Can anyone recommend a harness to stop pulling please?

[Scion286]

Really struggling with our 10 month old pup. He’s a spaniel cross, small/medium size. We’ve currently got him on a K9 harness. After many months we’ve finally got him trained to walk nicely on a lead when we’re walking in a residential area.

He had fantastic recall and we were confident to let him off lead in lots of countryside walks. This has completely gone out of the window. I’m down to 1 walk that I’m comfortable letting him off in (basically a secure field/forest area). I’ve put him back on his long line but he’s just awful on it-it gets tangled in the undergrowth, wraps around my legs, he’ll run to the end of it and then you get the sudden jolt when it stops him. It’s just not working,

While we’re trying to get his recall back is there a harness that anyone could suggest please? I’d like to be able to walk him around the park or along the canal but all his heel training gets forgotten when he’s anywhere other than a boring street.

I’ve also been looking at leads with a shock absorber at the end to stop that sudden jolt, I don’t think I’ll have a shoulder left by the end of it. Do they help?

Thanks for all the suggestions, I’ve ordered a perfect fit harness and double lead but I’ve also given my head a wobble and realised I need to shelve all the lovely walks I’ve got in my mind and actual train him properly.

Today we went to the canal. I thought it was a good mix of pavement and countryside. He usually drags me down the tow path so I decided we wouldn’t go far but I’d stop everytime he pulled. It was nice and quiet so I didn’t feel like a total idiot. The first 15 minutes was literally one step forward...stop....one step forward....stop. It took the wind out of his sails and by the end I had him focused on me, walking alongside for a treat, he was still then able to move ahead and sniff but it wasn’t that strong pull that he usually does. I’ve come away buzzing instead of frustrated with sore hands. We’re a long long way off yet but for our first proper attempt I thought he did brilliantly. I’m going to stick to the canal for the next week and then I’m hoping we can do the same in more challenging places (a park or even forest).

I second the slip lead. We have two spaniels and luckily they rarely have to go on the lead as we live very rurally. But when they do the slip lead is excellent. If they pull they get a short sharp tug back and they soon learn to walk by our knee.

I can’t see how a dog can not pull in a harness. Think of a horse in a harness, it’s there for them to pull into to pull a cart. Same for the dog, they just pull into it. The amount of dogs I see towing their owners along wearing harnesses, tonnes of them.

As for recall. Your dog has hit teenagerhood and has ‘forgotten’ all he has learnt. Repetition is the way to go. Just keep going over and over it. How are you calling him back? Shouting his name or ‘come’? Try a dog whistle. The short sharp high pitched sound will get his attention. Start with him fairly near you, call his name and then pip the whistle twice. Do it every time and soon you will only have to pip the whislte and he will come back to you.

Good luck. Remember, a well trained dog is a happy dog. They like rules and boundaries and to know that you are in charge.

Slip leads can be potentially very dangerous if used on a dog that pulls or a dog like mine that has tracheal issues .

Thanks Two. We use a whistle, he was fantastic at responding to it but now he seems to use it as a reassurance that we’re still there! He’ll check in on us and then bugger off again or if he’s caught the scent of something he’ll ignore it entirely.

We’ll give this new harness and training a go before we try a slip lead. We have trained him not to pull in his K9 harness when he’s walking through a residential area so I know he’s capable of it but the smells of the countryside are just too exciting to him at the moment. I’ll keep the slip lead in mind.

I'd persevere with the training rather than trying to use any preventative equipment that won't really teach the dog anything. Lots of high value treats as a reward. Have you got a long line for recall training pup can still get a bit of freedom? Ours is 10m

I’ve ditched the long line, I did try again with it but it was just a nightmare to manage. We’ve got a secure field near to us so I can still let him have a run in that.

We did the canal again today with the new harness and lead. He was much better. Still at the end of the lead but no forceful pulling. I don’t expect him to walk to heal when there’s so many exciting smells around. It was lovely to now have sore hands or feel angry with him by the end of it. Any time I felt that tension in the lead I just stopped. It does seem to be working. I’m going to attempt another canal walk that cuts off across fields tomorrow. Fields usually=running free so we’ll see how he copes!

Sorry I’ve got 2 threads running about his lead pulling and lack of recall so apologies if my posts are confused!!

Good luck OP. If you decide to use a longline at all then have a look at biothane. Doesn’t get wet and disgusting. Slips through undergrowth rather than tangling and tangles dog less. Re jolt? I thought the idea was to let longline trail. Not hold onto the end. If the dog gets too far away then recall and grab or stand on the longline to ensure dog can’t continue on?

I don’t know-I just couldn’t get the hang of it. Maybe I was doing the wrong type of walks with it. In an open field he runs and I can’t catch the trailing end. In a forest he’s into the undergrowth and I can’t follow him. I just felt like a massive twat!😆

Ha! You want to try playing hide and seek with a wolfhound puppy in an arboretum. THEN You’d know what it was to feel like a twat!

you can practice recall at home too - just keep some treats ready eg when sitting on the sofa - just call dog to you every 15 minutes and give a treat, it helps build a "reflex" response.