# gentle leader



## breec3 (Jan 7, 2008)

I finally bought one, and I wonder why i waited so long

I was at obdience training tonight and the teacher suggested that I get one for her, and let me try it out in class, it was a different puppy.

my back is actually hurting from her pulling the last couple of days trying to teach her to walk correctly. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I have been using a harness.

Sadie didnt like this gentle leader at all, but she will have to get use to it so I dont end up in emergency from my back going out from her pulling.


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## Lisa_and_Willow. (Dec 18, 2007)

I used one for my German Shepherd for a while during his 'bark and lunge at other dogs' stage. It is a great tool but I had no plans to use it forever.

Now that Diesel is much better around other dogs his is back to his buckle collar and leash and guess what?.. No pulling at all! Its like when he was wearing the gentle leader someting just clicked in his mind that he was supposed to stay to heel. Now he does!


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## breec3 (Jan 7, 2008)

That is what I am hoping for, I do not want to use one forever, but just until we both can get the hang of walking nicely with each other.


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## Nicole&Zack (Feb 27, 2007)

I tried it on Zack and he wouldnt move. He'll just lay there...he wouldnt get used to it at all.
I also tried a harness...wouldnt move either.
Prong collor works great for me...;-)


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## Thor's Mom (Feb 25, 2007)

GL works great for us! It saved his throat and my shoulder. Good luck with it.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

My golden girls do well with just collar and leash. With Cody, I'm using the Sensation harness and it has worked wonders..... for both of us.


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## beargroomer (Jan 2, 2008)

Lisa_and_Willow. said:


> I used one for my German Shepherd for a while during his 'bark and lunge at other dogs' stage. It is a great tool but I had no plans to use it forever.
> 
> Now that Diesel is much better around other dogs his is back to his buckle collar and leash and guess what?.. No pulling at all! Its like when he was wearing the gentle leader someting just clicked in his mind that he was supposed to stay to heel. Now he does!


this is what i'm hoping for gaius. he goes wild with happiness/excitement when we pass by other dogs. he lunges, pulls, and hops. (sometimes he'll even bark because he's frustrated that i won't let him go meet them.) we've been using the GL for about a week and it is DEFINITELY easier to control him when he tries to lunge.

how long was diesel on the GL leader before he was able to go back to a regular buckle collar? TIA.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

In my experience, most dogs benefit from the Gentle Leader (or other no-pull tools) until they are through adolesence, which is about 18 months. Some take longer, some not as long, depending on the level and consistency of training that went along with the use of the tool.


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## goldensmum (Oct 23, 2007)

I used a gentle leader on Ralph - although he walked perfectly, if he was spooked (and it didn't take a lot) he would bolt sideways. With the GL i had better control.


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## LibbysMom (Jan 15, 2008)

We use the Gentle Leader Easy Walk Harness and love it. I don't think Libby would like the other one too much. At the store she fought us when we tried to put it on here but with this one she doesn't mind it at all.


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## drgrafix (Sep 24, 2007)

We used the GL head harness on our previous golden and it took a while for her to adapt as she was about 7-8 when I started... but eventually it worked out just fine.

With Daisy, I got her the Premier EZ Walk Harness (same company) and she loves it. Actually sits and lets me drape it over her head and then rolls over thinking I'm going to tickle her belly when I latch the lower clip. She's 8 months today and I've been using it a month.

Both products are excellent.


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## LeeMedic (Jan 7, 2010)

*Tired of being yanked*

Our Golden Pup loves to pull, lunge and leap. It hurts us both, and have decided to go to the Gentle Leader. Sergeant is not happy about our decision. He constantly tries to removed it, tangle the leash when it is attach, and rubs against my leg when walking.

Since he is 7 months old, he might have some adjusting. Did any of you experience this type of rebellion when you first put it on your Goldens?


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## Eleanor's Mom (Nov 6, 2009)

We use the sensation harness and love it. The trainer we woked with initially recommended it because Eleanor would throw a puppy tantrum and pull backwards. Once she even slipped her collars. But the wonderful side benefit is that it dramatically helps with the pulling and is starting to carry over to walking with just a collar. Eleanor did not like the harness at first, but now when she sees me get it out, she knows a long walk is coming and she loves it.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

LibbysMom said:


> We use the Gentle Leader Easy Walk Harness and love it. I don't think Libby would like the other one too much. At the store she fought us when we tried to put it on here but with this one she doesn't mind it at all.


