Dog Supplies Review- The Gentle Leader
The Gentle Leader Promise: The principle behind the Gentle Leader Headcollar is one that allows owners to communicate with their pet in a way that dogs instinctively understand…Because of the placement of the nose loop, the dog immediately understands his/her place in the hierarchy. The dog considers the owner his/her leader.
Sniffing Snout Review:
Umm, no, sorry Premier Pet. Among all the dog supplies and dog collars that we own, I would say that this was one of the more expensive dog products and most disappointing. Perhaps Mr.Brown has been so humanized and far removed from his canine roots that his “instinct” is gone but he definitely didn’t understand his place in the hierarchy.
I have purchased this dog collar on 2 separate occasions- once in CA when Mr.Brown was ~4years old, and again after moving and losing my first one, recently, Mr.Brown age ~7years old. On both occasions, I was very fastidious about the initial fittings. From a human perspective, I could sympathize with Mr.Brown. This looked like an extremely uncomfortable product to have strapped to your face, but I would have continued to use it because I was so desperate to get him to behave on our walks.
The initial (prolonged) discomfort of using this particular dog product did cause Mr.Brown to slow down, only because of his discomfort. However, during the course of the walk, he became either desensitized or too consumed by to the outside environment to be bothered and would continue to pull.
As a huge advocate of Cesar Milan’s psychological approach to dog behavior modification, I would say that this dog collar failed us because we weren’t addressing Mr.Brown’s main excitement and issues with being outdoors. We retired the Gentle Leader and have been working on correcting Mr.Brown’s instinctive tendencies, and I can say that so far it has been more effective.
As a disclaimer, I see PLENTY of happy, calm, and behaved dogs enjoying strolls through NYC streets. I do believe for a dog with an existing calm disposition, this dog collar does work. However, before you spend ~$40, try and figure out what the root of your dogs unruliness is… otherwise you can leave me a comment and I would be happy to lend you out my gentle leader 