I’ve been shocked at the number of people who have come up to me while I’m walking with my dog and made some sort of comment about her wearing a “muzzle”. So, this is my Public Service Announcement stating that THIS:
is called a Gentle Leader Harness (or easy walk harness). It’s a type of harness, like one that wraps around the dog’s neck or chest; it works well in correcting the dog against pulling during walks. According to the product’s website:
“When your dog pulls, pressure is applied to the back of the neck and bridge of the snout, the two areas mother and alpha dogs use to control undesirable behavior in the wild.”
Hey, it works… that’s all I can ask for in a $15 product that keeps my arm in my shoulder socket during walks.
It’s not a muzzle; if it were, it would be a crappy one. She is able to fully open her mouth to eat, drink, pant, or chew on her ball. (see image)
I’m not trying to sell this product by any means, I just want people to realize what this product is. When I walk my dog through the park on her leash, you don’t have to pull your children back telling them “that is not a nice dog.” You dont need to ask me what my dog did to make me put a muzzle on her. She’s a great dog – calm, great with children, doesn’t bark, doesn’t jump, and most importantly doesn’t bite, which is why she wears a Gentle Leader harness and not a muzzle.
K? Thanks
I wonder if people who ask that have ever seen a truly aggressive dog or a muzzle. On a completely separate note, it’d be hilarious to try to put one of those on Puck.
I want Amy to comment but I’ll throw in my opinion… Jinx is a female pit/boxer mix… most people recognize the pit in her but she’s better behaved than MOST dogs out there no matter where we’re at and she’s extremely gentle and well mannered… It’s like most people assume she’s like one of Michael Vik’s dogs just because she’s a pit… which pisses me off so much.
Chuck … I cannot get over how much your dog looks like my dog, especially that top picture. Izzy is also a great, well-behaved female pit/boxer mix, and we also use the Gentle Leader harness on her (though we also use the Easy Walk Harness, mostly because it serves the same purpose and garners fewer comments). Anyway, let me know if you want to see a picture, but when I saw that top picture of Jinx (I was doing an image search to make sure we were using the harness right), I really thought it was my dog for a few seconds…
Hey Emily. Glad you found this post :)
Sadly… I don’t have Jinx anymore. That relationship I had has been disbanded and technically she wasn’t my pup… so I lost her in the break up. Sucked too… loved that damn dog.
Anyways… take care of your pup and love her up!
Cheers
This is a excellent product use on my 8mo old pure breed Great Dane instantly corrected him he is a champion on a walk now love this lead!!!
Right on… good to hear!
Cheers
I have a Service Dog and she is absolutely fantastic except she pulls and both my hands have been shattered so she cant pull even the slightest amount or she could potentially hurt my hands. People ask me all the time why am I muzzling her. I reply its not a muzzle if you look her mouth can completely open its a gentle leader. If she felt the need to bite you or me she could do it with ease with this thing.
Yup! haha.. well thanks for reading and feel free to send the confused ones over here to read this. Cheers!
I just got a comment today from some woman coming out of the pet groomer with my golden retriever. She told me that with this breed of dog they do not need a muzzle!! I was so shocked I couldn’t speak!! After I got my composure I called the groomer and asked them to inform the woman what a gentle lead is!!
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