County Show) and there seem to be lots around in different configurations so I don't know what to go for!

We have no concerns r.e.: aggression so we're not worried about having to restrain her from snapping, it is just to help us train her and curtail her pulling so that family dog walks are not quite such hard work!

Does anyone have any recommendations for something effective but obviously not uncomfortable etc for her?

Thank you!

[multipoodles]

We've used a cani-collar with great success, and seems more acceptable to dog that the halti. We did use a simple figure of eight previously but the canni is more secure.

[DogsBeastFiend]

I prefer the Halti but have friends who would far rather the gentle leader.

Are you near the rescue? If so you might like to ask them if they could spare 5 mins to rifle through their collar store and offer you a few to try in order to discover which is most suited to pooch.

Longer term I'd suggest the tried and tested (albeit time consuming!) practice of stopping every time she pulls and waiting til she's back by your side, then praising and carrying on. Add to that the trick of turning full circle when she steams ahead and walking a few paces away from your destination, showing her that pulling gets her nowhere fast, then she's back by your side and you can praise and carry on. Takes time and you must be boringly consistant with it, but it does work. If you add the command "heel" or "with me" each time she walks nicely she'll soon understand what's required of her.

[WitchesBrewIsMyFriend]

love your halloween name DBF

I have a halti and a gentle leader, prefer the halti to be honest.

[MintyTea]

We have found the K9 Bridle to be very effective k9bridle.com/. It works by restraining our dog (who is also a rescue dog and quite, um, 'lively') firmly but without hurting her. It's simple and easy to use, too.

[oldandcrabby]

Try a gentle leader, much better than a halti IMO. If properly fitted, it means when the dog pulls she checks herself. Ask for advice on fitting one, it need to fit correctly, don't just buy one off the net. It should fit, so it touches just below the eye socket, on the cheek bone, so when a dog pulls it has a natural check. I have seen it transform the confidence of a owners with strong dogs: American bull terriers, large, rescue labs
Collie/staffie crosses are strong and like to pull, but are intelligent and affectionate dogs. They are often quite toy orientated and react well to a clicker. Are you taking her to training classes? I would recommend those with clicker training and that work toward a Good Citizen award.
When walking her, if she is distracted and starts to pull, (other dogs, squirrels or 'I'm the leader syndrome' etc.) or even before because you have spotted trouble;try to get her to look at you, (I use 'on me' but 'eyes' or 'look', or whatever works) and click and reward with a titbit or a toy. Try a ball on a rope. She will learn that it is worth her while. Remember too, that if you click you must reward, so don't let the DCs play with the clicker, but her reward is also your attention. It is worth having a substitute word for the clicker, in case to forget it: try 'yes' (we say 'no' but how often do we say 'yes'?).
She sounds like a sweetheart, and well done you for rescuing her.