About a month ago I injured my back fairly significantly with a prescribed rest period and rehabilitation underway I am improving quickly. However. Walking Harley isn't a problem as we walk in areas that she can be off lead and her recall is good. Today we went to the first class of our new clicker training course and Harls was super excited to see new people and dogs and although we have been walking her in the last month circumstances have caused us to do so less. We have made up with more structured play and games. So today she was really good considering she hasn't been to a class in a good 2 months and she is now 10 months old but she occasionally would pull a bit and lunge at things. She is now 30kgs and a very compact pup and I am not strong and I don't feel strength should have anything to do with it because I don't want to control her. But, as I sit here typing my back is tight and sore (not bad but enough to cause paina dn discomfort). I sit for a living and I have to look after my back. So I was wondering if getting a front attaching harness would help for the occasional pulls she does, I also know her and she will quickly learn that pulling and lunging is no fun when you can't get away with it and she will decrease the behaviour. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Tatze doesn't pull, she walks really well by my side. She's mostly off lead anyway. But, if we are by the side of roads I use a front fastening harness. This is because she is cat obsessed and I can't hold her at all on a collar if she sees a cat They are not recommended as they change the gait of the dog - but we don't even use it twice a week so I don't worry about it .
Thanks Boogie, I think if we have a harness that attaches with options for front and back I can use the back for the normal times, and I know her well enough to know when we are at risk of her jumping or pulling hard so it would also be on the rare occasion. I also only use it next to roads and in situations like going to class where she can't rush to the other dogs off leash. She isn't at a point where she will walk off lead at heel 100% of the time. She is still young and I don't want to be hauling on her. I am working really hard at our relationship. DH and Harls have such a play based relationship and she loves it, but I just can't physically do it with her. So I know she loves training and class too so I am going to do it with her. It was SUPER cute today, she did some target training and then how to turn in a circle and also how to crawl. Her crawls are adorable!!! We have done some games and clicker work with her at home so she was way ahead of getting the stuff compared to the other dogs in the class. I was very proud of her.
I have back problems too and uses for Finn a harness with front attachment. It helps to keep him under control. He used to pull on the lead, but with this harness I manage to walk him. Not when he sees a cat! Not so long ago he saw a cat and pulled me backwards. I ended up against a tree and Finn on the lose with his lead hanging behind him.... The moment we bought the harness he walked so gently beside us! And he still does! We let him often off lead, or changes between front and back!
I just bought a front fastening harness and oh my goodness I wish I had done it sooner. Axel responds so well to it, it's a dream to walk him now. So I highly recommend!
I am glad the feedback is positive. I am very excited. @Boogie could you please just expand on the mention of it changing the dogs gait? Is that something I should worry about or it is a guide dog specific requirement?
Most front-fastening harnesses work by turning the dog when they put their pressure on the front. This makes it hard for them to continue to pull in a forwards direction. A consequence of this is, if you have a dog who is pulling a lot, they will be forced towards you a lot, thereby altering their gait, which, in turn, puts a lot of pressure on their joints. If Harley walks on a loose lead the vast majority of the time, this wouldn't be of concern but should certainly be taken into consideration when deciding to use a front-fastening harness on a persistent puller.
Thanks @snowbunny. She is not a persistent puller, I wouldn't be able to cope if she was but she pulls when she is excited, and at the very same time I am not at the point where I am able to get her attention back on me immediately, so she pulls and it takes a minute to get her attention. But by that time she has pulled an arm and it is sudden, because she isnt a persistant puller. So it is from 0 to 100. And then she will pull towards the object. It wasn't an issue when she was smaller, I could plant my feet and just hold until she realised she wasn't going anywhere and at the same time work on getting her attention. But now that she is basically full grown she is a strong, heavy pup for me. DH is still ok because he is larger and stronger. She pulled when she was younger but she learned that we don't move, we don't pull but we don't move so she doesn't get her reward of going to the thing she wants, we distract and give her a treat for focusing back on us. So I am confident that she will also lessen her lunges and intermittant pulls now once she understands that she wont get what she wants. The last thing I want is for her to learn that she can get away with it, especially with me. So I want to nip this in the bud.
Some feedback on the front attaching harness. Last weekend we fitted the trainer's one to Harley and I used it during the class. Firstly, I was very impressed that she didn't fuss about it at all, it was like she was wearing her normal harness, secondly she was very good. Once or twice she tried to lunge but as I thought she very quickly understood that she was not going to be able to. It was almost like it was able to interupt her impulsive lunge. I definitely don't think that she lunges on purpose, I think it is excitement but this harness does help interupt the impusivity. I have ordered a harness for her and we should be getting it this upcoming Tuesday. I am very excited about walking her in it. I have to get her a flat collar for the harness to clip into for safety, in case she pulls out of it. But she has never pulled backwards or tried it before. But better safe that sorry and now I can shop for a lovely collar for her.
Sparky wears the Freedom No Pull Harness with both front and rear attachment points. I have tried what they recommended as far as using a double ended leash attached to the front and rear points or front/collar or rear/collar. Any of these combinations still resulted in a pull since he will still feel the tension on his collar or the rear attachment point. Now I only attach his leash to the front attachment point and he rarely ever pulls and if he tried he is easily managed with just a slight correction. As far as the gait goes, short leash as long as he is at heel no problem. Long leash as long as he is behind me no problem, but like others said the moment he drifts in front and pulls on the lead it will make him turn.
