Alfie is now 16 weeks old now and although he is pretty good on the lead when he sees other dogs he of course pulls like mad and I was wondering whether he would be better off with a harness? And if maybe anyone had any recommendations.Thanks x
To answer your question, puppies are far better off on harnesses than collars, because pulling on a collar creates tremendous pressure on the very delicate throat area. I used Puppia mesh harnesses with mine when they were small, until they grew out of them and they went onto the fleece harnesses you can see in my avatar.
I much prefer walking my dog on a harness too. My local petshop sells a brand called Miro and Makauri. They're cheaper than Puppia but a similar mesh style and I think actually an even better design (lighter mesh, and a bit wider across the chest area for better weight distribution). I find the harness is safer with a dog that pulls a lot - but of course the bigger problem is stopping the pulling!
Simple back fastening harnesses are much, much better for puppies learning to walk nicely than collars. My pup is 12 weeks old now, and has barely had a collar on her yet, I've just used her harness. Must get round to putting a collar on her....
Thanks so much for that,sorry that I put it in the recipe section!!! Not quite sure what I'm doing yet!!
I tested the waters by buying a cheap back-fastening harness and I really like it, and Xena doesn't mind it. I did a search for harnesses on the forums and there are heaps of helpful posts. I think I'm going to buy the Perfect Fit, which has heaps of positive feedback here and is recommended on the main site. It's going to get expensive on a growing dog though
I met a woman at puppy training who had a Perfect Fit harness and she said it was very good. I think that I will do the same as you and try a cheaper one first and see how we get on. thanks for the advice, much appreciated.
This is a timely help for me. Thanks you. My wife and I were just discussing what to start our 10 week old lab Ted in, and she was leaning towards harness even though I've bought both. Just one question: Your two look great in their harness for older dogs, but I cant see where the compulsory (in the UK) identity tag would be attached. Any idea? thanks
I am in both camps. My own pet Lab has a harness. My Guide Dog pups have collars and are taught never to pull. Both ways work. The second is much harder to do and takes enormous dedication to achieve. Tatze doesn't pull on the lead, but if she sees a cat she goes ape. So I have her harness for street walking to feel safe. Guide Dog pups are bred and trained never to go ape. If one behaved on the street round cats like Tatze does they would be withdrawn from the programme. ...
It isn't harder to train a dog to walk on a collar than on a back fastening harness - it is harder to train a dog to walk on a collar than a harness that gives you a mechanical aid such as a front fastening harness. A collar is, to some extent but not to the extent that it is effective in stopping a dog pulling, an aversive in that it absolutely must be between uncomfortable to painful for a dog that pulls or lunges, a back fastening harness a lot less so. I trained Charlie to walk in a back fastening harness, and am now training Betsy to do so. Charlie now walks on a flat collar, because he doesn't pull or lunge (even at cats ) and I'll do the same with Betsy. After all is said and done, I honestly believe training a puppy to walk nicely in a back fastening harness then when they are no longer likely to pull or lunge swapping to a flat collar, which is less gear and material to have round their bodies, is probably the best way to go.
You can see here, the ring. If you used Indigo-type collar tags, you could probably attach one to the webbing part next to the ring. http://www.dog-games-shop.co.uk/harnesses-fleece-lined/size-4-fleece-lined-dog-harness.html The other important thing is the bit of the harness between the front loop and the back loop. This moves the loop that goes under the dog's chest towards the tail a little. Harnesses that don't have this "extender" bit can cut into the dog's armpits.
you could use a collar any way I always leave my collar on with the harness as long as the don't interfer with each other actions its fine. Rory swims a lot and I like to take his harness of so it doen't rub when its wet
I used the harness on Zac to begin with for control but he still wore his collar and tag.I now use a lead on the collar for extra control if needed (he's 35k now) as well as the harness which comes off when we come home to dry off.He runs free most of the time and the harness is much easier to catch hold of when you call him back before re attaching the leads after playtime.
Thanks for the advice, I will try a harness and when he is older and calmer will try the collar and lead again.
