Harness or Collar, you decide.

[eddy]

Hey guys, another question related to training and walking.

Whats your preference and why?

Collar/lead or Harness/lead *Which type of harness if you do use 1*

Bearing in mind, this if for an untrained dog, i have read that collars can cause physical damage to neck, trachea if the dog hits the end of the lead hard (which i hope he doesnt)

Just thinking ahead thats all

Thanks - Eddy

[jacksdad]

I started with a collar, but because of his reaction to other dogs, all the flopping, lunging and other complete flip outs when he would see one I switched to a harness. i was hesitant at first because you always hear that you have less control...however now I am so comfortable with it now that the few times I actually hooked the leash to the collar in the last year I actually felt a bit nervous about "what if we see a dog". but when using the harness, not nervous at all about maybe running into another dog.

as for his flipping out over other dogs, "control", pulling on walks etc...the harness really drove home that training trumps equipment. Nothing replaces good training.

So, moving forward any dog I own or work with (assuming I ever work with a dog other than my own) will be on a harness.

[eddy]

So i guess you'd reccomend a harness from the start then?

Thanks - Eddy

[emmabeth]

I do both - collars are for hanging tags off and once a dog knows to walk nicely and doesnt lunge they are fine. Harnesses until that point is achieved are great and if you prefer them you can carry on wtih them.

[ladybug1802]

I have recently started using a harness some of the time and I do prefer it....I actually feel I have mopre control over him if he lunges, plus I dont hear the shortness of breath and wheezing that comes when he strains and lunges on his collar! I do sometimes have both on though!

Do you guys put the harnes son for walking and then take it off after, or do you leave it on most of the day? I do the former, but not sure what the general rule is!

[MPbandmom]

I use both. I have double ended leads. For my friendlier dog I mostly walk her on her harness unless she is getting overly excited and I need more control. I avoid the collar only for her because she has a very strong choke/gag reflex and doesn't have the sense to back off and releave the pressure on her neck if she is after something.

For my fearful dog I usually have the lead attached to both collar and harness. It keeps her close to me and well under control. It has even stopped her from running out into traffic after an extreemly noisy motorcycle. Although she did go flying temporariarly, kind of like a pocket book swung out by it's handle. I was very happy that the lead didn't pull out of my hand.

I hold the lead in such a way that the length to the harness is shorter than the length to the collar.

[Sarah83]

Harness/Halti combo for me. I've found that in a harness I REALLY struggle to control Rupert if he lunges for something so I use the halti to manage those situations more easily. Any slack is taken up on the harness and then I can just guide the head round using the halti and put my shoulder back in its socket I personally would prefer just a regular collar but with Rupe's lunging I feel the harness is a better option. I take the harness off after walks although I also use it to tie Rupe out in the garden.

[minkee]

I'd recommend a harness for your puppy, Eddy, ready for your recall training When he's learning to come back from bigger and bigger distances you can have him trail a long line behind him as 'insurance' until you're totally confident in his recall. You can't do this on a collar.

Or both! Like emmabeth, I tend to use both, too.

[kelleyanne1988]

I LOVE the halti gentle leaders (or what i call a head collar). I would NEVER walk my dogs without them! I even put it in Diesel the first time he went on a walk with me, Gunner, and Bear and after he hit at it a few times because it's different, he was fine! My dogs can't pull with them, and it makes walking them for other people a breeze!

I have walked Bear on just a collar recently, and he did fine. Gunner on the other hand will start pulling (not too hard, but keeping the leash tight) if I try to walk him without the halti. My boys LOVE when I get the halti's out and they sit to have them put on. Gunner may pull on just the collar and leash, but the leash stays loose the whole time when he is on a halti.

Again... I LOVE my haltis! And will probably never walk another dog of mine later in life with anything but! love love love!


p.s. side note... I keep looking at people's joined date thinking that's when the post was made... haha I was afraid i was commenting on an very old post! haha

[jakesmom]

I'd recommend a harness for your puppy, Eddy, ready for your recall training When he's learning to come back from bigger and bigger distances you can have him trail a long line behind him as 'insurance' until you're totally confident in his recall. You can't do this on a collar.

