Well said, Cheri. Ambi figured out the arching her neck and pulling too, lol.

Thank you all for your comments and sharing your experiences.

My limited use of the gentle leader left me concerned that the device was likely to mark the dog but it was probably the result of a poor fitting job. I didn't fit the leader, it was done by others before I got the dog.

The dog seemed to be distracted by the leader. It would be paying attention and then dive down to try to paw it away.

Anyway, in my case, I am a bit uneasy using it, certainly as a training device. It seems counter productive to try to compete with the training tool for the dog's attention.

Again, I thank everyone for sharing your thoughts.

 Quote: Cheri Grissom

I have the Gentle Leader and the Halti, a slightly different design. I gave what I feel was a fair trial to both of them, but I no longer use them.

Same here.

"The dog seemed to be distracted by the leader. It would be paying attention and then dive down to try to paw it away."

My exact experience.

I've tried both the constricting type head collars, and the static "halter-like" designs - neither of which, in my case, were useful in the long run. Oscar clearly despised wearing them and regularly pawed at his face - even when "properly" fitted, they always seemed to ride up in some way and effect one or both eyes (this is indication of the fact that Oscar continued to pull right through them). I discontinued their use when I could see the fur actually being worn around his muzzle, which I believe Oscar was mighty thankful for. Funny, I've never once had him shy away from or object to getting his prong put on - despite what an obvious inhumane torture device it is!

By and large, when I see halters about town on other dogs, only about 1 in 10 are fitted right - the poor beasts with the sloppiest fittings look absolutely miserable and I can't believe their owners don't notice - or worse, are OK with - the discomfort. That said, some people swear by them. Everyone, and every dog is different.

For further reading, I recently came across this article comparing the "muzzle-clamping" halter versions to the "fixed-action" type - the author supports the use of the latter but makes excellent cases against the former (and for the record, she states that she pairs the head halter with a martingale type neck collar). Interesting stuff:

http://liziangel.blogspot.com/2011/11/head-collars.html

~N

As an aside, and not of any particular importance, I'll share the following.

I have a neighbor who walks their Doberman with the leash connected to a choke, prong, flat and gentle leader collar, and has an electronic collar on the dog too. I kid you not.

The good news is that I've never seen the individual yanking or jerking or otherwise misusing the collars or abusing the dog.

The dog is nice, so I've been long baffled as to why the over control of devices. Then too, the individual is a bit peculiar. That, of course, is like the pot calling the kettle black.

I suppose a meow is in order.

I assume the owner is wearing both a belt and suspenders?

 Quote: Mike Arnold

I have a neighbor who walks their Doberman with the leash connected to a choke, prong, flat and gentle leader collar, and has an electronic collar on the dog too. I kid you not.

OMG! He's walking a Doberman without a dominant dog collar?

 Quote: Sheila Buckley

 Quote: Mike Arnold

I have a neighbor who walks their Doberman with the leash connected to a choke, prong, flat and gentle leader collar, and has an electronic collar on the dog too. I kid you not.

OMG! He's walking a Doberman without a dominant dog collar?

I doubt there would be room left on the dog's neck for the DD collar.

 Quote: Mike Arnold

As an aside, and not of any particular importance, I'll share the following.

I have a neighbor who walks their Doberman with the leash connected to a choke, prong, flat and gentle leader collar, and has an electronic collar on the dog too. I kid you not.

The good news is that I've never seen the individual yanking or jerking or otherwise misusing the collars or abusing the dog

The dog is nice, so I've been long baffled as to why the over control of devices. Then too, the individual is a bit peculiar. That, of course, is like the pot calling the kettle black.

I suppose a meow is in order.

The neighbor either has a super insecurity and wants to pump it up to show the world he has a big ass guard dog or he just doesn't trust his own training.