use of gentle leader

deb2950 · Member Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 290

Has anyone here ever used the gentle leader dog harness? I am having a hard time with jack on the leash and it was suggested that this might help. I am afraid with his pulling he is going to injure his trachea. I am working on the pulling with him using a clicker and praise, but he is a stubborn little guy and wondered if this would help?

Aqueous · Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 1:48 am Post subject:

When Rocky was a being leash trained I was having a hard time too. Rocky would always pull so hard on his leash that he would start coughing and I was always afraid that he was going to get hurt.

My vet recommended using a similar product and it worked really well since it doesn't put pressure on his throat and because it controls his head I had more control when we went for walks.

Since it doesn't physically hurt the dog, I think it would be worth a shot if you're really having a tough time. You always have the option to stop using it if your dog really objects to it. I only used it on Rocky when he was being leash trained and now he'll go for a walk without it and be a perfect little gentleman.

Hope this helps.
Good Luck!

ilovemaltipoos · Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 2:22 am Post subject:

A harness is much better and does less damage .I highly recommend them .

MonsterBailey · Super Senior Member Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 1280

My vet recommended a harness as well. The smaller the dog the more apt they are to have problems with a collapsed trachea.....(at least I think it was the trachea...??) Bailey was a bad bad boy at first when it came to walking on a leash. We switched over to a harness pretty early.... he is an awesome little walker now! Surprised

MyBabyShihPoo · Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 4:44 am Post subject:

I always use a harness on my two Shih-Poos as well!!!

I really am not a big fan of the collars for the same reason as others have mentioned, too much pressure on the neck when the dog is pulling. "Heal" is one of the commands that my dogs have learned, which is also a great thing to teach any dog

.

Concerning the Gentle Leader, IF used CORRECTLY and APPROPRIATELY they are great training aids! When putting on a gentle leader one must pay very close attention to the fitting and adjust it perfectly to fit the dog. I say that because I have seen one too many dogs with raw noses b/c the owners (completely innocent) didn't know how to adjust it properly on their dogs. Also, because the GL is different than just a regular harness and collar in the fact that it places pressure in certain areas when tightened (by you or the dog pulling), one must be aware of how that works so not to make the training more difficult. (I know the previous sentence probably sounds a bit confusing, so let me give you an example: When teaching a dog to lay down, and given he/she has a GL on, you NEVER want to pull him down with the leash due to the fact that you are putting pressure on a certain area, leading to a reverse effect and ultimately causing the dog to instinctively want to battle the pressure and stand up. *Just a note, I never train a dog to lay down by pulling him/her down, rather I coax them down on their own, but not everyone does it that way so I thougt I would use the laying down example for those who do and are using a GL. There are many other examples though besides just the one I stated!) I don't want to make it sound like it takes a rocket scientist to learn how to appropriately use a GL, b/c it doesn't, but is does take a little bit of learning on your part!

I never did use a GL on my two pups because I did not see any need for it on them...the harness worked just fine on the two of them. But of course, every dog is different.

Hope this helped! Very Happy

MonsterBailey · Super Senior Member Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 1280

Deb,
I'm curious...... any update? Have you tried the gentle leader or did you go with the harness?

Smile