Halti Lead & Trialling/agility Later On

[Justrace]

I have a 5 month old Brittany and we are working on walking nicely on a loose lead & some heel work, not always great at it, but yanno. I want to eventually do trials & agility when he is older.

I would like to take him more places to get him used to everything, but have 3 kids with me(one is at school)he pulls like a steam train when I take him to school pick up and I can't hold my 2 year old when he's doing this. (we have to cross one road so need to be able to hold her hand)

If I was to use a halti lead or sporn harness (or something similar) when I have him out with my kids, do you think he will learn to reply on this & not be reliable in the heel work later on using a collar?

He's a very excitable & exuberant boy

[Kavik]

If you teach heelwork as a separate exercise (with focus/attention) and on a collar, there shouldn't be a problem with using a different tool for just walking. You can also improve your dog's loose leash walking if you want to, although I understand this is hard with kids in tow! (I have two little kids).

[Justrace]

I would much rather have him reliable in loose leash walking with a flat collar to be honest, I've been stopping & walking back when he pulls, sometimes works other times it doesn't. I used to just stop, but he would never come back to me & we'd get nowhere

[kelpiecuddles]

I do both with my kelpie, now that she has got some age and wisdom under her belt she is fine either way :)

[sheena]

I have always had great success with front attached harnesses. I have also used haltis in the past too, but prefer the harness. If you are using a halti, make sure you are also attached to the collar incase he slips his halti which is pretty easy to do. I used to have a lead on the halti & another lead on the collar & used it a bit like a double rein on a horse, so that the lead on the halti only came into play when needed....if you know what I mean. I found that worked very well. :)

ETA...both my dogs walk fine now on a loose lead.

Edited May 21, 2013 by sheena

[kelpiecuddles]

The one I use on my basset is a different brand, maybe Gentle Leader... same basic concept and fairly similiar design but it has an extra clip that attaches to the collar in case they slip their nose out of the head collar, has been in play quite a few times with my houdini

[DeltaCharlie]

We have 7 trialling agility dogs and most of these could do Rally O (and probably obedience if we were interested enough to bother finetuning things), they certainly know how to heel at any rate. Out of those 7 we walk 5 on haltis and 2 on no-pull harnesses :D I don't have the time nor the inclination to walk each dog individually to teach them to walk properly, and then build it up to 2 dogs, 4 dogs etc They love their haltis/harnesses and know it means walk time so I don't see any issue with using them. It depends on what you personally want to achieve though I guess.

To me, formal heeling for obedience etc is a completely different activity to loose leash walking. I would never expect my dog to go for a walk in a formal heeling position- how boring for all involved. As soon as you relax the expectation for a walk you are essentially changing the expected behaviour anyway and making it something different. So, go with what works for you. It shouldn't have any negative impact on your future performance training, in fact some of the top agility triallers around the world will only ever walk their dogs on haltis.

[Justrace]

Awesome thanks, it's been such a long time since I have done any training & he's such a goof ball. Might see about something for when I've got the kids with me.

[Agility Dogs]

We have 7 trialling agility dogs and most of these could do Rally O (and probably obedience if we were interested enough to bother finetuning things), they certainly know how to heel at any rate. Out of those 7 we walk 5 on haltis and 2 on no-pull harnesses :D I don't have the time nor the inclination to walk each dog individually to teach them to walk properly, and then build it up to 2 dogs, 4 dogs etc They love their haltis/harnesses and know it means walk time so I don't see any issue with using them. It depends on what you personally want to achieve though I guess.

To me, formal heeling for obedience etc is a completely different activity to loose leash walking. I would never expect my dog to go for a walk in a formal heeling position- how boring for all involved. As soon as you relax the expectation for a walk you are essentially changing the expected behaviour anyway and making it something different. So, go with what works for you. It shouldn't have any negative impact on your future performance training, in fact some of the top agility triallers around the world will only ever walk their dogs on haltis.

ROFL. Yes, this!!! (All of it, but I can particularly relate to the bold bit.)

[dandybrush]

i agree just walk on haltis i cant be bothered taking one out at a time to "train" when they both need the exercise. that said my boy can heel and girl prob could too with more formal training, if i wanted to

[Staff'n'Toller]

I don't know where you are located Justrace, but you are welcome to come see me after classes on Saturdays in Donvale if you wish. I do free fittings of equipment (the only cost is the piece itself) and I have gentle leader harnesses, blackdogwear balance harnesses and halti headcollars. I think I have some of the blackdog infin8's there too. :)

[BC Crazy]

I am a huge fan of the Infin8's. Used them on Sonny when he was young & currently use one on my reactive girl both with outstanding results.

Wonderfully effective. Highly recommend them :)

[huski]

I teach loose leash walking as an entirely separate exercise to heelwork. LLW to me involves the dog being chilled and relaxed, whereas with heelwork I want lots of excitement and drive.

I look at LLW as a life skill and having dogs that have good life skills is something that is really important to me. With many if not all dogs how they behave outside of training can make a significant difference to how the dog performs. Not that I am saying that if you have a dog that can't LLW that it doesn't perform to its potential, but it's something I consider when raising and training my dogs. We all have different things that we prioritize, for me good life skills is number one because I need a dog I am happy to live with.

Edited May 22, 2013 by huski

[BC Crazy]

Yes huski, I agree loose leash & formal heel work are 2 totally different things. I like to encourage loose leash walking. It just makes a walk so much more pleasant & comfortable for both you & your dog. I love to watch formal heel work. Nothing is better than to see a dog that is totally focused on it's owner. I don't have a need to train formal work as such atm. But am happy that I can walk both my guys together on loose leashes 95% of the time & they are more than happy to do so. It has taken lots of practise but is so worth it. Now everyone enjoys being out & about :)

OP, I don't have children though, so sorry I can't be of much help to you. I can only imagine it would be doable but more difficult. You would have to try & find a few spare minutes whenever possible with just you & your dog to train. You will never regret it if you can. Makes life so much easier for all concerned. Good luck :)

Edited May 22, 2013 by BC Crazy