Leads, collars, harnesses for new pup?

[zeebee]

Hi all. I’d be grateful for your thoughts on the pros and cons of leads, harnesses, head collars etc please. We're first time dog owners to an 11 week old lab x so need to make a decision ASAP!

We’ve seen lots of harnesses being used on dogs big and small but can’t seem to find out why they are necessarily better, especially as many friends report they don’t stop pulling. I think we'd prefer to use a collar and lead for ease. Any advice welcome please!

I prefer harnesses to collars. Collars are good to keep tags on etc, but for the walking, harnesses are better I think.

There will be pulling until they're trained (and even then, a good smell in the undergrowth is likely to get the human pulled towards)

Collar and lead is potentially dangerous on a delicate puppy neck. They will pull, until they learn not to. A harness with a clip for the lead at the front (near the chest) will stop pulling, as when they pull, they will be directed back towards you.

Obviously nothing beats decent training for good lead walking, but it’s much safer to have a harness whilst learning

I like Ancol collars & leads. They are padded & comfortable.

Training stops pulling . We’ve always used a harness on our dog as he has tracheal problems so can’t have any pressure on his throat .

I start with a slip lead and loads of treats and lots of boring walking up and down. IME teaching a good heel is one of the most tedious parts of puppy training, but also makes a massive difference to how much of a pleasure your dog is to own.

Me too @GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman, my last dog was a Rottweiler and people were always asking how I got him to walk to heel so nicely. My current dog is a Collie, it took alot more training to get him to understand not to pull as he is very high energy, but he got there after a little while. I could walk him with a piece of string and he wouldn't pull as I have trained him not to.

I could walk my dog on a piece of string as well and I didn’t use pressure on his neck and the knowledge for him that that hurts to do so .

Harness is best for walking, but be careful when they play in the park, they will learn to pull on it.

Having tried various options over the years, from flat collars to Halti headcollars, to Gentle Leaders to various harnesses, I have found the Perfect Fit harness with the front clip the best.

As I see it, even the best behaved pups are going to pull while they are learning, even if it’s just the occasional leap towards something that takes their attention momentarily. I would prefer to avoid any trauma to the neck in that situation and by using a well-fitted, fleece-lined Y-front harness with a D-ring at the front as well as on the back, you are able to control them with no pressure on the neck.

The front D-ring basically means that if they do pull they turn themselves back to face you, then as soon as they’re back with you, you can reward and remind them that that’s the fun and rewarding place to be.

I wish they had been around when I lead trained my Border Collie x Belgian Shepherd (a very looong time ago) as she was the most challenging dog I have ever had to teach to walk to heel. Back then I just used a flat collar and she did get there eventually, but it took A LOT of time, effort and determination. She was the dog a trainer recommended the Halti for - nightmare - never again, she hated it with a vengeance and it set us back weeks in our training.

Once my dogs are well trained and able to walk to heel I will use just their collar occasionally. For example, I wouldn’t bother putting a harness on just to take them to get in the car and I tend not to use them at the vets, as they can get in the way, depending on what the appointment is for. I make sure I do lead training on the collar as well, so that if I ever need to get a lead on them in a hurry I can do so without needing to get their harness on first.

Perfect Fit Harness

I'm going to disagree and say that for medium and large dogs i would stick to a collar until fully grown . There is evidence that a harness can hurt shoulder joints until fully grown.

We used a harness initially when he was a tiny pup but quite quickly moved onto a collar.
Our trainer at classes hated harnesses can't quite remember why but think was to do it making it more difficult to teach a dog to walk properly.
You do have to be careful of not pulling the dog when he's wearing a collar. We stop dead if he pulls, wouldn't ever 'tug' him back into position. Nothing worse imo then seeing a dog being pulled about on a collar and hearing him chocking and spluttering.

Thanks all. Lots of food for thought there. But as I feared, no consensus!! I’ll have a good look into some of the makes you’ve suggested.

And also, thanks for the advice on benefits of collars and harnesses.

Personally, I use a harness but trained with both. Puppies necks are delicate so I would use a harness. Make sure which ever harness or collar you get that it's not the plastic clip type. The plastic clips can snap. I get mine made to measure and the harness is the belt / buckle type.