Ok

[Guest Anonymous]

Well I realize That.I do not want to have to use it for the rest of the dogs life. Here is the situation:


There are two of my dogs in particular who I want to try positive training with.
1. The first one is an 11 month old male Apbt that I bought at 9 months of age from another breeder(Redfacekennels). He is about 65lbs. He is not overly dog aggressive and does not go crazy at every dog he sees but he is very dominate towards other dogs and does not get along with other males he does get along with females and puppies. He was not properly socialized in fact he was never taken off the chain prior to me buying him(Something I did not learn untill I took him home). He is not aggressive but he is very shy it is not genetics as none of his relatives are that way it is due to a lack of socialization. He is slowly coming out of his shell. He is not a fear biter he just kind of freezes up when some one he does not know is around but silly enough he is fine in public places as long as no one tries to touch him(in which case he freezes up but shows no signs of Agression and never tries to snap or run). He is used to me and is not shy with me at all at this point but he is still scared of my husband. His ears have been cropped very very short and I think that he may have been a victim of an at home crop job(Although the breeder will not admit to it) his breeder was a male so I think that has something to do with it. Anyways I do not want to break this dogs trust in me and I would like to someday get him at least a CGC title. I do not want to use the jerk and pull method with him as I beleive he will just freeze up and lose his trust in me. I am not planning on breeding him for a long time (if ever) so don't start bashing me about that I just want some advice on training him.

2. Is an18 month old female.She has never been bred. She is friendly with other dogs but does lunge and scream to get at strange ones I don't know if she wants to fight or just play as she has never shown signs of agression towards my other dogs and she does play with my other dogs under supervision,I do not want to take the chance to find out though. She is very submissive but not shy at all. I tried to train her with a choke chain but she just gets very confused and looks at me like what are you doing to me? She has always been allowed to pull on opur walks and cannot understand why she suddenly cannot. I do want to use her for weight pulling hopefully we will get started this summer so I do want her to pull in a harness. Should I not train her not to pull or is there a way to train her to pull only while in a harness?


Ok. I have also been told that they could slip their head out of a Halti but I was told to put a choke chain on the dog as an "extra" in case they do get their head out of it. The choke chain should remain loose unless the halti comes of and they are pulling in which case it would tighten. Should I do that or not?
As a further note I do not plan on using a Halti to train my most dog agressive male as he WOULD get out of it and it would not work as he is to strong minded anyways.

[Guest Anonymous]

:( This was supposed to be under the ? about Halti's and Gentle leaders thread but somehow I posted a new thread sorr :cry: y

[DogPaddle]

As inconvienient as it may seem if you are concerned about the dog breaking or escaping your halti or gl I would use your secure collar with a second longer leash as well. This way if the dog does esacape the halti/gl it will only move forward till the second leash goes taught (be familiar with the lengths.) That being said, a properly adjusted halti has very little play in it and most dogs cannot remove it unless the sit down and use their paws and really work at it, you'll be there to tell the dog no. If your dog can slip out of your halti it is way to loose, don't know about a gl though.
It sounds like halti/gl would be a good option to try with you dogs. If they continue to lunge with the halti on you may have to discontinue use though as they may hurt their necks, most dogs do not continue to lunge. Kavik (my BC) can differentiate behaviour based on the device he is wearing, for instance:
Wearing his regular collar - Leisure time. No special behaviour expected, will bark, pull, let his attention wander a moderate amount based on stimuli.
Wearing his halti - Work time. We are obviously going to be doing some training - more focused, less barking, no pulling.
Wearing his pack - Play/Adventure time. Sits absolutely still to have pack put on, stands when nec. and steps through loops in harness. Frisks, jumps, barks, very focused, some pulling until we get to the park or lake.
Your dog will probably be able to determine what behaviours are expected in the halti vs the pulling harness.

[Guest Anonymous]

I agree, your dogs should be able to tell the difference.
For Hazel:
Leather collar: it's time to do some training/work
Nylon: can play, bark, pull ect.
Harness: We're either going to do Tracking or Bikejoring, in both cases she IS allowed to pull, and understands this
GL: Time to smarten up! No pulling, must listen

These are quite a few things to differeate (sp?) which means for sure your dogs should be able to tell the differnce!

Have you ever seen the show "Doggin It"? There was an episode I saw a while back where they delt with Dog on Dog Aggression. The methode they used DOES work, and it what I've used on Hazel in the past. It can be rather time consuming, but if your looking for a "quick fix" in an aggressive dog, your really not going to find it! More often then not they have something to do with Behavior Training on this show, so if you ever can catch it, I do advice to watch it! Although I'm not sure the times, I think it's on around 3 during the week (which means because of school I can only catch the end of it :( )[ http://www.dogginit.tv/ I think it was episode #2]
A good book to find is Dogs Are From Neptune... I myself have never read it, and am still lookin for it! :evil: So can't tell you if it's any good from experiance, but I've heard a LOT of good thingss about it.
I suggest: Get as MANY books (good ones) out there about Dog Aggression, the more knowledge and "advice" from differnt people is the best. (Don't get "GRRR" though... forget who it's by, but it's not very good)

[Guest Anonymous]

:) Thank you for the Advice everyone. The only problem I am having now is trying to pick wether I want a Gentle leader or a Halti. I have sseen pictures of both and I do see the difference. I don't think either one will come off when properly fitted but I plan on using a backup leash/collar in case(Mainly because they are Apbt's and will get blamed for anything)Some people say that the GL's are sturdier and are not as flimsy and some say the Halti's are better but I don't know the Halti's look more like a horse Halter and they seem to look like they would stay on better but is it true that they are flimsier? I don't want it to break if they do pull on it. Oh well maybe I should buy both and see which one I like. :bday: