I am surprised if you google Harness how much Info you become it's overwhelming, but I am still confused a lot of people (inc. breeders) says they wouldn't recommend to use a Harness specially until the Lab is 1 Year old as it's bad for the bone development, Hips etc. Anyway as we just have not the experience, the wife says Harness is no good, I say well a lot using it can't be that bad.... so anyone can enlighten me what will be good for 4 months old Pepper who already is pulling like a Train! Thank you
I have actually never before heard the idea that harnesses are bad for dogs. Actually, harnesses are very good for dogs because they eliminate the chance of neck injuries (which can be caused if a dog pulls hard while wearing a collar) and harnesses are very hard for a dog to slip out of (whereas collars are pretty easy to slip out of). There is a bit of a debate over whether front fastening harnesses are better or not better than back fastening harnesses. But few people would argue that a collar is better than a harness. My first Labrador had a neck injury (not from wearing a collar) and he had to be walked in a harness all the time. My vet said that he thought that all dogs should be walked in a harness to remove the risk of damaging the neck if the dog pulled or lunged suddenly. By the way, it is ok to have a collar on your dog to carry ID tags on. I just wouldn't attach the lead to the collar.
Yes, I agree. I use a back fastening harness - mainly because when I first got it there were no other choices here (I live in a small town in Canada) . People use front fastening harnesses to help with pulling, but I don't have any issues with that and the back fastening one works well fo me. We got our dog when he was 8 months old and he came with some collar reactivity (he hated being hauled around by the collar) so for us the back fastening harness was a great option. I would never use any other method for attaching a lead now. It's so much better in terms of avoiding neck issues, as Rachel explained above.
I feel that front fastening harnesses may cause some problems - and I would not put one on a puppy. Lots of people don't think this, but I can clearly see that a lot of dogs lean into the handler when wearing them (the action pulls the dog round to the handler if the dog pulls). I would worry about pressure on shoulders and elbows of a growing pup. But back fastening harnesses I think are very safe - much safer than a collar, particularly for a tiny puppy.
I think collars are uncomfortable for dogs to wear when walking if they are pullers, as it's essentially just choking them and you often see dogs wheezing for breath etc from pulling so much. Whereas with a harness you have much more control over your dog as you are around the chest and shoulder area which is more likely to move their body rather than just pulling at their neck. For a puppy I would suggest a back fastening harness which is a one piece almost mesh like material, much softer and more comfortable than the other kind.
For my small puppies and small breed adults (fosters) I always used back fastening harnesses. I felt they were more secure and less harmful, especially for tiny necks. If pulling was an issue I'd add in a head collar but still use a harness for safety (leash attached to both), especially on foster dogs who may want to run away or have panic issues. I never heard that a harness could actually harm a dog...maybe the no pull ones are the controversy? I've never tried those.
