The Gentle Leader
2 words: LIFE. SAVER.
Here’s a little back story on my personal experience with the Gentle Leader.
I first was introduced to this walking/training collar while working at K-State's Veterinary Teaching Hospital, after I adopted Oliver. Ollie was one of the worst pullers when we first started walking and hiking which I completely understand- so many smells, wild life and distractions for a young pup, or any dog in that manner! When we first used it, he threw the biggest fit I have ever seen to date. Wailing, whining, throwing himself on the ground, refusing to walk or step in any direction, making no eye contact with me, he truly thought I was torturing his poor, innocent soul. I will add, he's the drama KING of kings. After about 10 minutes we were off on our first of many walks, although he threw himself to the ground about every 30 feet we've come a long way! I still use his gentle leader to this day, having a 110 pound dog, I think it's necessary and he gets so excited to put his snout into that loop and hit the outdoors!
Now that I'm done with my personal story here are some facts to know about collars and the gentle leader.
Normal collars sit on a major nerve area, when a dog pulls on the collar their natural instinct is to pull even harder.
Your dog(s) can still eat, drink, pant, bark or even bite with the gentle leader!
It is not a muzzle!
The gentle leader brings their head to whichever side you correct them from, resulting in more direct focus on the owner and less pulling since they're corrected towards you.
I believe every dog will throw a small fit about it while first trying it on and during their first walk, don't let those huge, adorable, innocent puppy eyes deter you from using this- you're creating a special bond with you and your dog by not having to recorrect bad behavior due to the normal collar.
Normal collars are knows to cause collapsing trachea and/or laryngeal paralysis with extreme or constant pulling. These conditions can also be predominate in certain breeds, if you know your dog is one of those breeds, I advise you to try this out and only use the normal collar as "jewelry".
Normal collars can also cause non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema (inflammation of the cranial lungs and tissue surround them). This would be in EXTREME situations like getting "hung".
All in all, it's an amazing tool if you struggle with a stubborn, independent, pulling doggo- like me!!
