My dog is a rescue, and a young, very strong, very highly strung Lab. He was a year old when I adopted him and he had never been walked on a lead and collar before. Suffice it to say that walks were a nightmare as he would constantly pull, jump and lunge.

Determined to master loose-leash walking etc, I managed to find a great, very experienced trainer. She taught me how to walk my dog to heel – and to my delight, it worked!

As a result, I began walking my Lab more frequently, for longer. We started encountering many ‘triggers’ – people and objects that caused him to react and to lunge violently. Still I persisted in using a ‘normal’ flat lead and collar. Dexter lunged terribly at numerous things – cats, certain people, motorbikes, certain sounds… It was all I could do to hang on to him but I persisted.

Then one afternoon we were leaving the park, after a successful training session. As my dog and I walked away from the park gates, our trainer went in the opposite direction to her car. I heard her call out ‘How is Dexter around horses?’

I didn’t even have a chance to respond – I glimpsed a horse just ahead of us and the next thing I knew, I was face down, on the ground, with blood pouring from my hands and knees. I couldn’t even get up, the pain was so bad, not to mention the dizziness.

Somewhere to my right, I could hear Dexter barking and with horror realised that he was in the middle of the road, causing the horse distress and going beserk.

Thankfully, our trainer saw what had happened and came dashing over; she managed to get hold of Dexter’s leash and then came over to help me. I could not walk, I was in so much pain, and she had to drive me home.

I was incredibly lucky that I wasn’t more hurt – and that my dog was not hit by a car. Had the road been a bit more busy, both my dog and any nearby drivers could have been seriously hurt.

That night I ordered a headcollar and I have not walked him without it since. Nor will I, until I can be sure that I can control his lunges, or until he becomes calmer and less ‘reactive’.

So for those of you who are against headcollars, just bear in mind that for some of us, there is no option. My dog is now 19 months old, and 35kg of pure muscle. Without a headcollar, I would not be able to safely walk him and I just thank heavens that they exist.

I would also argue that a correctly fitted headcollar is FAR kinder and more humane than a prong/pinch collar.

Missy- The pinch collar is like any other collar; both cruel and humane. It just depends on the use. I would recommend putting one on your leg to feel it. In my opinion (there are tons that disagree with me) it is the most humane collar because when it is used properly it doesn’t rely on strength, it’s a leverage tool.

Kathy- You’re right. Used improperly a pinch or a choke chain can create the wrong association. Used properly, though, I’ve used the pinch collar to fix hundreds of leash aggressive dogs.

I still respectfully disagree, though. I believe that in most cases the halti is a band aid. I don’t agree with the analogy for anti-depressants, either, seems like apples to oranges to me.

Javeen- If you don’t have the money to invest in a training course then a halti could be a good short term tool until you can get into training.

Sean- You’re right. It is a utopian ideal to hope that all people will train their dogs. It’ll never happen but I’ll keep trying

Pawsitive Vibe- Used properly a pinch collar is not about pain at all any more than a halti would be. You’re right, though, in saying that someone using one could make aggression worse if they use it wrong.

As far as the disagreement on the halti worsening aggression I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve seen it happen on several occasions.

Darryl- No anthropomorphizing at all. It’s the simple way that dogs create associations. Dogs create associations based on what they are looking at and what they are experiencing in the moment. I am not even sure where your argument for anthropomorphism comes in based on what I wrote. I didn’t invent the idea nor is it a ‘human based’ way of learning when a dog creates an association based on what he is viewing right now.

As far as my testimonials, you are right. There are several that I can’t use. Many of them were garnered while I was the training manager for an international dog training company. Those belong to the company, not me so I can’t currently use them in my marketing and can only make reference to them. Since I’ve opened up my own business here in Utah I have had many clients from out of state but mostly here in state, hence the Utah based testimonials. Does it make me a better trainer because I’ve trained dogs for celebrities, been on the radio and television hundreds of times, traveled to several countries and states (it’s now up to 20 states in case you’re counting) to work with clients, written ebooks, hosted my own radio show, etc.? Nope. But it sure is cool and, like it or not, people enjoy listening to those stories and there are very few 12 year olds who can make the same claim (just needed to make sure that I was no longer being juxtaposed with your 12 year old neighbor).

In my opinion credentials mean nothing. I’ve cleaned up the messes of a couple PHD animal behaviorists after their years of theoretical study did nothing for actual real world dog training application and I’ve known people like a construction worker and a drug dealer that could easily be some of the best trainers I’ve ever seen. I’m definitely not self-taught, I’ve apprenticed for some really great trainers and traveled to different places to learn from some of the best. But to me that means nothing. PhD or drug dealer, show me the results, that’s all I care about. If you’ve got a couple degrees or an amazing understanding of theories out of a text book that’s fine. If you’re a construction worker and like working with your dog, that’s fine. At the end of the day it’s all about what you can do.

Second, I have always told my students that research is not only the articles that they read, but the background and credibility of the “expert” who produced the article. In visiting Ty’s website, I read:
“I have trained security dogs for an inter-nationally recognized clientele. I have trained dogs for NBA, NFL, WWE, and WPGA athletes, politicians, CEO’s, entertainers and more. I have worked with this clientele in 18 states nationwide and in 6 countries world wide. My widely read dog training articles are currently published in dozens of internet dog training sites and in dog training publications and my video and audio dog training program has been used by thousands of dog owners all over the world.”

Of the testimonials on his website, I notice that despite the client list spanning 18 states and 6 countries, every single testimonial comes from the Beehive State of Utah. Likewise, I do not seen any NFL, NBA, or WWE athletes among the endorsers. As to the claim that his articles are read widely on the internet, when I last checked, the “Dentist Kid” has had 56 million hits on YouTube, while Ty’s most popular YouTube video on Potty Training had a scant 50K hits. In point of fact, I can very virtually no evidence that anything he has ever produced was not self-published and self-promoted.

Does this mean that he cannot train dogs. Certainly not, but my 12 y/o neighbor (who is not the sharpest tool on the shelf) trained his dog to sit, roll over, speak, shake hands and dance to Burning Love in the course of about two weeks with a handful of kibble and a great deal of affection for his dog. Here’s my bottom line. There are many very good trainers out there and Ty appears to be one of them. Some have impressive credentials, some do not. One thing that I have learned in 12 years of teaching learning theory is there is no uniform method of training that assures that learning occurs. Some things will work in some circumstances that will not work in others. Anyone who has ever had to train animals for an experiment or who has taken a behavior modification course knows and understands that while one rat might like M&M’s another likes Skittles.

Add to the variation in learner, the variation in teacher and we arrive at the conclusion that Gentle Leaders and Halti’s will work with some human/canine pairs and not with others. I am always circumspect when someone qualifies what they by claiming that they “have lots of ammunition” and then produces little more than opinion based on vague anecdotes. Owners should investigate as much as they can by talking to their vets asking other dog owners what worked for them, and eventually trying what they believe that they can use humanely and consistently.

The right training collar depends on each individual person and each individual dog. In the wrong hands, a prong collar can cause fear, pain and frustration for a dog, although this is not the purpose of any training collar.

The Gentle Leader caused blisters on her nose and I was near my wits end because even though I work with her daily, she’s still stronger than me, plain and simple.

The Halti is a wonderful accessory to our training and I can walk her with confidence now. Say what you will, but I’m a Halti fan all the way.