Halti head collar….what am I doing wrong !?

[NewMeNewUs]

I’ve been using the halti head collar for our strong 1 year old Labrador for about 3 months now.
Yes it helps with the pulling, I can’t walk her without it.
BUT
she still hates it, constantly trying to get it off.
also is it not meant to tighten and loosen itself ?
ie tightens if she tries to pull and is loose when she’s not pulling ?
I spend most of the walk either putting it back on her, or loosening it as it’s gotten so tight around her mouth, at least 10 times. It’s so frustrating. I end up holding the lead so tight (not loose lead) so she can’t hook her foot on it to get it off. I know she hates it and is uncomfortable. Am I doing something wrong!? Do we need a different size !? Thank you

I've used Haltis on my rescues for years and yes that one you're using is much too tight. It should be further down the nose and it does not need to be attached to the collar. That, I think is why it keeps pulling tight. please take your dog to s decent pet shop and get a well fitting one. And all my dogs that have worn them have happily put their noses into it ready to be fastened before a walk. Hope you get it sorted

We use the dogmatic one in town. But you still need to lead train your dog. It took us about a year of training using treats and returning to heel and we still reinforce it frequently years on. Training properly takes far more time than we all realise.

The halti is painful for her. Don't use it. I completely sympathise with you, some dogs resist training no matter what you do. The benefit of the unwanted behaviour for them is greater than the reward of treats (or in this case the negative reinforcement/pain of the halti). But in general, aversive tools like haltis won't really help in the long run.

One technique that works well for loose lead walking is to choose a few landmarks along your path (a house or a tree or whatever). You start walking and if she pulls you go back to the beginning. Once you can get to the first landmark without her pulling you move on to the second and so on. It takes time but I've found it really effective. Just stopping or changing direction doesn't work for some dogs. But if they don't like retracing their steps this method reinforces what they need to do in order to keep moving forward. The landmark technique also allows you to really see your progress.

@CaptainCarrot I love the landmark idea, I’m going to give that a go! 2 year old Springer and nice lead walking is our biggest training challenge by far……

I was thrilled to discover the landmark technique from a dog trainer @DominoRulesand I think it can work really well with some dogs. Especially when other methods just don't work. When following the standard advice to stop when the dog starts pulling, I've had dogs who seem to think, "O.K., I'll just stop and wait for a bit and then pull again." Or if I've changed direction, the dog's reaction is "Great! A new direction to pull towards!" 😂 For dogs like this using landmarks can really help. I hope it works for you and your dog. I love Springers BTW. Wonderful dogs!

That's because it's not a lab, it's a cross breed being sold by backyard breeders as "silver". It's got Weimaraner in.

You need to train your dog. You own a gundog, get to proper gundog classes. Even if you never intend going within a mile of a shoot, your dogs genetics determine it's presets.

So you need to teach your dog steadiness and calmness on lead. A Halti will mask the issues by causing the dog pain so it stops pulling when it's on. It's not addressing the issue, which is likely to be lack of consistency and patience with training, and therefore the dog looks to the environment rather than the owner for entertainment and stimulation.

It's not a few lessons with a trainer of classes issue, it's consistent work on loose lead walking every single day that cracks it.

@CaptainCarrot yes you’ve basically described my boy 😂 he’s such a joy in every other respect and randomly walks much better to heel off the lead. It’s on my training plan for tomorrow 👍

@DominoRules have you looked on training spaniels with reward based techniques group on Facebook?

Loads of trainers, breed experts on there too and files of help with loose lead walking with spaniels (fellow spanner enthusiasm here!) as they're almost all stinkers for pulling etc until they're taught what they need to do!

I think you need a slightly larger size. It’s on correctly on your pictures but a bigger nosepiece would give the dog that “looseness” you describe when they are not pulling. Yes they are classed as aversive but they allow bigger dogs to be walked safely - safe for dog and for owner - don’t let anyone put you off. The dogmatic is not quite as effective.

You don't need to use aversives to safely walk large dogs.

@Bovrilla thank you, I’ll take a look at those. I have a great gundog trainer who’s very supportive too so we will get there eventually…….. 🤪

Haha, I mutter this on a daily basis as mine seems to be able to make progress in one area but only at the expense of another. Want a good retrieve? Yep, can do that and deliver to hand now, but only if he chomps the dummy like it's Hubba bubba on the way. Next week we will fix that but he will drop it at my feet. Week after the retrieve will be bob on but recall fails, spaniels are like dog training splat a rat 🤣🤣🤣🤣

You need to reduce that thrill of going out until she can behave for it.

Practice that first 10-15 minutes in tiny bits. So practice putting collar and leash on, shoes on, open door and then close door put all the stuff away and reward calm behaviour. Collar on, reward, collar off. Stuff on, walk to next door, and come home. Mix it
up but practice those tiny steps rewarding good behaviour multiple times a day.

Look up "threshold training"

Mine has to reset if he gets silly before we leave (any barking etc). I insist on a calm exit through the door and sit whilst I lock up

Sometimes he then goes wild on the drive and I have to go back to front door, sit him down and start again. No progress until I have calmness. I must look like a loon, but my current dog has finally had the penny drop and he pops him bum on the floor on the doorstep voluntarily and doesn't rush out the door any more. Calm starts make for calm walks. Set the dog up for success.

This 100%. Patience is the only way - slow and steady.