Control your Creature (Halti Head Collar)

Member Name: rolletrog

Product:	Halti Head Collar
Date:	26/05/08 (503 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Oh so many

Disadvantages: None really apart from that some people think it's a muzzle

~~**~~* Halti Dog Collars *~~**~~

Doughnut is a Labrador. For those of you aren't aware of them, labs are twits. Especially 11 month old chocolate ones. And it is for this simple reason that I found myself resorting to the wonderful invention of the Halti. I've been putting it off for ages whilst we've struggled to maintain dignity during lead walking but the time came when I had to concede defeat.

It's not that she's a particularly naughty little pickle - she's brilliant off-lead; returns to call, heels when told, retrieves fairly well (occasionally I get a dead bird instead of the ball returned to my feet but who could resist the smell of a putrid animal?) - however, lead work is a different story. It seemed that everything was exciting and I had to be dragged to see it whether it was cow poo, a leaf or a speck of dust and I was exhausted trying to keep her attention let alone keep her to heel. We attended Good Citizen approved classes where she passed the silver level so I know she's not a complete dunce. However, remove her from the black rubber mats of the training hall and 'devil dog' possesses her. Just walking to class meant I emerged into the room with a slobbering, red-eyed freak that made people shy away in disgust and children cower in fear (not a particularly bad thing). Not to mention that I looked like I'd fought a major battle and lost, badly. We put in the time and effort trying various methods such as changing direction, sharp tug on the lead, emphasising what a clever girl she was when she got it right (very rarely did I utter those words), bottle of stones... everything (well not everything - my dad swears by the method of holding a brolly just in front of the nose and tapping it if they go to far - he was dragged unceremoniously down the street by the little bugger so I didn't bother with that!). I knew it was time for Halti.

Over 20 years ago, a clever sod called Dr Mugford invented the halti for his dog after being confronted with an Irish Wolfhound whilst suffering with a bad back. Genius. If you go to www.companyofanimals.co.uk you'll find info all about him and you too can silently praise him for his cleverness. On this site is a training guide and more information and history about the halti - I won't bother you with this here cos it's really not that exciting. A woman at work did inform me that Gentle Leaders work in much the same way but have no bite prevention and so less material to hang around your dogs face. She said her dog never tried to remove them but couldn't get on with haltis - mere heresay I know but maybe an interesting piece of gossip for you to consider when about to purchase one of these contraptions.

A Halti is not a muzzle. Anyone who thinks it is (and loads of people do) is a nincompoop. I feel it is my duty to inform people that it's not a muzzle and that she could still bite if she wanted to. Actually she couldn't really because the design is such that the loop section closes around the dogs nose to stop biting but when pulling ceases, the loop relaxes and your dog can pant and dribble to its hearts content. Seriously though, think of it more like walking a horse - it just helps you control where you want the brat to go rather than the other way around. The halti is made of nylon and comes in six different sizes and 3 unattractive colours. I personally would not go with one size fits all labs (or whichever breed): labs themselves come in different shapes and sizes and I would definitely try it on the creature before purchasing it - Pets at Home let you do this so trot on down there now! We've got a black one which doesn't really help the fact that people think it's a muzzle however, it does match her skin colour better than the red so that's what I chose.

It's important to have a halti that fits correctly otherwise this can cause soft tissue damage, or damage to the upper spine and/or the eye orbits. It is important that it's tight enough not to slip off but not so tight that her eyes pop out of her head. It's extremely simple to use (unless you're my mother, bless her) - hold the halti by the noseband so that the two rings dangle underneath and the two straps that buckle together are in your other hand. Merely slip the noseband onto the snout of the little pig (unfortunately when Doughnut was little, her nostrils grew considerably before the rest of her hence the reason she answers to 'Pig') and ensure the rings are not in her gob but hanging below her chin. Then simply clip the buckle together behind her ears and attach your lead to the upper ring. Halti on. There's also a clever safety link that you can purchase for a pound which clips from the halti to the normal collar so that should piggy manage to slip the noseband off, rather than you having to run down the street calling for the mischievous monkey, she's still attached via the link to the collar. Ingenious.

On the first go, Doughnut attempted to get the device off frequently, now after 6 uses (we don't do on-lead walk often) she doesn't bother. Marvellous. When she tries to pull ahead of me, her strength is no longer in her shoulders, it's now been transferred to her head which means that pulling just turns her head round instead of dragging me behind her. I've also noticed that when she's being transferred from the car or just walking on the road to the beach with just the lead on, she's not pulling half as much - I think she's beginning to realise that pulling is not fun. I'll start using the halti less and less until she's completely got the hang of it.

You can buy Haltis from virtually any pet shop, tons of on-line shops and there's one in the local paper if anyone's interested. Their retail price varies quite a bit but you can pick them up for around £7 ish. I think that's an absolute bargain. Taking Doughnut out now has become a pleasure - before I wouldn't even bother walking to the park - we'd take the car! Now though, we've even walked to Tesco amongst people which before would have been a death-defying event with cars and trolleys and children but now I've got control and she seems to jump up less too. One thing I've noticed though is that she never does a poo when she's got it on - she's never been one to retain the contents of her bowels and if anyone else has noticed this then drop me a message and we can discuss the bowel movements of our dogs together. Interesting stuff eh?

So that's it. A halti is a marvellous device that was easy to fit, took no time at all to become accustomed to and worked like a charm. I won't use it forever because eventually I hope she'll grow up and start behaving more! Dreams are such fragile things...

Thanks for reading!!

Review will appear elsewhere when I can be bothered.

Summary: Start enjoying your walks and buy one