I have read a lot of threads praising the dogmatic and have been on their website and been impressed by reviews. At the moment I use a Gentle Leader on my Golden Retreiever and have been using one for around 4 months. The designs seem VERY similar but the dogmatic looks a better quality and more padded. At the moment my dog HATES the Gentle Leader and backs away when the time comes to put it on him. I have checked to see if it is too tight/ too loose and looked at his skin to see if it has been rubbing him but nothing seems to cheer him up when he has it on. When I first put it on him he stands rigidly like a statue and has to be encouraged to move. He doesn't try to paw it off but will try to walk into bushes and roll on the floor if I am not watching him constantly. It does allow me good control but I hate to think that it may be upsetting him. The woman who ran my training classes said he was just showing off because he was no longer in control and that he would get over it. However that was 2 months ago. The Dogmatics seem to be of a much better thicker padded quality but because the way that they fasten and the way they are worn I was wondering whether or not they would be any better than the Gentle Leader. Any advice please?

I don't think that they are that similar as the Gentle Leader works by causing pressure on the back of the neck when a dog pulls : FAQ’s | Gentle Leader whereas the Dogmatic doesn't work by applying pressure, it just allows you to have control of the head.

I love my (well Kilo's) Dogmatic I have to say!

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I used a gentle leader with my German Shepherd then switched to a dogmatic, in my opinion a good change!!! Harleybear on here has a new rottie boy and shes just purchased one and has said its made a huge difference to her boy.

Have to spent time getting your dog used to the headcollar? He needs to see this as a good thing, so sit with him with lots of tasty treats, I started by treating my girl, then started to place it on her nose briefly (just so it sits on her nose, not fastened) once it was on there (a couple of seconds max) treat, remove then do the same again, I did this various times through out the day. I then added the word 'nose'. Eventually she would present me with her nose when I asked then I would keep her interested with treats and could fasten it, again lots of repetition. Keep him interested, dont force him to walk, encourage him, tastey treats and lots of praise! Get him happy with it in the house then progress to the garden, on lead with lots of happy praise!!

Sorry Im waffling but think you'll get the idea!!

If they are a "lets get this off" type dog- how easily does the dogmatic come off their nose?

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I have tried them all & whilst I found the dogmatic quite good initially it too has ended up in the box full of other headcollars that Roxy won't wear

I tried for so long to get her used to a head collar but she absolutely hates them all. the final straw came when she tried to lay down in a road in an attempt to get the head collar off

i use dogmatic with my 3 rigebacks...they are fantastic.

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ask harleybear she has just bought one and says its the best thing she ever bought

i`ve not long got one and have used the halti and gentle leader in the past, both unsuccessful my jake still pulled like a steam train on both of those and sometimes i`d look down and he`d have pulled them off his nose he`s not actually tried to get the dogmatic off yet but even if he did there`s no way he`d be able to (so long as you buy one that fits correctly and isn`t loose). it doesn`t ride up into the eyes either like the other ones and i have to admit jake doesn`t pull even half as much on it as he did with the other ones. i`d say it`s definitely worth a try

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owned by:

jake - chocolate labrador
sydney - liver/white english springer
twix - dlh cat
lacey - dsh cat

never forgetting my baby banjo running free at the bridge, RIP baby xx

I would definitely say yes.

I have 2 big dogs and use a Dogmatic on them both and have done for about 12 months. I think they are great. Good control and if they do pull/lunge it doesn't ride up and force them either to close their eye or make their eye bulge out, which I noticed with the Pets at Home head collar I used before.

I have never even had a close call with the halter coming off when it has been put on, even when they first wore them and would really try to get them off.

There is a new design now that fastens at the back of the head with a strong plastic clip rather than a buckle. This means they are very easy to put on and take off...I do always attach the metal loop to the collar though just in case the clip fails.

The quality is excellent, but then they aren't cheap so it should be.

The most important thing in my opinion is to get the right size and fit it properly. With my 2 they seem to dislike them more if they are too loose, I think because they move on their faces and annoy them.

One thing though is that you need to make sure the lead is on the same side of your dogs head as you are. If it goes the other way and then over the nose to get to you your dog can flip over nose first if it suddenly lunges/pulls. This happened to me and scared both of us! This might be the case for all head harnesses I don't know.

joan - are you thinking of the halti? that`s the only one i`ve seen with the metal loop that attaches to the collar, never seen a dogmatic with one of those i`ve just bought one from the site and am looking on there now but they don`t do one that i can see!

i forgot i`d also tried p@h`s own head collar - namely due to the fact i took it right back. jake had it on for a few second till he worked out if he pulled backwards it`d just pop over his head and that was with it being fitted correctly. they`re really badly designed and my friend is assistant manager at one of their stores and said they`re always having complaints regarding them - it`s a wonder they still sell them!

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owned by:

jake - chocolate labrador
sydney - liver/white english springer
twix - dlh cat
lacey - dsh cat

never forgetting my baby banjo running free at the bridge, RIP baby xx