Or both! Like emmabeth, I tend to use both, too.

With a puppy, I agree with that completely. Other tools may be required with older untrained or reactive dogs, but if you're starting out training a puppy a harness and/or collar should be enough

Personally I use the Dogmatic halter or/and a harness. Halters are brilliant for controlling large dogs, especially reactive ones. I don't find they stop a dog pulling and I have used the halti, gentle leader and dogmatic. They do stop the dog pulling you off your feet when they lunge and react, but will not stop a dog pulling if they really want to. You still need to train them to walk on a loose lead, otherwise, depending on the dog, you will always be walking on a tight lead.

[MiaRose100907]

I use a harness with my boy. The kind I use hooks in the front, not in between the shoulder blades and it seems to work with his pulling issue. It's made so that when a dog pulls it turns him around a bit to deter from pulling. With him it works well, but could be working better so I am thinking of getting a Halti to see if that helps even better.
He isn't much of a puller at all, unless he really has to go potty and then pulls to get to where he needs to go pee or poo. But other than that he walks in front of me, but he's just fine. No pulls. Even if he sees another dog he doesn't pull unless the dog gets too close and he lunges, which this harness has proven to be quite wonderful in those situations because it turns him around when he lunges.

[Beau&Luke'sMomn]

We use the Gentle Leader when we go for walks. Beau & Luke get excited when they see their leashes because they know they are getting to go someplace special like a hike around the lake.

We remove the gentle leaders when we return home.

[eddy]

Just been and got Riley a harness, he LOVES it and its put me and Sophie both at ease so hes not pulling on his neck anymore (although he doesnt really pull all that much!)

He met lots and lots of people at the pet shop, including men, children women and dogs/puppies, to which he was very excited about and had a great time with them!

Thanks again

Eddy

[sallybode]

It would be helpful to know what kind of dog you are teaching to walk. More powerful breeds are not the same as teacup breeds. I love Victoria's gentle methods as I love my dogs and getting them to do what I want is best with positive reinforcement. My dogs are very happy. I get a lot of kisses.

I have a German Shepherd who is 2 years old. I also have a Siberian Husky who is 8 years old. We tried using a gentle leader with him. It didn't work as the breeds natural inclination is to run being bred as a sled dog. Not only that, until that time, Jake, our Husky, had not exhibited an epileptic seizure. We are not the original owners as he is a pound rescue. He has a damaged vertebrae in his neck and could have have led to the seizure, says our Vet. Our Vet recommended to use a harness (best for dog's with neck problems or epilepsy). The one we got has the leash attachment in the front. However I have just started trying this with my German Shepherd, as we also have a harness of the same type for her. Victoria had shown using two leashes: one on the collar and one on the harness (attached approx. front of breastbone) but I had greater success with my dog, attaching both leashes to the front attachment point then running the leashes under the harness, along the dog's sides and then back up over the back of the dog. This balances pressure on the dog and does not hurt the dog. With a dog who pulls very hard, the front attachment can put a lot of friction in the arm pits and rubbed them through to bleeding. I checked to see that there was no bleeding and there wasn't.

I had to stop walking my dogs because of the bleeding problem. I had to stop walking them for a month, then my back was out for three months so I am getting back into walking them now.

I also linked the leashed together and it is easier on my hands which do have some arthritis. Kira, my German Shepherd, came back in and thanked me 3 times for the walk. I'll have to see how the Husky does. I have not had success yet in walking them together because I am concerned about my lower back problems.

[eddy]

ooo certainly not a huge dog thats for sure.

Lucas Terrier. Harness is working great and his training is really coming on well!

Positive reinforcement all the way with my training and he is doing 110% all the time (well 90% of the time, he has his moments) im still forgetting he is still 11/12week old pup and sometimes, im a little...i dont know feel i do TOO much with him? Is that possible? lol i keep my training sessions short, sweet and fun and do 3/4 sessions per day about 5-10mins each! Either way, he seems happy as a dog can be, he has everything he needs/wants (although he has to work for some things!) and he seems very confident in himself and his surroundings, also, very happy with other dogs/people!

So, all good so far!

Thanks - Eddy