Puppy Training

Copyright (c) 2010 James Mahoney

The head collars used in dog collar training have become an increasingly popular dog training tool in the past couple of years. Two of the most well known brands of head collar on the market are the Gentle Leader and the Halti, but there are many other brands that incorporate the basic concept.

Those head collars considered to be the most successful consist of two woven fabric loops, one loop should fit snugly around the dog's neck just behind his ears. At the same time the other loop loops around the muzzle loosely enough so that the dog will still be able to eat, drink, bark, and even bite.

There are two brands prominently on the market, they are Halti and the Gentle Leader. There are other brands that also employ the basic head collar idea.

The Gentle Leader head collar is designed to remove the tendency of the dog to pull by placing gentle pressure on calming points and preventing any uncomfortable pressure on the dog's throat. The Gentle Leader is also useful in dog collar training because it discourages lunging, jumping, excessive barking, and calming an anxious or aggressive animal.

HALTI is also a popular choice in head collars because it has been designed to combine maximum steering efficiency without sacrificing comfort for the dog. The collar has no metal parts in contact with the dog's skin and the point of steering is situated well down the nose and away from the dog's eyes. A feature of the HALTI head collar not found on other designs of head collars, is that with this collar the owner can use an on-off muzzling action to close the dog's jaws.

There are advantages to training a dog with a head collar as opposed to dog collar training with a traditional or training collar. This is because head collars are easier to use for beginning dog trainers than training collars. Head collars are also useful when it comes to preventing dogs from pulling, or controlling and retraining dogs that have a tendency to pull.

When the head collar is fitted correctly, it mimics the two most common holds dogs used in communicating leadership to other dogs low in rank in the pack. Adult dogs either will grasp the subordinate dog firmly, but gently, just behind the ears, or they will hold it by the muzzle, with the collar serving to constantly remind the younger or subordinate dog that he's not in charge.

When it comes to how a dog responds to the collar and how the owner reacts to the dog's response can give us a valuable insight about the animal's behavior and its relationship with his owner. Dogs naturally operate in and need a stable pack structure to give them a feeling of security. The head collar in dog collar training can help to communicate your leadership to your dog and can help them to accept that they live in a human-centered pack, dogs will naturally assume that position because every pack must have a leader.

The head collar can also be effective at controlling a dog's behavior in difficult situations may like needing to control a dog that wants to be with other dogs. The collars can be effective at controlling other difficult situations. Head collars are great when taking your dog on an outing, or even in an area where there will the dog will be around other dogs and other distractions.

While a head collar can be a great tool for dog collar training, it is not to be used as a replacement for proper dog training. For a head collar to be effective it must be used in combination with sensible dog or puppy training methods, like reward training and other forms of positive reinforcement.

In conclusion, the head collar can be an important and useful tool, bus it is important to use it appropriately, follow all the package instructions, and make sure you combine using the head collar with solid training methods. The goal of dog collar training with a head collar should that the dog behaves as well with a regular collar as it does with the specialized head collar.