The Danger of Incorrect use of Training Aids - Part 1

Last week I took my dogs for a walk along the Slaney River, an amazing walk, with a variety of people with and without dogs, making use of the route.

Not too long after we started the walk I saw, with great delight, a guide dog pup in training walking toward us. Guide dogs are one of my great weaknesses, such a fantastic vocation for amazing dogs. I digress, as we got closer to the oncoming walker and dog my heart sank. The poor dog was walked in a Halti Head collar, now before I get some people’s hackles up, Halti collars can be very good, once the dog has been adequately conditioned to wearing the head collar and, like all other training aids, are used correctly and the user is cognisant of the potential problems that can coincide with the specific training aid.

Let me explain what I saw, the nose strap was pulled right into the dog’s eyes and it was very obvious that the dog was experiencing distress.  It is also important to point out that apart from the immediate distress and definite possibility of future eye problems,  this level of distress can cause longer term problems for the dog, in that he/she can start showing an aversive reaction to the head collar which in turn can lead to it shying away from going out on a walk. For a future guide dog this can cause major, major problems, even to falling out of the training programme.

As part of the process of choosing the training aid that will suit you and your dog it is vital that you investigate the advantages and disadvantages of each aid you consider.

I will share some facts on training aids with you during one of my next postings.