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Gentle Leader Head Collar - Medium - Blue | 
 enlarge | Brand: Gentle Leader
Category: Kitchen
Buy New: $13.90
Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 237482
Media: Misc.
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Tired of your dog taking YOU for a walk? Quickly controls pulling and lunging. | | • | Teaches sit/stay in one easy lesson! Features two soft nylon straps, | | • | NOT a muzzle. When fitted properly, your dog is free to open his mouth to eat, drink, fetch, etc. | | • | Size: Medium - Fits dogs and puppies that will have an adult weight of 25 to 60 pounds. | | • | Also includes small dogs with a broad muzzle. |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Tired of your dog taking YOU for a walk? The Gentle Leader Headcollar quickly controls pulling and lunging. Teaches sit/stay in one easy lesson! Features two soft nylon straps - the collar portion fits high at the top of the neck, and the nose loop fits loosely and comfortably across the base of the muzzle. NOT a muzzle. When fitted properly, your dog is free to open his mouth to eat, drink, pant, fetch, bark and even bite - except when you close his mouth by pulling on the leash.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Training + GL = Polite Pup August 2, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've got a rather rambunctious beagle mix at home. We tried traditional collars first, then switched to harnesses for greater control with less strain on the arms. Don't get me wrong--the shoulder harness worked well enough to encourage loose leash walking (along with our positive training methods). Unfortunately, if Fido was really, really interested in something--say our neighbor's new puggle--we'd try to usher him along and he'd just end up balancing on his hind legs instead of following us.
Not so with the Gentle Leader. In fact, instead of pulling your dog along, all you need is a very slight tug to get him going in the right direction. No more sore arms for you and no more battles with puppy.
Today we had the ultimate test... Puppy and I were on a walk and came across a nice new lady that wanted to get acquainted with my dog. Not only did my puppy NOT jump, he actually sat politely! I believe it's because he understands that pulling will NOT get him where he wants to go any faster; in fact, it will slow him down. Awesome stuff. But make sure you read the manual thoroughly.
 Just Try It!!! January 22, 2006
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
When I got my 10 week old Labrador Retriever, she weighed 13 pounds. She grew so much and so fast, she began walking me. I enrolled her in an obedicence class and the trainer immediately recommended this. (She herself owns 4 Labs and breeds them as well, I trusted her judgement.) What a difference the gentle leader has made! I can now walk all 42 pounds of her without much strain. I'm only giving this product 4 stars because she HATES wearing it! I can't blame her for that though. I don't plan on using this tool forever, but it's a good training aid. Make sure you watch the DVD, there is a technique to fitting your dog for it. Also, if you hace a puppy, check the fit frequently.
The Gentle Leader works wonders! Just yesterday my five month old puppy would pull against the leash, literally choking hersel November 3, 2005
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
The Gentle Leader works wonders! Just yesterday my five month old puppy would pull against the leash, literally choking herself until she threw up, in her ordinary collar, no amount of correction would stop or settle her. She has been in the Gentle Leader for less than four hours and she is already nearly perfect on the lead. No more self inflicted gagging because she no longer strains against the lead (and we get to keep on our feet)!
I think that if the collar is on as instructed-very important-it is just as gentle as Gentle Leader claims. The neck collar is placed just behind the skull-very tightly, well above the choking reflex (push in above and below your Adam's Apple for comparison). The muzzle line is only tight under correction-a very gentle quick tug is all that is needed. When relaxed you should be able to pull the muzzle line down to the beginning of the nose (any further and the dog can slip out), but it should rest just below the eye (they do warn that short nosed breeds could have a problem here). Depending on the breed, this should be a finger width or more.
I also found that it has taken my puppy no longer to get use to it than it did for her to get use to both her regular collar and harness. She threw a bit of a fit with all three, then she got use to them. Extreme episodes maybe a matter of proper fit or dog personality, both of which can be worked around. I think it is as perfect and acceptable a long term solution as a collar or harness. I will be using them all.
The only complaint is cost.
 I'm not a fan... neither is my dog November 1, 2005
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
There are various types of head collar on the market today, all designed to do roughly the same thing. They discourage your dog from pulling by making pulling intensely uncomfortable, and they give you enough physical leverage to control your dog if he does decide to pull.
What could be wrong with that? Well firstly, dogs really don't like head collars. I have never ever seen a dog happily wear a Gentle Leader on the first attempt - not suprising since the device applies pressure on the sensitive bridge of the nose. I have, however, seen many dogs cry, wail, claw their faces, and/or just shut down and miserably refuse when first introduced to a head collar. It is true that you can eventually teach most dogs to accept these devices (dogs are very tolerant animals), but why not just invest that time into teaching your dog to walk politely on a leash in a regular collar?
Secondly, this device only works while it is on the dog. In other words, it doesn't actually teach the dog anything - if you take the halti off, the dog will start to pull again. Not exactly a long term solution - unless you want to keep your dog on a Gentle Leader for the rest of his life.
So, if your dog pulls, what do you do? I'm personally a fan of the Koehler method for teaching loose leash walking, as outlined in "The Koehler Method of Dog Training" (note: I'm NOT a particular fan of the other sections of this book - please pick up a copy of "Schutzhund - Training in Drive" or "The Culture Clash" if you want to teach your dog other behaviours!) If you're squeamish about the idea of allowing your dog to give himself leash corrections, bear in mind that a head collar is significantly less humane - it also "corrects" your dog, but does so every single minute he is wearing it.
Alternatively, "Culture Clash" has a loose leash walking method that is slightly more work than the Koehler Method, but also more positive (page 207). Either of these options will be kinder and more effective than the Gentle Leader.
If you really MUST use some sort of anti-pulling device on your dog, there are several anti-pull harnesses available (brands include Sporn, Easy Walk & SENSE-ation). These work just as well as the Gentle Leader to temporarily supress pulling, and dogs seem to tolerate them much much better.
 NOT "Scientific -- NOT a Postive Training Tool September 2, 2005
3 out of 10 found this review helpful
Before you buy into the hype and purchase an item you'll eventually discard (if you love your dog, that is) you should know that dogs hate this device. It feels totally unnatural to them. Its so-called "scientific" design is based on the way a supposed alpha wolf enforces his authority by aggressively gripping a subordinate around the muzzle with his teeth. (Nice, huh?) Since we now know that the alpha theory is false, the rationale behind this torture device for dogs is equally bogus. (Wild wolf packs do not form dominance hierarchies or spend time trying to show each other who's boss by grabbing each other around the snout; such behaviors are only produced when wolves are forced to form unnatural packs while living in captivity.) A device that mimics a totally unnatural act of aggression cannot be considered positive.
As a dog trainer, and just as a human being who loves dogs and hates to see them being mistreated, I cannot stress strongly enough that this device should not be used on any dog, ever.
So what do you do to keep your dog from pulling? Dogs don't really pull on the leash so much as they get pulled on by things in the environment that stimulate and attract their instincts. So the trick to training a dog NOT to pull is to play games that will make YOU more interesting and more appealing to his instincts than the things in the environment are.
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