Gentle Leader versus Buddy Belt Harness

I had a viewer ask a question regarding one of our videos in which we profile the collective benefits of the Buddy Belt. Clearly an excellent question and one that I have never fielded before and which I felt was worth responding to before I strap on the hurricane shutters for Hurricane Ike (Go away Ike...just go away):

Pokat21 asks: "How well does it do for large breeds that pull? I would love to see you do a comparison vid with other methods of controlling your dog, like gentle leaders for example. I use a gentle leader for my Newfoundland dog but she hates it so much and it bothers me when it's mistaken for a muzzle.

If you could explain how it prevents pulling or if it handles well with excited pulling (due to motorbikes,other dogs, squirrels etc) that would be awesome.

Thanks:) "

With behaviors that you are talking about and the size of your girl, I wouldn't recommend a Buddy Belt. She will pull you along like a kite in the wind because of her behavior. She is after something and a harness, as good as it is, will not keep her from wanting to get that squirrel : ) The only thing that it will do it not choke her or be uncomfortable while she is pulling but the Gentle Leader is our first recommendation especially while training using positive reinforcements (food or toys). As an aside, the Buddy Belt has also proven to be extremely effective for controlling my husbands erratic behavior which I think may be caused by his habit of eating lead based paint chip sprinkles on his nachos while watching "Man from Uncle" reruns. But that's another story. On to the Gentle Leader.

The Gentle Leader is a wonderful training tool but it is a training tool, and not meant to be used forever. What it does is give you a way to control the dog's movement while you are teaching the behavior you do want. And, fitted and used correctly, it can be phased out rather quickly in most environments. Yet you still have it around for rambunctious adolescents who may tune out to your cues when the distractions in the environment are strong enough. it gives you a way to get them back into focusing on YOU!

Once training is done THEN you can get a fabulous Buddy Belt for her!