Head collar or harness??

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sj96skittles
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Head collar or harness??

Post by sj96skittles »

I've been able 2 walk our dogs 2gether with my sister! (4 those who didn't c my other post) I'm so glad they're not pulling so hard hey choke themselves but they still pull. How do u know if u should fit them with a head collar or a harness??? :?
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***Melissa***
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Re: Head collar or harness??

Post by ***Melissa*** »

Definitely a harness. With any other collar a dog can be seriously injured (even a dog that walks very nicely on a lead...you never know when something might happen that sets him off).

A head-collar can be used WITH the harness - but then only use the head-collar to guide the dog, and never ever to pull or hold the dog back when he's pulling (use the harness for that).

Hope that helps :D
There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. ~Ben Williams
sj96skittles
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Re: Head collar or harness??

Post by sj96skittles »

K. Thx :) hope my mom will let us buy a harness 4 both of our dogs!
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Mattie
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Re: Head collar or harness??

Post by Mattie »

With a head collar you can only control the dog's head, unless he has a collar or harness on he can still leap around and do a lot of damage to his neck. A friend saw a dog break his neck doing this.

With a harness, you control the body, your dog can't leap around so easily as you are holding him. If using a head collar and harness, you walk your dog on the harness and only use the head collar when it is needed, by keeping both the body and head under control, your dog stays safe.
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MarkF
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Re: Head collar or harness??

Post by MarkF »

I'm confused, I agree that the head collar gives the feeling of less control and could damage the dogs neck, but I have seen Victoria use just a head collar on dogs that pull, thought that was the point of them, using them on dogs that pull.....never seen them used with a harness as well............... :?:
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Mattie
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Re: Head collar or harness??

Post by Mattie »

If I remember right Victoria did use just the headcollar in the early shows but I have seen her use them along with a collar since.

I have seen many owners use headcollars and none walk properly on the lead because the owner doesn't teach the dog what they want them to do but expect the headcollar to do it for them. It was the same when choke chains were so popular, I saw many dogs pulling with this on, most were struggling to breath, when I asked the owner why they had a choke chain on their dogs, their answer was "To stop the dog from pulling". :roll:
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MarkF
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Re: Head collar or harness??

Post by MarkF »

I have found some harnesses make the dog pull more the just take they pressure off the walker rather than stop the dog pulling. I find a harness I saw VS use works best, goes over the head and under the arm pits so to speak, when he pulls it lifts him off the ground. I still aim to walk both without harnesses but in the mean time when i'm out with both, harnesses make me feel more in control and they respond well to them. I can't get on with the Halti body harness the pulling him off balance thing just means he walks in front of me and trips me up....lol
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thelittlebeardogblog
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Re: Head collar or harness??

Post by thelittlebeardogblog »

Mattie wrote:If I remember right Victoria did use just the headcollar in the early shows but I have seen her use them along with a collar since.

I have seen many owners use headcollars and none walk properly on the lead because the owner doesn't teach the dog what they want them to do but expect the headcollar to do it for them. It was the same when choke chains were so popular, I saw many dogs pulling with this on, most were struggling to breath, when I asked the owner why they had a choke chain on their dogs, their answer was "To stop the dog from pulling". :roll:


Mattie makes a really great point - boring as it is, there's no substitute for putting the time in to teach a dog to heal nicely. Little Bear is really good on a head collar and we use it for road walks where we do a lot of heal work. For long walks in the forest I use his harness to clip him into the car and it then doubles up on the walk if I need to keep him on his extender lead.
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