Hiya, I have a collar and lead for Henry and also a harness. I am trying to work out which is best and most comfortable for a very strong (nearly) 8 month old. At the moment I put both on him when we leave the house (double wrapped for freshness as the ad says) . My theory being when I let him off the lead I have twice the chance to clip him back on when he comes back to me. I have a bit of arthritis in my hands and am not as dexterous as I was, so I need more than one target to aim for. Are there any significant pros and cons to either piece of equipment ? As ever, would welcome thoughts. Just about to leave for the beach, my boys have been staring at me for the last 10 minutes as they have decided I should get off the laptop and fall in with their plans for today. I live to serve ...........
General advice nowadays seems to be that a harness is best due to potential damage to a dog's throat/neck. Some would argue that a harness has the potential to change a dog's gait. I've only ever used a collar with Juno. From day 1 we have worked on loose lead walking with no pulling, jumping or lunging.
My dog wears both a collar and a harness but we only attach the lead to the harness. I would say that a harness is better than a collar because in the event that your dog pulls or lunges at something you're not going to do any damage to the dog's neck, whereas with a collar you might. My dog walks well on lead but he's not perfect, so we still get the odd lunge. With harnesses, there are many styles available these days. You can get ones that attach at the back (behind the top of the shoulders), at the front or at the side. I like a back fastening harness as I let my dog walk on whichever side of me he prefers, so he can cross from one side to the other without the lead getting tangled up. Some harnesses have a Y style at the front (when looking at the chest) while others go straight across at the front. I'd say it's up to you which you prefer, but just make sure any buckles or straps are not right behind the elbow area as it'd be uncomfortable for the dog to repeatedly be banging their elbow into the harness. Also, don't have a harness on too tight. The shoulder needs freedom of movement and the chest needs to be able to expand. Hope you enjoyed your beach trip
Hello I use a harness. But Boris always has collar on, the collar has dog tag, legal requirement in UK. I use the perfect fit harness, I like it because it can be put on with have to go over the head, in town I use the front attachment point, the main attachment point is the back one. The harnes is also good as it makes good handle if you need to grab your dog quickly. The one disadvantage of a harness is that always seems to be wet, Boris has to get wet every walk.
Practicalities are good to consider too - like washability. Something you can chuck in the washing machine is great.
I am slightly concerned about harnesses, they can rub under the fore legs and cause damage to a nerve. I also saw a man who appeared to be hanging his dog from the harness due to the dog pulling so hard. I don't like seeing dogs trussed up in massive harnesses. But that is just me. I think it depends on what harness you use, if I used one it would be a soft fleece one, but would that hold a boisterous Lab
My harnesses have fleece padding and they look pretty comfy. My dogs aren't walked in them every day though. It's the law here that dogs must have a collar and id tag on so my boys wear both if they're in a harness. Some dogs really don't like them and others don't like ones that slide over their heads so have a think about what you get. I would say Riley dislikes his harness being put on his pre-walk wag stops but he doesn't seen subdued once we're on the move.
I spent ages and ages with an injured teenage dog on rest, that wasn't allowed to jump about, and a regime that required me to walk him at a steady, slow pace for precisely timed intervals - the dog was determined to demonstrate just how bouncy and out of control a young, strong, excitable and completely under exercised a Labrador can be. It was a challenge. I tried endless harnesses, and basically dedicated all my waking hours to thinking about how to get this dog to walk sensibly while doing no further damage to himself. He also hated harnesses - he just hates them. The constriction around his body is something that he finds deeply unpleasant, I believe. In general, I like back fastening, Y shaped harnesses with the rear connection point far enough down the dog's back to make sure the harness is way back from the front legs. I was interested to see that Nando Brown had some comments on his page about Fizz being in a straight across harness, and he has changed it to a Y shaped harness. So it's not just me! I dislike front fastening harnesses because I don't think they are good for dogs, I don't like the action of the dog being pulled round. For my dog though, the best is a wide, flat collar and enough training so he doesn't pull and lunge on it.
Thanks for these thoughts - the harness I have is a Y shaped, back fastening and H is so good when I put it on he raises his from left leg to get threaded through. Good session on the beach this morning he was on and off the lead ( as per Pippa's advice ) for the duration of the time down there. He came every time - but it wasn't a very testing walk as I was the only nut out in the pouring rain so no other distractions.
When we adopted our girls they pulled massively on the lead, and that was using a back-fastening harness. We switched to a harness where you can attach the lead to either side, and there has been a massive improvement, which is important, as I have slightly dodgy shoulders, so don't need to be pulled! One of our girls doesn't mind the harness at all, but the other is a little harness-shy when putting it on, though fine once it's on, and it seems very comfy and non-restricting of movement. My partner took them out recently and, for speed, just used their collars. He said that they both 'pulled like trains', which really surprised him, so there has to be something in it. Good luck!
Yes, there is definitely something in it. If a dog pulls when a lead is fastened at the front or front side of a harness they get pulled round back towards the handler. Doesn't sound like it's helping train them though, if they can't walk properly without the harness.
I prefer a harness over a collar, I just think they're more comfortable for the dog and I've used them for years. At the moment I have two dogs who can't wear collars, one for previous spinal surgery on his neck and one that has a sensitive throat, so ID tags are attached to their harnesses and at home they go naked.
I'd say that a dog that pulls should definitely be on a harness. I can't bear that choking sound you hear from dogs who are pulling hard against their collars. Mine wear Perfect Fit harnesses if they're going to be in challenging environments, but the rest of the time they're on flat collars, because they're not power pullers. They're definitely not 100%, but when they do try to pull, it's not hard enough to make them choke; more of a slight surge forwards. I am absolutely consistent with stopping as soon as they have the slightest pressure on the lead and, if it's something more challenging that I don't think we could simply walk towards/past, then I'll either turn and walk in the opposite direction, or get C&Ting like mad! They dislike their harnesses, so I limit their use - but if my dogs pulled regularly, I would choose to use them all the time.
Perhaps not, but it's early days with us, as they've only been with us for two months, and have learned all sorts of ways before they joined us, so we're only too pleased that we can take them out on leads without being pulled along the street! When we use the harnesses they look quite comfortable, and walk happily enough so that the lead is generally slack. If they see another dog to greet, then they'll pull a bit, but nothing like they were when they arrived, and nothing like they'll pull if the lead is attached to either the collar or a back harness. I read somewhere that a dog will instinctively pull (a bit like a sled dog) if the lead is attached to the back... not sure whether this is true, but is certainly our experience. So, slowly does it, not least because we have a number of issues to address (though they are very lovely girls and basically well-mannered) - weight, firming up the recall, and walking 'nicely' on a lead are the main ones, but so far none of the issues feels too challenging. It's really rewarding working with them.
No, this isn't true. A dog pulls because it hasn't been trained to walk alongside a human, just like your dogs pull in a collar (as you describe above). This is what a sled dog harness looks like - it's that long over the back so the dog doesn't experience a loss of traction when it pulls. image by julieandcharlie julieandcharlie, on Flickr
No, not very, no! I suppose they must get used to them, or perhaps the high true sled dogs get when they are running means they just don't care?
