Non pull harness advice & walking beside stroller

[Funtcase95]

I have a 7mo DD and a 2 year old JR cross. I'd like to start walking them alone together rather than having to wait for DH to get home from work. My main problem is that he's a puller. Off a lead he's brill but this doesn't help walking around the village etc. Also I feel that if I were to have his lead around my wrist so I could use both hands to steer the pushchair, he'd run in front of the pushchair and cause an issue. Any advice on non pull harnesses and how you walk your dog and baby?

A harness will not really lessen the ‘pull’ power of your dog. Harnesses make it easier for you to control your dog without hurting their windpipe/neck.
Sorry to say it but it’s really down to you and training your dog to walk nicely to heel. There isn’t any easy, off the peg store bought solution.

I would recommend a Mekuti or Perfect Fit harness. They pull dog off balance so make it harder to pull. Both also train them to walk beside you as that's where they need to be for the harness to work. I have had both for my 30kg poodle and I think they're wonderful.

@Bargebill19 he walks to heel off lead but I can't put him/others at risk by doing this on the streets as you never know what could spook him or cause him to bolt. He has a good harness currently but pulls like a train so I've read up on some 'no pull' harnesses but they seem like a fad.

@fessmess oh brill, I'll look into these, thank you!

I have a lab-vizsla cross, so very 'pully' when young. Do you have space in your front room or back garden where you can just walk along with your dog and (empty) buggy? Just walking up and down, up and down with the empty buggy got my dog trained up very quickly. It took no time at all. And what was funny was when we no longer used the buggy, the dog was at a loss for a bit. It took him a bit of time to get used to walking without a buggy.
K9 harnesses are excellent. We've always used a Blueberry one on our dog, but since he turned 4 (going on 5 now), he doesn't need a harness anymore.

I used to keep my dog on short leash and firstly attached it to my belt and as my dog learned not to pull to the stroller. Reward the dog, when it doesn't pull. So take plenty of treats and reward the walking behaviour you expect from the dog.

Ime a few encounters with buggy wheels ensure ddog walks impeccably!!

I recommend the Kumfi head collar, it's like the halti only better IMO.

Regarding running in front of the pushchair - have a lead that's not long enough to allow for that. Assuming you also have off-lead sniffing time, I always go for strict short-lead no messing around when the lead is on. So we have a 60cm lead on a head collar for lead walks. But I should point out that 80% of our walking is off road and off lead. I'm not sure this would be fair on the dog if most walks are on lead.

Just use a normal loop type lead and make it into a figure of 8 so that it hooks over his nose, then tighten as needed. Solves the pulling issue instantly at no cost. I wish someone had told me this when we first got our dog, I wasted loads of money on harnesses & haltis.

Bungee lead with a belt attachment

... nothing will replace proper training.

Really good suggestions, thanks everyone.

@TheVanguardSix I'll definitely give this a go! Back garden/driveway should be enough to practise with!

@monkeymusicallthetime I shall arm myself with chicken!

@Windyatthebeach hahaha I can well imagine!

@FATEdestiny yes, DH usually takes him for a good ol run every morning/evening and when my back (arthritis starts 25 🤗) is feeling up to it we all go for an explore with baby in a carrier but I love getting out of the house when the weather permits and feel awful leaving him home so would like to get to grips with walking both!

I walk my 9 month old puppy and 6 month old baby who is in a buggy. I have a longer lead (1.8m) with the handle round my left wrist and hold some of the slack in my right hand, both hands on the buggy with lots of practise pup is now good at walking just behind the buggy but we did do lots and lots and lots of practise in the garden firstly with no buggy then with an empty buggy so it is doable.

I have one of these walking belts for my dog www.sassdogequipment.co.uk/dog-walking-belt/
It means I can have my hands free to do stuff and not worry about dropping a lead as i used to walk 3 large dogs together. When they do pull it doesn't off balance you as much as holding the lead either so while i'd still advise training to walk nicely with pram it does mean less worry about times may randomly lunge.