What's your views on harnesses?

[LindyLou]

Just wanted to know your views on harnesses?

Baxter is not "bad" on the lead, but will always walk slightly ahead keeping a little tension on the lead.  I am therefore, always concious of any damage to his neck, particularly if I try to correct this behaviour and have him come to my side on a loose lead.

I have tried:

Stopping - To which he will either - stop/sit or turn in a circle and come back to my side.(This pulls his neck when I stop).
Little pulls to the side - To which he basically ignores.
Treats - Totally ignores.

So was thinking of a harness? Thinking along the lines of no neck pulling and may help with the loose lead walking?
Or, am I being lazy and do we just need more training?

Have any of you found the harnessses to be a big help?

[mlynnf50]

I use a harness and it seems to work well, it nice and soft, the only thing I have found is that the fur get matted where the harness has been.  Sorry cant help with the walking on a lead, but am sure someone will come along and give you advice.

[Bluebell]

These are very good
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Medium-Easy-Walk-Dog-Training-Harness-Walking-Pets-Dogs-/290459240745?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Dogs&hash=item43a0b84929

Will stop him pulling, so you can work on your loose lead walking, using a method that works for you
Have you tried this? -Rather than alway walking in a straight line, change direction after every few steps and reward when his lead is loose, it does not matter what directon you go in, even turning toward your dog or walking backwards. He will have to pay attention to you, as, he will not be able to predict where you are going to go next  Try it in the garden first so you don't look like a complete nutter 

[LindyLou]

Have you tried this? -Rather than alway walking in a straight line, change direction after every few steps and reward when his lead is loose, it does not matter what directon you go in, even turning toward your dog or walking backwards. He will have to pay attention to you, as, he will not be able to predict where you are going to go next  Try it in the garden first so you don't look like a complete nutter 

I don't mind looking like a nutter - come to terms with it now 

I have tried lots of things Bluebell, including what you have mentioned! His walking is so much better than it used to be, but I just would like to perfect it.
Will maybe go for your harness suggestion 

[clairep4]

I'm a big fan of harnesses and also (at least whilst teaching them to heel) using two points of contact. Bella has a Mekuti harness (http://www.mekuti.co.uk/) and Zorro has one of the new TTouch harnesses which you can get from Tilley Farm - really nice as they have a neck clip so it's great if your dog is worried by having things put over its head.

A dog that is pulling on a collar in any way is putting quite alot of strain on its neck and is also more likely to be reactive to oncoming dogs/pushchairs etc because of the added stress of having something pushing on its windpipe (plus the fact that the dog is out of balance). If you try pushing the side of your hand into your windpipe even gently, it's not particularly pleasant - now imagine what that feels like if you push harder or suddenly get yanked (even if it's inadvertently).

The idea of using two points of contact to help a dog walk in balance (i.e. without pulling) is as follows:

1. A dog that is pulling on the lead is basically using you to balance against - if you were to let go of the lead the dog would have to find its feet. In TTouch terms we always say "balanced in body = balanced in mind", so if your dog is using you to balanced against then it's not balanced by itself and is therefore more likely to be react to other dogs etc.  Also a dog that is pulling will build up different muscles on one side of its body to the other which in turn puts the whole body out of balance.

2. Any time we pull on the lead we trigger the opposition reflex - try getting someone to hold onto the end of a lead and then pull it, I guarantee they will pull back with the same force, without even thinking. So every time you pull back, your dog pulls forward.

3. We have two points of contact so that the dog cannot rely on you for balance, because as soon as it leans into one of the contacts you release it and use the other contact to give a gentle upward signal. This way the dog learns that it's impossible to keep leaning out against the lead because you won't hold onto the other end.

Sounds easier than it is in practise but it does work. The key is to stay up by the dog's shoulder giving gentle upward signals, alternating which contact you are giving the signal on. If the dog starts to get ahead (which a pully dog will, guaranteed) then you need to firmly stroke the lead, hand over hand, as you walk back up to the dog's shoulder - by stroking the lead rather than pulling on it, you avoid triggering the opposition reflex and you encourage the dog to slow down rather than encouraging it to pull harder.

It does take some practise though - I've worked with a couple of seriously strong pullers and it was a challenge but it worked in the end 

[JennyBee]

I have a sporn harness for Brodie and think it's great - she tends to walk well on the lead but in certain situations (ie visiting places she's never been before) she does pull and for those she wears the harness. I am planning to get a mekuti harness though as I've heard good things about them

[Ninasmum]

Some fab advice....we went to a T Touch practioner who also recommended the Mekuti Harness.  I have tried it a couple of times with Nina & its fab.  I just need to get the hang of it.     Also the Dog Games Fleece Harnesses are good.

Personally i never use collars for lead walking because i worry so much about hurting their necks.

