Use the Gencon Dog head collar in your dogs training- article by Ross McCarthy (dog behaviorist)
The ideal for most people is their dog or dogs walking on a nice loose lead along with a flat leather collar walking in harmony with the owner. Whilst the Gencon by design stops the majority of dogs pulling simply by default, it does not teach or train…that is your job.
Head-collars per-se are not classified as training aids; more a piece of equipment to assist in managing a dog. If you are using a Gencon or considering using one, I would suggest that you utilise this as a piece of training equipment in order to progress to walking on a normal collar and lead. A flat collar works more naturally with a dogs facial anatomy – as long as the dog is not pulling, so I suggest that should be our aim. How long it takes is dependent on the type of dog, your ability to implement this advice, your consistency, the dog’s age, lifestyle et al.
Firstly, teaching a dog to walk on a lose lead is not exclusive to teaching a dog to walk on a loose lead. By that, I mean you can’t neglect all other areas of obedience training and your overall relationship with your dog and just train the dog to walk to heel with a Gencon. First, you need to be able to communicate with your dog and convey your message in a way that the dog understands. Dogs do not pull to annoy you – their natural gate is faster than the average human and canine evolution and domestication has made no strides in an innate drive to walk next to you! When re teaching dogs that pull, you need to realise they pull because they have not been taught not to, whether or not you believe that to be the case, it is.
