When we first got our pit a year ago, he had on a simple flat, nylon collar. Seemed to work, but I think the material in the collar created a skin reaction–that or a combination of the material in the collar and the food he had been eating regularly at the shelter…so we moved to a different collar. From there we began leading with a regular leash, that had a traffic handle also–seemed to be okay, until he saw other dogs or squirrels/rabbits. He was just too excited!
We were recommended to try the Gentle Leader, which we did…but at first had a heck of a time figuring out how it best fit our pup. There are some with snaps and others without–we had the one without–made fitting take more time. After a few times with it, O’Shea realized he couldn’t tug like he used to…and yes would throw fits, but walked decently well–always used treats as reinforcers.
After some time, we got a hold of a harness, that has seemed to work real well for him. Yes, he still gets excited when meeting other dogs, but we always try to make him sit/wait, and if he does well, we give lots of praise (but should probably carry more treats from time to time with us, to keep things consistent). I’d like to get him back to using the Gentle Leader, as it has worked…but as it has been stated before, each dog is different