We switched from the Gentle leader to the Easy Walk harness with our energetic Toby. He did okay with the GL but still pulled too much. With the Easy Harness he will take off if he sees something worthy of chasing or snatching (squirrels, cats, road kill) but he usually walks beside me or behind me. I've never had a dog walk behind me like that before. 

With our older guy Barkley we tried the Easy Walk harness but it irritated his spondylitis in his upper neck/shoulder region and we went back to the GL. Despite his age (12.5 years) and his arthritic issues he can still pull like crazy, especially when he sees the squirrels and cats roaming about. He doesn't like the GL at all, but we recently upgraded him to one with the padding and he tolerates it much better, plus it doesn't leave markings on his muzzle if he does pull too hard. The $5 more you pay for the padding is well worth it in my opinion! It comes with a leash, but it's too wimpy for a Golden to use (in my opinion). I'm going to donate the leash to my local pet orphanage.


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## C's Mom (Dec 7, 2009)

I purchased a halti (couldn't find a GL around me) and it has worked wonders too. Cocasse is a runner if he gets scared and I feel better with him wearing this. The pulling also stopped which was great as every morning I'd wake up with back and shoulder pain. He didn't like it at first but he got used to it fast. For a dog who is so afraid of noises and people he sure does love to go outside.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

I use a Gentle Leader on Austin (Lincoln and Reno both use Haltis)....I still find that he has a tendancy to pull....I have tried everything and was hoping that the Gentle Leader would work. He did great at obedience school but seems to have forgotten what he learned....guess it's back to square one!!!!


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## Makino82 (Oct 23, 2009)

We've been having problems with our 9 month old randomly lunging out of excitement and she's so strong I've been pulled off my feet more then once. She will heel perfectly Only when there's treats involved, except when there's rabbits, new dogs, etc. and even then treats don't keep her attention. Have been using a martingale collar for the past couple months and it seems to make no difference what-so-ever in random lunging at things and pulling.

Aaanyways, went to her First Rally obedience class last night and met another young GR with just as much crazy energy, but that one didn't pull at all and just wiggled on the spot as she was wearing a GL. The trainer gave us one to try out, and I'm totally sold! Yes, she complained and fought it for a while but when a rabbit ran 10 feet in front of us today on a walk she didn't even try to bolt ahead at it. All I felt was a gentle tug a few times and for the most part she just danced on the spot out of frustration of not being able to chase it, Lol.

I'm hoping too that using this for a bit will give her the idea of staying with us despite distractions so we can switch back to a regular collar one day too! It just isn't worth the risk especially on icy winter walks of her bolting after the rabbits when there may be a car going by at that exact time...


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## jenlaur (Jun 24, 2009)

I just bought a Gentle Leader for Riley also. She is 7 months old and has "forgotten" how to walk nicely on a leash. It is a godsend! Walks are so much nicer now.


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## slkuta (Feb 14, 2009)

My obedience trainers have all been against the gentle leaders/halti style collars. One stated that there was a study done, and it is very painful on the dog's sinuses. They are modeled after horse halters, but dogs have different spines than horses do. They do work because the dog is physically unable to pull. The trainers recommened the prong collar and that is what I have used successfully.


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## FeatherRiverSam (Aug 7, 2009)

Okay you guys what's the bottom line on the gentle leader? This thread is exactly what I expect to see when the subject of the gentle leader comes up...everyone praises it and eventually some one chimes in with it can damage their neck or spine.

I've tried it with my 2 year old rescue golden and was very, very impressed with the difference. Like many of you I've got a very bad back and Woody, one very energetic, prey orientated dog was a terror on the lead.

Yes it worked but I couldn't understand why? What was it about the gentle leader that stopped that seemingly endless desire to pull. It had to be doing something to him pretty dramatic to end his desire to pull.

