Product Review - Hali Dog Headcollar

Nowadays Zorra walks very well to heel and does not pull, I can even let my mother who is not as keen on dogs take her for a walk and not worry about her being dragged around the block sled-dog-style by my overexcited retriever. This was not always the case. Zorra went through a period of lunging/pulling/general maddness when out on a walk. I tried various methods to stop this; circling, pulling back at her and yelling, sharp tugs, and finally the Halti. I never used a choke collar/chain because I don't think dogs learn from these, but if they have worked for someone I wouldn't judge them for it.

So we got our Halti, I was very excited and Zorra was slightly concerned. I put it on her and it looked exactly like the photo; I was pleased that it fit and expected it to work brilliantly. The photo looked something like this:

Taken from http://4pawspetsitting.com/collars-vs-harnesses/

In fact, Zorra looked so like the above photo that she even mimicked the flat back ears and worried expression. 

We started to walk and Zorra immediately tried to swipe the Halti off with her paw. If we stopped for more than two seconds she would successfully get it off and it became obvious why the Halti has a safety strap to give you some semblance of control once your dog has successfully removed it. 

As long as we were moving forward Zorra would not get it off, and although she would constantly toss her head and prance with her paws in the air it has to be said that she was not pulling. I'm not sure how effective this was because whenever we did not have the Halti I continued to pull her back sharply or turn in circles. 

I think the most important thing to do when a dog is pulling is ANYTHING! Too many people let their dog lean on the collar and pull the human along. I hate to see this. It almost causes me physical pain to watch because this is something that is so easy to fix, yet many dog owners just accept it and resign themselves to having a dog that pulls. The longer this goes on the more ingrained it is in the dog's behavior. 

Overall I would recommend the Halti. Zorra definitely was not in pain, even though she did find it a bit annoying. I've seen many dogs with them walking calmly and it is certainly better than nothing. One of the most important things a dog needs to learn is to walk calmly next to a person. This is important for safety (being in control of your dog) and because when a dog leans on you it is RUDE! If you dog pulls, please do something about it! 

Preparing Your Dog for a Flight

As some of you who follow Dogs Allowed on Twitter or Facebook may already know, a few days ago Zorra came with me from London to California. She immediately settled in and is loving every minute of being here (particularly the pool) but I had to do a lot of work and research to get her ready to fly.

If you are planning on taking your dog on a plane here are some tips:

1) Do some research about which airlines are available for the route you are taking. One long flight is easier for a dog to handle than a layover. Airlines have different pet policies so you should read these carefully before booking; for instance, Virgin Atlantic has climate control in the dog area and your pet earns you miles: win!

2) Read your airline's pet travel requirements very carefully, some may require extra health checks to reduce the risk of something going wrong. If you are in any doubt call the airline, usually people who work in the pet travel department of airlines are dog people and very friendly!

3) IF YOU ARE TRAVELING ABROAD: look at the requirements for BOTH the country you are leaving and the country you are arriving in, especially if you plan to come back and bring your dog with you. You want to avoid quarantine at all costs. These can usually be found on your country's government website, but quite often you can get this information from the airline. In Europe it is essential that you get a pet passport as soon as possible because a blood test must be carried out weeks after the initial shots.

4) If a vet check is required go to the vet early, for instance with Virgin I was required to get a vet check for Zorra within 10 days of travel, so I went 9 days before traveling to the vet. This was good, because I was an idiot and I forgot to bring her passport with me to be stamped, if I had left it too late I would not have had time to make another appointment.

5) Do NOT sedate your dog for the flight! Virgin and some other airlines do not allow animals on the plane which have been sedated because they can stop breathing and die. Even if you airline does allow sedated animals please don't do it! Dogs are resilient, and  they should settle on their own but even if they don't a distressed dog is better than a dead one!

6) Make sure you put bedding in the crate which is soft, absorbent, and which you don't mind throwing away. Especially for long flights they are quite likely to pee on it even if they are completely house trained .

I hope if you do travel with your dog that it goes as smoothly as it did for me and my dog! I believe that all dogs should be crate trained because it makes situations like this much easier. Even though I haven't crated Zorra since she was a puppy she settled quickly and clearly felt safe and comfortable. With these steps you should be well on your way to a safe and fun trip with your dog!

Happy travels!

Dogs on the London Underground

Dogs on the London Underground

The tube is an excellent way to travel around London and for the most part it is very easy to take your dog on it. I recently found that some stations can be much harder to navigate than others. For instance, Victoria Station is dog-accessible for the Circle and District lines but not for the Victoria line, which only has escalator access. The step-free access map actually does not help with finding tube stops which are more dog friendly. Deeper stations with lots of underground tunnels are fine for experienced dogs but are not ideal for young dogs who might get restless or which aren't toilet trained; the only issue are platforms which are only accessible by escalators. Dogs Allowed is going to venture to find out which stations and lines are the most dog friendly, stay tuned!