Ok what do you guys feel is the best collar (or harness)? Rolo can pull at times, not so much when it's just me walking him, lots when the kids are with me tho. I feel we are doing reasonably ok, to be honest I do a lot of off lead walks so it's rare to have him on the lead but want to work on this with him (today an older lady stopped me and said "not got there yet have you? He still pulls a lot doesn't he? " i thought he was actually quiet good. I would never be so critical to someone else) He gets excited when he sees someone only because he wants a fuss. Anyway getting back to my question he needs a new collar and his lead is well chewed in places so which do I choose? I have been looking at the choker collars but thought before I buy I would see what you guys recommend. Kris
Re: New collar I have tried lots of different harness - some better than others! I would recommend the cozy dogs Y fleece harness. This has been the best harness, but the K9 bridle head harness to be outstanding hope this helps
Re: New collar My two are just on boring nylon flat collars. They both have pretty good heel work. It's something I work on them with every day because, even though they can be off-lead 90% of the time, there's always the times they'll need to be on lead and I want them to behave nicely. I do have a puppy harness for them each awaiting delivery, after Shadow slipped his collar the other day. These are just basic Puppia ones and will be for security rather than as a training aid. I would definitely not go down the choker route myself. I'd rather they learnt to walk nicely by using positive methods. I'm just back from a on-lead training session with Willow and she didn't want to behave today. There was a lot of sheep muck on the road and she was FAR more interested in that than in me. So it was the slowest walk in history. Every time she pulled, I stopped and waited for her to come back to me before continuing (C&Ting for a good walk). You don't get anywhere very fast, but I think it's a pretty good way to work on a nice loose-lead walk, which is better for both me and the dog.
Re: New collar The most important training aid is you, not the collar Dogs don't stop pulling because a collar puts pressure on their neck or tightens on their neck. They stop pulling because you stop walking when they pull. Therefore pulling becomes a waste of time and effort and they give it up. However, there is still a choice to be made between flat collar and a harness. For me, it's about avoiding any damage to the dog's neck (should my dog take off, on lead, after a rabbit) and about safety (making sure my lead attachment will stay attached come hell or high water). On both those counts I personally favour a harness.