Even though it was like a breath of fresh air to walk him on the GL I stopped using it simply because I didn't want to hurt him.

So how in the heck does it work and is there a risk of injuring your dog by using one?

Pete


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

I use the GL on all of mine and had nothing but good results!


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## Muddypaws (Apr 20, 2009)

I tried the gentle leader with Darby but he could never get comfortable with wearing it. He would start out ok and then would either get too anxious or desperate to get it off. His trainer suggested use a no pull harness. We tried the same brand (maker) no pull harness as the Gentle Leader and it has worked wonderfully. If the head harness isn't working for you try the harness, as soon as he pulls it turns him towards me. He is walking great and we are slowly transistioning to a martingale collar.

I have heard great thing about the Gentle Leader, but it won't work for every dog.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

I am conflicted myself. I like the head collar because it works so well, but--I think for *some* dogs it can be very dangerous. If you have a dog that lunges at things causing his head to be tossed around all the time I think it is not a good fit for that dog.

And if you want your dog to be good with the head collar you should condition them to it over the course of several days instead of throwing it on and going for a walk. I gave mine treats for sticking her nose through it the first two days, then I left it on and threw treats around the floor (so she had something better to do than try and pull it off). When she was used to that I then started the walks with it.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

slkuta said:


> One stated that there was a study done, and it is very painful on the dog's sinuses.


Could you find out the study? I have not seen it or seen a reference to it and I'm super curious!

How it works: Leverage..if you control the head, you control the body. The head is the part that gets into the most trouble, so there's advantages to having more control when your dog is lacking self control! Plus, when the dog pulls s/he is re-directed towards the handler rather than forward.

I'm very in support of GL's. One of mine always wears it, and at 9, probably always will. When I'm walking all three dogs at once, they outweigh me and so it's not worth the risk of me falling. 

If a dog is stressed by a GL though, training needs to be done. Put it on for meals and then remove it right after. Put it on for great things, then take it off and the fun stops. Shape the dog to put his nose through the loop, this carries over to sticking a nose in the muzzle which is a great safety behavior. 

If a team is struggling with the GL, we might go another route, esp if they're not wanting to put the time into conditioning the dog to wear (and love) the GL. 

I haven't seen any studies on the dangers, so if someone comes across one, please share!


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## slkuta (Feb 14, 2009)

I could not find the study, I'll see if I can get more information from the trainer. I found a good website: johnknowsdogs.com - gentle leader explanined is pretty informative.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

Thanks for looking into it, I'm eager to see the study. 

Thanks for the link too, I looked through the pages. It's really a lot of opinion/personal experience, combined with emotion-laden wording and so while I don't discredit the experiences those people have had, it's a bit hard to view it objectively. I found all the comments about force most intriguing, when I'm teaching students to use a head halter, we really just use two fingers if we have to turn/redirect the dog. Maybe the product needs a better booklet along with it (...I sure don't recommend it in it's current state, but I dunno...). I suppose if more people would condition their dogs to wear it, it may be received better by some professionals?

Thanks again for looking into it!


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## ManicMarley (Feb 6, 2010)

I have found the Easy Walk much simpler to train. When I tried a Gentle Leader on Marley he'd buck like a horse (I'm sure many of you are familiar!), and just was too upset to be able to walk, even after I trained it with treats. Easy Walk looks like a harness but keeps a dog from pulling as effectively as a G.L., in my opinion. If they pull, it pulls them off to one side, I think, which they don't like. Anyway, I've used it on two dogs and it's been wonderful.


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## Mighty Casey and Samson's Mom (Jul 16, 2008)

Easy Walk harnesses ROCK. Casey is an obedience trained dog, working for his CDX next week, but I wouldn't take him out of the house without it.
No tugging at his throat, and he knows that he can't pull me across the road that that rabbit just went, so won't try. good luck.


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## Cathy in Boston (Jan 20, 2010)

Suzie came from Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue (adopted her at 10 mos.), and they recommended the Gentle Leader to us. We've tried from time to time walking her without it, but it never works out. She's pretty hyper and gets spooked by trucks and stuff during walks (we live in the city). The GL works great for her, to this day (she'll be 8 in June).


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