Why
I Dislike Head Halters by Pamela Dennison
© June 2004. May not be reprinted without written
approval.
Ah, head halters. I used to think they were great when
they first came out - a great alternative to choke or prong
collars. Until I saw them in action. My first exposure to
them was an Australian Shepherd mix. Guy brings him in for
training. I ask him to show me what he's got. He puts the
dog through his paces. I asked him, "Why did you come
to me - you've got great obedience (as in competition obedience)." He
has a head halter on the dog. I ask him to take it off.
Once the head halter is off, the dog knows nothing and I
mean nothing.
Ah. . .
I see many other dogs with halters on and off - same thing
or the dogs know nothing with it on or off. I have seen
other training schools just slap them on a bucking, rearing
and struggling dog, with no instruction, no desensitization
and the owners are still popping and jerking on their dogs.
The dog is learning nothing about loose leash walking and
in fact are learning to be quite unhappy.
There may be some people somewhere that know how to properly
acclimate the dog to a halter and VERY quickly wean off
of it, but not in my experience. I see too many people that
own dogs that just want a quick fix - they don't want to
train their dog. I even see them at competition trials;
dogs on head halters outside a ring that they are going
to compete in. Paleeze! Train the damn dog!
I feel they are dangerous - the dog isn't trained to walk
on a loose leash with distractions and so flings himself
toward a squirrel or other dog and he is wearing a halter.
Gee - guess what is going to happen to his neck? Maybe whiplash?
Most likely. The head halter also inhibits the use of any
calming signal that the dog may want or need to show, thus
making him more nervous.
When working with aggressive dogs--provoking stimuli is
there, your dog goes ballistic (because you pushed the session
so that you dog will have a reaction) and you yank your
dogs head around, FORCING him into a vulnerable position.
Not a good start to the desensitization process in my opinion.
So what is the answer? That 8 letter word again (which
we all know is twice as bad as any four letter word) t-r-a-i-n-i-n-g.
Teach the dog to look at you while walking, teach him to
nose target your hand so that if you need the dog to look
away, all you have to do is present your hand (away from
provoking stimuli) and say "touch" thus making
it into a game and make it FUN to look away from provoking
stimuli.
In my aggressive dog classes (or any classes for that matter),
I do not allow chokes, prongs, muzzles or head halters
because we do t-r-a-i-n-i-n-g.
More pet peeves:
- Letting the dog ride loose in a
car or even worse in the front seat. Why not you ask?
You don't let your kids or even yourself ride in a car without
a seatbelt and if you have to stop short, or get into an accident,
the dog will go flying and most likely die. If the dog is in the
front seat and your airbag deploys - instant dead dog.
MORE pet peeves to come!