Headcollars - Page 3

Slam, I'm relieved to hear you think it's fixable!    I've been wondering if maybe I'd bitten off more than I could chew, especially since that time when she bit Ranger. But this girl has so many positive traits, I at least wanted to give her a chance at a decent life, instead of that final trip to the vet.

Has anyone tried Snap-around Training collars?  Not too expensive.  When correctly fitted they sit behind the ears and under the jaw to control the head without a nosepiece or pressing on the trachea .  Since they work by blocking air like a choker, they don't stimulate an aggressive dog into biting like Slamdunc discussed can occur with prong or e-collars.  Personally, I have never used one that didn't slide down the neck somewhat when a dog is pulling.  Not half as effective as a prong on my dog but then she is not aggressive, just a puller!   The Snap-around can be used with a regular collar as back up, and they are not as likely to come off or get caught accidently.so they are quite convenient.   I also liked Don Sullivan's Command collar (a plastic "prong" collar with a clasp) for pups and smaller breeds.  I'm sure you'd love to spend more money on equipment!


http://www.handcraftcollars.com/Snap-AroundTrainingCollar.aspx
http://www.thane.com/pd/product-support/sizing-chart.html

Head collars, in my humble opinion, are sold to people that have no clue about training. I train dogs for over 35 years and I have seen major injuries on muzzle and neck of dogs caused by novice dog handlers using head collars. You can't train "heel" with it, because it makes the dog look down on the ground. It doesn't bring your dog close to you because the dog's head strength lies in the neck, not in the muzzle. They are not working for aggressive dogs, because you can't change a dog's overall behaviour with a head collar. They do nothing for the dog then break skin on the muzzle, cause neck cramps and don't give the handler proper hold of the dog. Dog/Leash aggression is a problem between you and your dog first (handling!) and then between your dog and another dog.

 

I've never had a very high opinion of them, either, but the lady that recommended it is very experienced. [shrug]

Another person I've always trusted (now passed away, unfortunately) always said head collars are for horses, and would have a fit if someone used one on a dog of her breeding.

Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks!

I totally agree, leave them to the horses!

If  you are interested in an expert opinion, you might contact Darryl Richey at tricountyk9.com. He is really great.  Has a lot of experience including training and raising Belgian police dogs and training for Texas police dogs.

Meant no disrespect. Meant to say another expert opinion.

The suggestion for the head collar comes from Brenda Aloff's book Aggression in Dogs:.  http://www.amazon.com/Aggression-Dogs-Brenda-Aloff/dp/1591960738  and from a trainer who has worked with her extensively. Her breed is Fox Terrors...er, Terriers, a breed that can be quite aggressive.

The problem is that the profession dog trainer has no code of standards, except a few private organization that make up their own as they go and of course the professional dog handlers in police, border control and military. So basically everyone can call him/herself an expert.
If you think a certain tool might be helpful for your dog, try it and use it or leave it. If you ask someone working in Schutzhund if they would use a Halti, you might guess what the answer is. If you ask a PETA member if they would use a Halti, you might guess what the answer is.
Everyone has a personal opinion about tools and how and if they would use them. Obviously there are enough opinions on the market.
You still seem unsure, why don't you just try and see what it does for you?
Just try it out and then tell us how you did. Tools are only as good as the handler who uses them.

It's a poor workman who blames his tools.  Like other training tools, the headcollar has it's place in the toolbox, it just needs to be utilized with the right dog to deal with the right circumstance. I certainly would never trust a headcollar alone as a means of restraining a dog that has shown aggression toward anything--but I also would never trust ANY collar as the sole means of restraint when working a dog that has aggression issues to be addressed.  I was taught to ALWAYS have two forms of control, be it 'choke' collar and flat collar, or prong collar and flat collar, or whatever combinations were best for the specific dog in the specific setting. Using a headcollar is no different.  I DO like them for shaping a 'watch me' or 'focus' behavior in dog-aggressive individuals as a response to the presence of another dog--but yeah, you DO first need to acclimate the dog to the device in a neutral setting without the trigger around.  Once the dog has learned to tolerate it, I find it more helpful than trying to use any form of training collar to redirect the dog's attention, for the very reasons Slamdunc outlined earlier.  I've found dogs which are easily triggered into reactive behaviors and tend to become more amped up from collar & leash redirection attempts often respond better to the steady pressure the headcollar exerts on both the bridge of the nose and the back of the dog's neck at the same time--but the handler has to know how to use the device correctly for the safety of the dog, too.

T&T, actually, there ARE some established standards when it comes to dog trainers, at least here in the US--the National Association of Dog Obedience Instructors, for example, requires it's members to have put obedience titles on dogs themselves from green dog on up AND to pass a written exam which is far from a cursory Q&A on basics. Other organizations have established similar protocols, with some having affiliations with board-certified veterinary behaviorists.  Brenda Aloff has a proven, successful track record when it comes to dealing with intraspecies aggression in dogs, and has experience with the behavior in GSDs in addition to managing it in Fox Terriers [where it's primarily a hard-wired behavior from birth in most specimens of the breed]; Sunsilver knows it's going to take time to work this through with the dog who is the subject of the discussion, but I think she's on a path that's been well-marked out by those who went down it before her.