Harness for a strong dog

lizzyb1812

Hi

Hoping someone can recommend a good dog harness for me. Pup is 9 months old - a springer/flat coat retriever mix (an accident, not a designer dog ). He is lively, friendly and sociable and very strong. I can manage him on his current harness until he sees another dog or someone he knows and then it's really hard to keep hold of him.

Tried a halti for quite a while but he hated it and rubbed his nose raw trying to get it off :eek: so I would prefer a good harness.

I am trying to train him to behave better in these circumstances but he's just a big friendly pup at the moment.

Does the width of the straps have any effect? Or the tightness or otherwise of the fitting? Any help/experience would be great.

krlyr

Most harnesses will give the dog more strength to pull as they can use their whole body to pull into it. There are some "anti-pull" harnesses that will tighten on various areas (usually up under the armpit) but they're uncomfortable and potentially even harmful.
One style that might work for you is one with a D-ring/O-ring on the chest as well as on the back like a normal harness. You use these with a double ended training lead to give you control over both the back and front of the dog. Mekuti have produced one, but you can get the Dog-Games style harnesses with the additional front ring now too (know people have had issues with the Mekuti rubbing on the front because of the unusual position of the straps)

This shows one of the brand available
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39cliMs3EVg

And another
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1-TI6TgPaE&feature=related

I wouldn't rule out headcollars completely, another brand might suit him better. Mine wear the Dogmatic leather headcollars and I find them much better than Haltis. There are several other brands and designs too. Introducing them slowly is crucial to prevent the dog from hating them and pawing at them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw3ovsOvTss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMR2My1beiU

Ditto with a harness, too - introduce it slowly, because it will be a strange sensation if he's not worn one before. Think of how unnatural it feels to wear a scarf or hat when you're not used to one, or a new watch or ring. It takes a while before it feels comfortable on your body, so lots of short, positive sessions to get him used to it.

lizzyb1812

krlyr - that's very helpful, thank you. I have a double ended lead already so will improvise a front and back harness with his current harness - if it works I could get him a "proper" one. Will also check out the head collars as well.

All suggestions are definitely better than my friend's - she suggested I get a Bullworker :eek:

krlyr

Also perhaps see if a local trainer will help set up some one-to-one training sessions for you - it really helps to have someone dog-savvy helping you as they can use their own dog as a stooge and keep a set distance from you. They will recognise the body language of your dog and spot the moments before it's about to pull your shoulder out of the socket, and (hopefully!) increase the distance to prevent it. It's all about getting your dog to rehearse the desired behaviour rather than the inappropriate behaviour, so practice sessions that are purposely set up for success may really help.
You may also want to teach the "Watch me" and "Look at that" commands at home in the meantime, they can be very handy with a dog like yours. "Watch me" is about making eye contact - so when it's an established behaviour, you should be able to divert his attention from a dog across the road (don't expect it to work immediately - again, set up situations with a stooge dog and rehearse the "watch me" with the stooge dog at a distance, gradually reducing the space between it and your dog), and the "Look at that" is when you allow your dog to glance at the dog in question but teach an automatic focus back on you for his reward.

Watch me (tough voice to listen to but good explanation) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHLvt6TQzqA

Look at that (she's using the toy here, the dog is allowed to chase it after looking at it then making eye contact with the owner, but you can apply it to looking at dogs) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POprQmrJ2Bc

Wellyboots6

Mine uses a Gentle Leader head collar and it works well for him. It doesn't have the straps on it that a Halti has that can rub their eyes.

If he pulls with his head collar on he ends up pulling himself in to facing the wrong direction if that makes sense, and so it has actually taught him not to pull rather than just being a strength thing.

The important thing with head collars is that you keep your hands low when holding the lead. If you rein the dog in by pulling the lead upwards then the dogs head will lift and they are still moving forwards although in a slightly more uncomfortable position. The head collar will also twist, rubbing their face.

If the dog pulls and your hands are low, then they end up pulling their own head to the side and so it means they end up going away from what they are wanting to get to, and so discourages them from pulling. If they kept pulling with your hands low, they would end up walking round in circles!

Not sure I explained that very well at all!

ali-t

I use a dogmatic headcollar with my rott and use a double ended lead with him too so he can have the opportunity to behave and any control from me is on the neck collar but if he tries to lunge at dogs/cars etc I have full control with the headcollar.

My boy walks up and puts his face into it because he knows it means walk time. Going slowly with a headcollar and lots of treats is the way forward, including walking and receiving treats while wearing it even if it isn't connected to a lead.

I agree with the other poster who said that a body harness just gives a puller more power. My staff is walked on one as with a neck collar she pulls until she passes out if there is someone who will give her a biscuit but she can faint from pulling if she has a harness on.

Beckyy

I use a trixie toptrainer head collar when I need a bit more control.

I woud see if you can go to some local dog training classes or speak to a trainer who can help you practise heelwork in controlled situations near other dogs.

Katiehound

I know this is probably a silly question, but you haven't been using a halti with an extending lead, have you?
Yes, I have seen it. On the one hand trying to train the dog not to pull and on the other using an extending lead whic encourages pulling!!!

I have used harness on a very shy dog because it gave her confidence, so in your case the dog is likely to pull even more!