Cookie of Katonah

….I just look like one!

Cookie wearing her Gentle Leader harness at the park.

Cookie here!  When I go for walks, such as in the photo above, I wear my Gentle Leader headcollar.  When I meet new people out in the world they sometimes think I am wearing a muzzle, and ask if I bite.  This makes my People laugh, because they know that while I might lick you, I’d never bite you…because I’m a lover, not a fighter!  So, because a lot of you don’t know about these kinds of headcollars, please let me explain how they work.  When we puppies are doing our walking-training, some of us are real pullers, due to our breed characteristics, temperament, size, etc.  Pulling on the leash isn’t good for us and it isn’t good for our People – we choke ourselves against our collars, and drag our owners behind us, potentially causing a fall, a trip to the chiropractor, or worst of all, them losing their grip on our leash and our running off.  I myself am a major puller when my leash is attached to my regular neck collar.  I get very excited about being out and very opinionated about just where we should go. And because I’m a big strong girl now, I can really drag along just about anyone on the other end of the leash.  But that makes for a very frustrating walk for both me and my People.  We learned about the Gentle Leader both from my Trainer, Sarah Hodgson, and also friends here in Katonah who used them to walk their dogs.  It took some getting used to, both for my People to learn to put it on me properly, and for me to get used to wearing it.  But now, it is very easy to put my headcollar on, and very easy for the whole family to walk me without me feeling the urge to pull and surge ahead.  When I do, the headcollar puts pressure on my head, and this discourages me from pulling further.  It also has a calming effect overall on me.  Wearing a headcollar has helped me grow into being a very good walker….which means I get to go on more walks, yeah!  Mom & Dad want you to know they have not been paid by the folks who make the Gentle Leader…we just wanted you to know about it since it’s been so helpful to us.  And that I’m no “Cujo!”  Warm & Fuzzies, Cookie

This entry was posted on September 8, 2012 at 6:55 pm and is filed under A Puppy's Perspective. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Australian Shepherd, dog headcollar, Gentle Leader Headcollar, Premier gentle leader easy walk dog headcollar, Sarah Hodgson, walking dogs, When Dogs Talk