[LindyLou]

Thanks for all the info!

Claire I've had a look on the Tilley Farm website. Is it the "Step in Harness" you refer to? I can't seem to get a good look at the harness and see if it has any padding?

Also not sure what size I would need - the medium?

[supergirl]

I use the Easy Walk Harness for both Ellie and Lexi (as rescue dogs their heelwork training left a lot to be desired), but now they put Misha & Roly to shame. The harness leads from the chest rather than the neck or nose.  The link below also shows a further link to a youtube demonstration.

http://www.friendsoffido.co.uk/easy-walk-harness-c12.html

I think its quite similar to the Mekuti harness

[clairep4]

Thanks for all the info!

Claire I've had a look on the Tilley Farm website. Is it the "Step in Harness" you refer to? I can't seem to get a good look at the harness and see if it has any padding?

Also not sure what size I would need - the medium?

Ah, I think actually they're not advertising them as yet as they're still getting stock together. The step-in ones are not the TTouch harnesses. The TTouch ones are green and are branded with a TTouch label but they're very new, Sarah had the first ones in May and I emailed her the other day and they were waiting for different sizes to come in. You might be best emailing her directly to find out what she has. I think Zorro has the small size but not 100% sure as I just measured him up at Tilley Farm and bought one on the spot. They do matching leads as well 

[clairep4]

I use the Easy Walk Harness for both Ellie and Lexi (as rescue dogs their heelwork training left a lot to be desired), but now they put Misha & Roly to shame. The harness leads from the chest rather than the neck or nose.  The link below also shows a further link to a youtube demonstration.

http://www.friendsoffido.co.uk/easy-walk-harness-c12.html

I think its quite similar to the Mekuti harness

These are different to the Mekutis - the Easy-Walk works in a similar way to a Sporn in that it's about restricting the dog's movement by tightening when it pulls:

"The Easy Walk Harness' unique front-chest leash attachment stops pulling by tightening slightly across your dog's chest and shoulder blades. The gentle pressure steers your dog to the side and redirecting his attention back towards you."  Personally I think they talk about the opposition reflex incorrectly but that's just me being fussy! 

Mekuti and TTouch harnesses just have extra D rings so that you can have a double-ended lead attached to the chest and the back or side, but if the dog pulls, nothing tightens up and the dog can still pull, so you do have to put in the work of being in the correct position and stopping your naughty hands from automatically pulling backwards whenever the dog pulls forwards (a tricky old habit to beat, believe me!).  So it's more about re-educating the dog to walk on its own 4 feet.

Supergirl, just out of interest do you find that your two now don't pull at all (as in could you walk them in a normal harness and they'd automatically walk by your side, or would they pull as they didn't have the anti-pull harness on)? I did look at the Easy Walk harnesses a few months ago and wondered if they worked. I always try to keep an open mind as what works for one owner may not work for another.

[supergirl]

Supergirl, just out of interest do you find that your two now don't pull at all (as in could you walk them in a normal harness and they'd automatically walk by your side, or would they pull as they didn't have the anti-pull harness on)? I did look at the Easy Walk harnesses a few months ago and wondered if they worked. I always try to keep an open mind as what works for one owner may not work for another.

To be honest I haven't tried walking them in a standard harness since I got these.  The dogs can still pull even in the Easywalk harness - like everything you  have to do the work as in the video.  If I walk the dogs individually in the harness, they will walk very nicely - I initially got the harness so that my mum could walk Lexi easily, without any danger of pulling her over and the harness worked very well.

My main problem is when I walk all dogs together, if they see anything interesting their cumulative pulling is very strong and the harness does diffuse this - a lot of it is my fault as I don't practice enough lead walking except to and from the car. 

[Sheryl]

I have Mekuti Harnesses for the girls but I also have the Ruffwear Webmaster harnesses too for when I go places that they may need lifting out of

[*Theresa*]

We use a harness on Glen as no matter how much we tried we failed to be successful in training him to walk nicely on a lead. It is completely our fault as wear we live the leads come out about 3 times a year for special occasions and unless I want arms like a gorilla a harness is the only way for us

[SkyeSue]

If you have a dog that pulls on the lead, then a harness is definitely going to help stop them throttling themselves  I have a Red Dingo one which you attach the lead to a ring on the back. 
I haven't really found anything that completely prevents pulling (though I haven't tried the mekuti harness) - I have tried Sporn (effective for about 2 days!); a Premiere Easy Walk harness (effective for a bit longer, but didn't really fit very well, and made a horrid jangly noise all the time!) and the most successful was the Halti harness, but even that failed to stop Chloe pulling through it when we walked by livestock.
I've given up on non-pull harnesses now; I just keep having to revisit basic lead training and I also spend a lot of time teaching walk to heel off lead.