Which harness?

[Lee67]

It's weird because Poppy doesn't pull all the time, sometimes she will walk right by my side as good as gold, then in the next walk she will pull like crazy.
Would love any advice on which of the hundreds of harnesses out there,  you have had good results from.   

[Nicola]

I used a Sporn harness with Alfie, they are available on ebay. I found it worked brilliantly and after using it for about 6 weeks in conjunction with ongoing heelwork training he no longer needs it and will walk to heel on his normal collar and lead 

The Gentle Leader harness is another one which I have heard being highly recommended. They do headcollars and also body harnesses.

[Helen]

i am with nicola, i use a sporn.  they are fab

[Big Ben]

Not sure about harness's but have you tried watching Dog Borstal or The Dog Whisperer on TV...............you'll pick up some cracking tips!!!!

[Nicola]

Not sure about harness's but have you tried watching Dog Borstal or The Dog Whisperer on TV...............you'll pick up some cracking tips!!!!

Personally I would recommend a harness and some postive, reward based training rather than turning around and yanking the dog in the opposite direction by the neck every time it reaches the end of the lead as per Dog Borstal's methods 

And as for the Dog Whisperer   

[Big Ben]

you may frown upon the method but it works!!!

[Nicola]

you may frown upon the method but it works!!!

Yes, some people would also say that rubbing a dog's nose in it's poo stops it from pooing in the house but does that mean you should do it?

Sorry, but I just do not agree with rough handling of dogs in the guise of 'training' 

[Big Ben]

I don't agree withh the poo face thing.......but when going for a walk if they misbehave (i.e pull) then a little tug doesn't do any harm!!!! The idea is that I'm taking the dog for a walk not vice versa!!!!

[Nicola]

I don't agree withh the poo face thing.......but when going for a walk if they misbehave (i.e pull) then a little tug doesn't do any harm!!!! The idea is that I'm taking the dog for a walk not vice versa!!!!

Of course but there are other, much kinder ways to do it. They may take longer but once learned they are not forgotten and they involve no punishment or negative treatment of the dog at all.

It may seem like a 'little tug' but when it's aimed at a strip of material around your neck that 'little tug' probably doesn't feel so little to the dog    Plus it does not teach the dog to associate either the lead or the person doing the tugging with nice things which is what I always want my dogs to associate with me.

I'm genuinely not getting at you here or anything. Just please don't believe everything you see on DB or the Dog Whisperer, there are a lot of theories which they subscribe to which have widely been discredited now. Experienced trainers on here like Mark (Top Barks) will vouch for this. It is possible to train a dog using entirely reward based, positive methods and I'm sure you agree that this is much better for the dog and much more rewarding for the owner 

[Big Ben]

If you can tell me how to stop my Ben pulling when i'm walking him, without tugging him etc, then i'm willing to give it a try!!!

[Nicola]

If you can tell me how to stop my Ben pulling when i'm walking him, without tugging him etc, then i'm willing to give it a try!!!

OK!

There are a few different methods which work. You can do this with just a collar or like I said above I used a harness on Alfie while I was doing this as it stopped him choking himself on his collar   

I started with Alfie sitting beside me then gave him a 'walk on' command and stepped off. When he invariably lunged to the end of the lead I just stopped. That was it. I stopped stock still and waited until he sat down before doing the same again. Every time he pulled I stopped and he got nowhere. This is not a quick method and there were a few times where we only covered about 100 yards in 30 minutes but it DOES work. It just takes time and perseverance. The dog will get the message that if they pull they get nowhere but if they wait for you and walk to heel then they get where they want to go. I also only ever gave the 'heel' command to Alfie when he actually was walking to heel. This was an effort in timing at the start as he invariably would walk to heel for all of 2 seconds before attempting to get ahead again but we got there in the end 

When you are walking you can use treats to keep the dog's attention on you or even a squeaky toy in your pocket. Frequent changes of direction also help to keep them 'on their toes' so to speak as they never quite know what to expect.

There are a few COL-ers who have used/are using this method and there are a few others as well. Try doing a search for 'pulling' or 'lead walking' and you should get some old threads.

[Cob-Web]

If you can tell me how to stop my Ben pulling when i'm walking him, without tugging him etc, then i'm willing to give it a try!!!

Clicker training worked for us; different methods suit different dogs, and the stop-start method, or changing direction was no good for Molo 

Once we began clicker training, it took only a few weeks for him to learn the command - and he will reliably walk to heel off lead  One of my aims for this year is to break the cycle of pulling on lead that we have practiced and reinforced for two years 

Please, please be very careful before you use the methods used on any dog training TV programme - they are rarely shown on the show in context, as part of a structured training programme  Used in isolation, they can cause distress to a dog, and may even lead to further problems

[debrand]

I also got a sporn harness recently. I found it really difficult to walk my two dogs together as one pulled and the other dawdled. Sporn has really done the trick with Milly- it tightens under her legs when she pulls making it impossible for her to move quickly and loosens as soon as she stops pulling- which she does immediately. She is a bright girl and it worked straight away with her and I do praise her as soon as she stops pulling. It doesn't appear to cause her any discomfort as the tail never stops wagging. I use a normal harness on Barney as the Sporn just dangles around his legs as he rarely pulls and now the three of us can all enjoy our walks together.

[kerriebaby]

As soon as the dog pulls, turn around walk ten paces, then stop. Say heel and step off again, as soon as he or she pulls do it again. They arent stupid, if they know its going to take ages to get to the park then they will give up trying to drag you there. Halti headcollars also work well!

[Lee67]

Thanks for all your replies, I have seen 2 sporn harnesses on the internet. One is advertised on a King Charles and the other is on a Dalmation. Could you please let me know which one you used!