Best Harness or Lead for Goldie

[Guardsman18]

I know this has been done to death but when I search, the posts are fairly old. I thought I'd ask advice before I buy.

DDog is 6 and has always jumped into car, jumped out again, gone on walk, jumped back into car and then into the house.

Due to a few reasons, we have now started walking to our destination and because she has not been properly trained to walk on the lead (my fault I know), she is pulling dreadfully. It must be causing her pain so obviously I'm concerned.

I can't really afford expensive mistakes although am able to pay for one that works if that makes sense!

Does anyone have any recommendations please? There are so many on market.

Thanks

Slip lead and invest in training or watch some YouTube on line on how to engage and get your dogs focus when walking

I agree take her to a couple of one to one training sessions. The aid doesn't really matter because the aim is not to pull. It might be best to teach her offlead.

And by offlead I mean in the garden at home. But it's hard if you've got to let her pull your arm off to get on a daily walk! Hence why I would consult someone.

My six year old golden isn't great. My older one (before he died) was fantastic. I have a 15 week puppy golden and he is at training classes and I've got him on a flat collar and lead. I discussed with them when to use a slip lead etc and they said it doesn't matter what you use because everything can do damage if it pulls, you need them not to pull. He isn't getting formal walks he gets taken out when I have time and his heel work is worked on constantly so he never establishes pulling. So far he's doing really well. They're big dogs and it's definitely worth investing to sort.

Slip lead or martingale collar and lead. I only use a harness if using a longline

fit the slip lead correctly up behind the ears and if you do a correction think up not back- if she is in front of you she’s already pulling

Our Dalmatian pulled like a train. We had one 1:2:1 session with a recommended trainer JUST on loose lead walking then went home and practices like mad. He's so much better. I have him back in his harness and walked a mile and a half on lead even along roads no hassle yesterday. It's genuinely worth the work and massively doable.

ETA we trained with a slip lead but I don't like it. It was an effective tool though.

Please don't use a slip lead on a dog that already pulls - they could end up doing permanent damage to their trachea.

You need a harness with two D-rings, and a double ended lead. Attach one end of the lead to the chest D-ring, and the other to the one on the back. This gives you the most control and if your dog tries to pull, they are pulled round towards you rather than ahead.

Ultimately the only way to fix it is training but in the meantime that's the best way to protect your dogs neck and it should allow them to walk without pulling you over!

Thanks so much for the advice although not sure I'm any the wiser about which one I buy!

I know that she should be trained to walk on a lead properly but finding a trainer and the money for it will take some time and as soon as the beach is open again, we'll be back to using the car I expect. I just wanted to protect her neck for the short distances.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply though

The other thing to try is a y sharped harness, martingale collar and a double ended lead- one end on the collar, one on the harness.
a martingale collar works like a slip lead but can’t over tighten.
a slip lead basically should just allow clear communication-not be a punishment for pulling-it is very difficult to get the same communication with a harness. So I would look to use the martingale for the communication, and walking, but then if they lunge or pull really heavily the weight can be taken by the harness to protect the neck.

If you are getting a harness go to a shop where you can try different types on. Our half and half lab/ goldie is very slender with a long back. Lots of the harnesses were coming up tight under her arms (clearly not arms, but you know what I mean!) We ended up with a brand called rukka. I would have struggled to find a good fit by buying online. She does pull more with the harness than on the lead but it was great for hikes on the long lead when there were lambs around and we couldn't let her off.

You don't need to pay for a trainer to teach her loose lead walking - there are millions of videos out there that will show you for free - it will just take a lot of consistency on your part.

If your dog pulls then they need an X or Y shaped harness to minimise the chance of injury and stress on the joints. Harnesses like the JuliusK9 with the horizontal straps are especially bad as the

Posted too soon!

They're especially bad because they restrict shoulder movement and cause both short and long term joint damage.

As everyone says..training is the key (loads of vids on Youtube that are force free if a trainer is out of budget).. the walk turn, walk turn ones are great and it really works!
I use a harness with my similar sized girl because I don't like having anything round her neck.. she doesn't pull on walks any more (see above!) but if she sees a squirrel she can't help herself (plus I use a long line in deer prone places!)
I've tried several and by far the best we have found is a Perfect Fit.. simply because you buy three pieces so it really does fit perfectly.. fleece lined, and you can go over the head or just clip on . I'd never use another now! They are also very helpful if you aren't sure when you measure up!
I don't like slip leads at all as they are aversive tools.