Halti Dog Collars > Reviews (31)

I will give a quick overview because I realise this review is very long, because it is about the story of my little doggy and how great this has been, but incase you don't want to read all that here goes:
The Halti is a type of head harness that prevents your dog from pulling (i'd say more it stops him in his tracks when he starts pulling, doesn't really stop that action if your dogs a puller, he'll still go for it). It comes in a variety of sizes (i would say they are sized big, if you think your dog is between sizes go for the smaller one). It is a fantastic product, you'll notice improvement immediately.
SO, here goes the story of me and my doggy :)
This thing is a god send...it's made my unruley dog more manageable (at least when he's on the lead)
I rescued my dog as a puppy about a year ago, he's a mixed breed, even the vet couldn't figure out what he is :) But to give an idea he is a tad smaller than a lab, but not as well built, he's a bit scrawny. So taking him on walks before was beyond embarassing, he'd jump at everyone that walked past, spend his whole time pulling, scrambling around on the concrete trying to grab anything he could see on the floor and just generally being a nuissance. Also he would set off running and when the lead became tight he would almost lift off, and people would stare as if I was strangling him or pulling back on the lead, which I wasn't, it felt like there was nothing I could do.
So, initially I tried techniques of heel, and reward etc, but it really didn't get through, and to be honest I had probably lost patience and was just thinking he was a lost cause. But THEN my sister told me about this Halti, so as soon as I was back in the UK i went straight to pets at home, picked one up for £9.99 which seemed to me a lot to pay for a collar that looked like nothing but a few straps.
One thing I will mention now, I bought mine in a size 2 (Pets at home stocked 1, 2 and 3) And it is too big for my dog, though I think size 1 would be far too small considering it was meant for 'small dogs'. Anyway, tamper around with it for a while and I ended up just tying a knot in mine, worked fine (then you can just adjust as big/small as you like because the knot takes an inch or so off). So, the dog hated it at first, trying to put his nose through he was having non of it, but we played in the apartment for a while and he seemed to forget about it.
So, then came the big trip outside, the results were INSTANT, he did his usual dash for freedom out of the front door, only to be tugged back by the halti and stop in his tracks. It works by turning the dogs head when either they run off too far/you tug back, and they stop themselves rather than you holding back the force as a normal collar. Also it is impossible for him to jump up, I just give a yank and the Halti brings him back down.
At first everything was being saved by the Halti, but now he seems to have learnt with the Halti and I'd say 80% of the time on our walks the lead is slack!

One very important thing...ALWAYS put the safety catch on, because he has slipped out of the head collar at least 5times, but if you're hooked on to his regular collar it's fine. I say this because if you're using the Halti chances are you have a bit of a, let's say adventurous, dog :) So it's very important just to keep that attached and not get lazy, only takes 2seconds to hook it on and it'll give you peace of mind on your walk.
As far as my experience these things are pretty sturdy too, there's been no fraying or anything. One thing to bare in mind is this is not a full time collar, only use it for walks otherwise your dog will probably destroy it in minutes if left to play with it! But other than that we've been using ours for about 6months and never had a problem.
The only downside that i've found to it is that sometimes it does slip off (most likely because it's a little too big) and reattaching it I find is kind of gross, my dog has a tendency to pick up bones and what not and so I don't really like touching his slobbery collar mid-walk, so I take some hand wipes now with my doggy bags.
No other disadvantages I can think of, asides from the price but it is well worth that £10!
I would say this would be a fantastic training tool with pups too, I wish my dog had learnt to walk with this, then we would've enjoyed our walks from day one.