Puppy collar

[Genieinalamp]

Hi, can anyone recommend a brand of collar for a lab puppy?

I've looked at PAH but they didn't have any that looked comfortable! Thank you!

Are you going to walk your pup using a harness or collar and lead? If you're planning on using a harness I can recommend the perfect fit harness plus fleece-lined collar for keeping tag on and wearing around the house

Thanks for recommendation Badildonbond. I was thinking collar & lead. What are the advantages of a harness?

Another rec for the perfect fit harness. I love it. Advantages include that it reduces the likelihood of damage to the dogs throat/trachea through pulling in a collar, and that they are safer to attach a long line to for training.

I'd also recommend a front-clip, perfect fit harness.

Front-clip harnesses are great, because if the pup pulls they simply end up facing you and make no forward progress. It doesn't take them long to realise that the only way to get to where they want to go is to not pull.

Collar and lead combinations can cause throat damage and also put a dog's neck/spine out of alignment, leading to all sorts of problems.

The other thing I like about the perfect-fit harness for pups is that you can upgrade individual pieces as they grow, instead of having to fork out for a whole new harness each time.

Thank you very much Aka & Moosemama. That's great advice...will have a look at the website now.

You'll still need a collar if you get a harness as you'll need to attach your pup's tag to one

The customer service at perfect fit is fab - v helpful when I was trying to work out the right size and super-speedy delivery

To put the cat among the pigeons - I hate harnesses. All my labs have collars and have done since forever. I also use a slip lead.

Mine are taught from the outset how to walk without pulling. They aren't ever allowed to learn to pull, so I have no fear of damaging them in any way. With an 8week old pup, IMO it is far easier to prevent them learning to pull so you don't then have to spend months unteaching it.

I use half inch lupine collars for my puppies here

I agree daisydot, it is much easier to teach them not to pull from the outset. Mine are all taught to walk by my leg off-lead as tiny pups and know both the cue 'close' for walking right up against my leg and 'steady' for ambling about at the end of a loose lead without pulling.

The problem is that young dogs are excitable and it only takes one over-excited lunge towards something super exciting to put things out of alignment. Any canine chiro will tell you as much.

Teaching not to pull is something that not everyone finds easy, it does get easier with experience, but it's not necessarily something that every first time owner will get right first time and is often a huge source of anxiety. I remember when I first started, how it felt really complicated having to handle lead and treats, time rewards, look where I was going etc all at the same time. That's why I recommend a front-clip harness for people who aren't confident they can master loose-lead walking quickly.

Fwiw, I also use slip-leads, purely for speed, at times when I don't want to harness my dogs up - eg popping them in and out of the car/house. Again though, I would never recommend slip leads to people whose dogs are not already trained not to pull or owners that aren't used to handling them.

Hi moose and dot. Just a quick question, when and how is the best way to start to teach loose lead walking?
We pick up our 8 wk old springer pup tomorrow and really want to start things off the right way. We just have a basic puppy collar and lead at the minute.

You can start off off-lead, by rewarding them for choosing to walk close to your left leg. Puppies naturally want to be near you and will follow you up and down the room/garden as long as you make it interesting enough and reward frequently.

Keep sessions really short and highly rewarding and once you get to the point where they are automatically starting to follow your left leg you can put it on cue with 'heel' or 'close'. It's much easier to start off without a lead, as that way they never learn to pull in the first place.

Just place marking as we have just picked up our 8 week old collie/lab/who knows cross and I'm completely new to this....

Just to say we did all the loose lead training as a little puppy and didn't have any problems until dpup was about sixonths old (I was feeling really smug about it )

His starting to pull coincided with the onset of teenage hormones together with family circumstances meaning that DH took him out for several walks - DH is not as patient as me and has v little truck with all this treats malarkey with the upshot that we suddenly had a v powerfully built little dog who was utterly convinced that pulling would get him to the park faster ...

As a remedial measure I started using a front-ring harness which made walks much more pleasant and also went on a fab heel work training day (thanks daisydotandgertie). Now when I know that I've got time to concentrate on his heel work I use a sliplead, treats and oodles of patience but if I'm pushed for time or the dc want to hold the lead I use the harness so he can't practise pulling

Missrainbow I start mine off lead with a happy, praisey voice walking to heel. The key word is heel - and using something like cheese as lure/reward. The instant they aren't at heel, my voice changes to a gruffer 'no' voice and the cheese goes.

Then heeeel, heeeeel, good dog, heeeel as we walk about some more, rewarding with cheese all the time.

The dog soon learns what heel means and that sets them up for loose lead walking really nicely.

Basildon - really glad you got something out of the training day. It was a perfect one for your breed of dog - and she's a good no nonsense trainer too.

Some great advice thanks Daisydotandgertie & Moosemama. I think we'll start with the collar and see how we get on but will certainly bear in mind the harnesses for future. Thanks for the link Daisy - how's your dog getting on? It can't be long until your pups arrive .

Sssh! It isn't.

They could be here anytime from Easter Monday, Daisydog4 is fit to burst with puppies and I am fit to burst with excitement.

My house is a lot like a hospital maternity wing at the moment :-)

How exciting, good luck!