#head halter

[3liza]

more dog advice: if you have a big dog or a dog who pulls, i highly recommend a head harness. it's basically a horse halter for dogs and it is an excellent, fast way to fix like 80% of leash pulling basically instantly without pinching or poking the dog.

dogs love to pull with their necks and shoulders so basic flat collars can sometimes just be ignored by dogs who are already used to being bad walkers. Gentle Leader is the original brand name but I think any brand is basically the same these days. I think getting a black one or as close to your dog's nose color as possible is best because the visual intrusion seems to bother them. it's really important to introduce it to them with a shitload of treats and desensitization because having a loop on your nose feels weird to them and they need to be rewarded and praised and distracted from noticing it or they will get obsessive about trying to take it off. WATCH SOME VIDEOS ABOUT IT TO SEE THE TECHNIQUES FOR INTRODUCING THE HALTER, do Not just put it on the dog, especially if he's under 2 years old. if you condition a fear response to the halter you're just going to make everything worse

some dogs will never accept it and it will raise their anxiety level, but they are in the minority. ultimately training good leash manners is about patience and boring repetitions but the head harness is the closest thing to a quick fix you can get because 90% of them physically cannot pull anymore with the leash attached to their heads.

they can still pant, eat, drink and bark with the halter on, it doesn't hold their mouths closed but some halters will close the dog's mouth when pressure is applied and then release it when the leash is loose again. this doesn't hurt the dog. having control of their heads also makes it faster to redirect them away from sniffing or eating things they're not supposed to, which adds a layer of safety.

to make sure you have a safety line to the dog at all times people usually use either two leashes attached to the halter and a body harness or flat collar respectively, or have a safety clip attached from the halter to the dog's usual collar. this is in case the head halter slips off or the dog paws it off their head.

this type of halter doesnt work on brachycephalic dogs for obvious reasons

[discoholicmusic]

drops on you and runs away giggling

wip :3

😳 true to life so far!!!

[fandomtrash-16]

i cant stop giving him outfits

he's the sun god he can be a lil fancy. as a treat

[dreamboyf]

theres a chiro that my boss pays to come out to the barn every few weeks and its so wild to watch him spend less than 10 mins on each horse just kinda pushing their bodies around and going "oh yes that was very tight in the [body part] there mhmm" clearly doing absolutely fuckall. sometimes their joints crack which ofc justifies the whole charade. and the man fucking CLEANS UP too. charges $65 flat rate per horse. he comes out and makes more than i do in a day in less than an hour and fucks off to go scam other people. maddening. if i wanted to stoop low enough to be a grifter id be an equine chiropractor

[seraph-draws-stuff]

he got a little scuffed up, that top really isn’t convenient 

[justgleekout]

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[fayeandknight]

I tried to write this three times and Tumblr kept eating it so now y'all get this.

If a dog trainer is going to tout a tool as better than others they have an obligation to properly educate people on the use of them and introduce the dog to it in a kind and fair way.

You want to sell people on a head halter over a prong? Fine, I'm not here to argue that choice. But a head halter is still a tool that requires introduction and acclimation to. You can't just slap one on a dog, yank it around on it, and call it force free training because it's not an evil prong.

They are both fucking tools. They can both hurt the dog and/or cause a great deal of stress when used incorrectly.

A prong is a tool. A head halter is a tool. Hell, a clicker is a tool. They all need an introduction to the dog so they understand how to effectively learn from them.

If you encounter a "dog trainer" who does not take the time to teach you and your dog how to effectively and fairly use whatever their tool of choice is - I am begging you to walk away because they are a shit trainer.

Just please. You and your dog deserve better.

This message is brought to you by the third dog this week I encountered with friction burns on their face from shitty head halter use. All from different "trainers" who advertise as force free.

[queen0funova]

I need a low cut grey tank top that shows off my chest

[discoholicmusic]

💃🏼 talk to me boyy

[hellonoblesky]

I’ll be like . Normal at work and then I see my coworkers with my favorite horse and realize he reacts to me with much more familiarity

[wandaluvstacos]

the funniest thing about my horses is that Athena and Paprika are about the same size of horse but Athena had teeny tiny ears and I had to buy another horse-sized bonnet because Paprika's giant ears didn't fit in Athena's bonnet.

her big ears make her a good listener. :)

Athena's ears for comparison:

[treewithabark]

Watch out lads, Juno’s back on the block for 10 minutes at a time

[widowshill]

swimming not really recommended at collinwood but nonetheless. thinking so intensely about beach days.

[ali3nboyfriend]

working on our down-stay

[sysig]

You’re a mermaid, not a siren! Stop that! (Patreon)

[sweetgrimm]

Working with horses is having something happen and then 10 minutes later going “you know if that had gone differently that probably would’ve killed me” and it’s great