Which do you folks recommend? What are the pros and cons for each? Are there any makes which are better? Juno is still on the small side for 11 weeks although she’s getting heftier by the day - she’s now 4kg which is 1.5kg on in one week! She currently has a small nylon collar (made by Halti) which has her id tag attached - just during the day to get her used to it which she seems to have done very quickly. I asked in the pet shop about harnesses and the guy told me his preference was for a collar and advised me not to bother with a harness. We are starting puppy classes in a couple of weeks and they’ve just told me to take a collar and lead, or harness. Obviously I can ask them in person when we start which they advise, but I thought I’d ask the lab experts on here first!
You really always need a collar for ID tags. If you get things right with walking to heel you might not need a harness. My dog was horrendous on the lead when I got him as he'd missed a lot of basic training - a front clip harness was a life saver for us, it protects his neck if he does lunge and the 2 points of connection really reduces his ability to pull as well as providing an extra way of communicating ( basically if he pulled at all a tiny twitch on the front lead had him looking at me for a treat). I don't use the harness anymore unless we're out in a group doing a lot of on-lead walking and the temptation to pull is high. The other thing you may need a harness for is car travel so it's probably worth getting him used to wearing one.
I'm a total harness convert, having initially assumed they were a bit of a gimmick I was wrong! There are a lot of different types, but if you pick the right one they are a practical and gentle way of leash walking your puppy. And can be really helpful for training too. We've got a couple of articles that look at the benefits of harnesses vs collars, which might be of interest: Why your Labrador puppy needs a harness Dog Harnesses: Do you need one? And here are some nice collar and harness options: Collars and Harnesses
Thank you both. I’ve been staring at people’s dogs on the school run today and eyeing up what they’re using! I do like the idea of the harness being more gentle and we will eventually need to use a car harness at times when she can’t go in the boot crate (7 seater car, but family of six). I will go and read those articles now.
Harness is the way to go for walks if you need leash. Yet at this age would work on dog just following you and staying close to you. Collar is for later in life. I have all tags on harness.
Obviously you can put tags on harnesses but I wouldn't put a harness on my dog unless we were doing an on-lead walk or a training class wearing a long line or similar. For just general pottering around outside while I see to chickens, stack firewood etc he wears a collar simply for id tags ( not that he is an absconder, but never say never and it is the law here). I only mention it as I remember recommending a harness to someone on here who complained that after 3 hours or so her dog had bitten his way out of it. I didn't like to say at the time that I would never expect a dog to wear a harness for hours at a time or when unsupervised.
I understood the comments on collar vs harness were in context of walks and leash work. I do use collar otherwise too simply to have a hold on dog if needed. But when we go out we put the harness on. Indeed leave harness on beyond that and it will be a victim of her teeth ) ultimately the leash will be mainly for the public appeasement as the dog will not need it
