Reddit mentions of Dog Head Collar Halter Red 6 Sizes (M: 8.25"-10.25" Snout)

I'm so sorry for not responding sooner. I started writing one and then spaced out on finishing it.

Headcollars are problematic for many reasons, but I've found the biggest problem is due to the mindset of a lot of people who recommend and/or use them. They're touted as an inherently "positive" alternative to a prong collar, etc., but the truth is that they aren't. That's not to say that they're inherently an aversive or anything else; it is simply that they are a training tool. Like any tool, it can be used incorrectly.

Since a lot of people have trouble with this concept of what an aversive actually is (which is understandable when they don't have significant experience with behavior or dog training in general), let me explain it a bit. An aversive is defined as a stimuli that the animal would avoid, given the choice. Whether you use purely positive methods, aversives, or any combination thereof, you are not the one who decides the effect it has on your dog; the dog decides what is an aversive. Let's use an example of spraying your dog with water whenever he barks. (For the record, I don't recommend this but it's a good example of what I'm talking about.) For some dogs, this is the worst thing you can do to them. They become wary of any time you pick up the squirt bottle because they don't like it and want to avoid being sprayed in the face. For these dogs, this is an aversive. For other dogs, squirting them in the face is great fun. They start to get excited when they see you pick up the squirt bottle. For them, it becomes a reward and therefore isn't an aversive. Some dogs may not care one way or the other, which makes it neither a reward nor an aversive.

Back to headcollars. A number of dogs find them to be aversives. Why they find it so could be attributed to many reasons, including the fact that it's just plain weird -- how many dogs routinely have something put on their face? Not very many, and often for those that have experienced it to any extent, it's in a negative way. For example, someone holding their mouth shut or a little kid getting too far into their personal space. While you absolutely can turn an aversive into something positive via conditioning, this part is so rarely talked about, and as a result, you have a lot of dogs out there that shut down or are otherwise miserable that they have to wear it.

In addition to not conditioning the dog to the headcollar, many people choose the wrong one for their needs. A Gentle Leader is worlds away from a Canny Collar, and both are very different from the Black Dog Infin8 (picture and brand website; sadly, the Infin8 has been discontinued). Fit wise, some are meant to be tight whilst others will actually hurt the dog if they're as tight as one of a different design. Fit affects the dog's level of comfort but it also affects the "usefulness" of the headcollar itself. For example, someone who has a big dog with a high prey drive but very good handler focus might benefit more from a headcollar that can literally turn the dog's head, which means one that will clip under the chin. The handler knows that if they can just get the dog to stop looking at whatever it wants to chase, they'll both be okay, especially because the dog is otherwise well behaved. For someone else in a similar position only where the dog won't stop if its head is turned, they will most likely benefit more from a headcollar that is very secure and has the leash clip behind the head so they can physically restrain their dog while not hurting them. In this situation, by turning the dog's head too far or too fast, and/or twisting the headcollar as the dog tries to fight it, this will result in, at minimum, discomfort for the dog, and at the worst, serious injury or even permanent disability.

Even when I feel someone could benefit from a headcollar, I rarely recommend brands that clip under the chin, except in circumstances like the example above or when the handler needs to be able to feel the dog better, such as with a medical alert service dog. The clip under the chin puts constant pressure on the dog's face due to the weight of it. Even without a leash attached, gravity and the leash attachment ring will put more pressure on the dog's face than one that clips behind the head. Why is this a problem? If someone wants to teach a dog to respond to leash pressure (which most people do since that's what pulling on the leash is), this can be confusing for the dog. Exactly how much pressure is supposed to elicit a response is a very, very precise thing for the dog to learn, especially when one adds in the changes in that pressure that the dog will feel simply for having it on -- turning its head, if there's anything else clipped onto the leash, or even just how the leash is being held. All of these things will result in a change of pressure, so the dog might learn to ignore smaller changes, which results in the person have to pull more on the dog's face in order to elicit the desired response.

When it comes to brands that do clip under the chin, I still don't recommend Gentle Leader and comparable brands. With GL specifically, it has that "adjustable clamp" to help with proper fit, but in order to get it to stay on, most people adjust it too tightly. This puts constant pressure on the dog's nose in a very sensitive place, which can lead to fur being rubbed off, nerve damage, or even actual wounds, especially if the dog wears it for an extended period of time and/or the person jerks the leash frequently. In addition to the clamp, the straps are thin enough that they can be uncomfortable to the dog and add to any potential injury due to less distribution of force -- but I want to stress here that the thinness of the strap is not the main issue. It is the overall design and fit. The Comfort Trainer is the one I recommend the most for those who need an under-the-chin clip, and as you can see, the straps are quite thin. Another brand I recommend is Dogs My Love, which can be bought on Amazon

Assuming someone gets the right kind for their dog and fits it properly, the actual use of the headcollar can also be problematic. Once again, most people get them without having any real training on how to use them. A person who has switched from a prong, a martingale, or even just a regular collar may still use leash corrections even though the dog is now wearing a headcollar. This will absolutely hurt their dog, and if they do it repeatedly, they might be looking at a serious injury -- one that might not be noticed until it's causing significant problems for the dog because it can happen over time. Another usage issue is that, generally speaking, most of the dogs don't receive any further training. Their person has slapped the headcollar on their dog, and the dog is "magically" walking better. But what happens when that headcollar comes off? The dog goes right back to behaving incorrectly, so the person continues to use it. For a pet dog, this probably isn't the end of the world, but in the meantime, the person becomes complacent in its use -- not making sure it's adjusted correctly each time, not attaching the safety connector, putting it on with no thought as to how the dog feels about it, letting it get twisted around so it's pulling the side of the dog's face, and then becoming frustrated when the dog finally acclimates to it and begins pulling again.

To address your specific concerns with your dog and his headcollar, I'm going to guess that you didn't condition him properly to it. If this is the case, please don't feel bad about it. Most people do not do this. As a result, it's more likely that your dog is a bit shut down rather than just being "better behaved". It's a scary thing for him and it's used inconsistently, which means that he doesn't understand why you put it on sometimes and don't others -- he doesn't understand why you want him to wear it or that he needs it to go for a walk. My recommendation would be to get a different brand of headcollar to avoid any negative association with the one that you currently have, and then condition him to it. Once he's conditioned to it, he will be excited to wear it because of what a good thing it is.

I do want to say that just because I personally do not like them and don't recommend them often, it does not mean that they do not have their place in training. There are a number of trainers out there who recommend them for most, if not all, dogs, and when they are used correctly, they can work wonders. However, for me personally, I don't think it's any more responsible to recommend a headcollar without any additional info than other training tools out there.

Our pitt pulled at the leash too, she loved to investigate every little thing and go at her own (sporatic) pace, but a halti collar trained her out of it, since nothing else would. Gotta love 'em, though!