Can my puppy wear a harness all day?

[HollyGrave]

Finding it annoying taking it on and off to take outside or to pop a lead on when going into rooms that she needs to be close to me in, etc. can I just keep her in the harness until bedtime/unsupervised, where I'd obviously take it off or is that too much time spent in one?

I would take it off - I've seen dogs get rubbed by their harnesses

Is a slip lead a no go?

Why does she have to be on a lead close to you in the house?

I wouldn’t keep it on, as getting ready to go out is a good training carrot ( ie getting her to sit, be calm)

No that's cruel and why would you need one in the house anyway 🤔

Of course you can’t leave the harness on all day. How lazy are you? You’ve made a commitment. Would you want a seatbelt on you all day? You show zero empathy. And a slip lead is even worse. You don’t sound fit to own a dog at all.

What? I've explained why having it on in the house is helpful.

I need her attached to me in some rooms for training around the cat, she is very reactive. It's literally what was suggested by her trainer. Don't know why you're being rude about that.

Imagine asking for advice as I want to do the right thing to be told I'm not fit to own a dog lol. Unbelievable.

You asked if all day is too much time to spend in a harness and I said yes. Because it’s cruel. If you don’t like the answer then don’t have a puppy or do something about it like not being lazy. Train your dog and yourself.

As long as you make sure it’s fitting ok, not rubbing etc and isn’t stopping normal movement.

Though it also depends a bit on what kind, I wouldn’t leave one of those big ruffwear ones on all day for example.

@BeautyandtheBeats you're awful tbh. I'm obviously training my dog and I'm asking on a forum to know the answer to something yes but that isn't what you answered. Maybe you should train yourself on how to be decent to people

My job is working with dogs. But you know best.

@BeautyandtheBeats know best about what exactly?

Though... thinking about it, why is she on lead every time you take her out?

@tabulahrasa my garden backs on to a field without there being a solid fence (being fitted next month) and I really don't want her running off

I wouldn't want mine wearing a harness for more than a few hours even if well fitting. Especially at the rate puppies grow. I wouldn't have her on the lead anywhere near as much. But your right to use a harness not a slip lead or lead and collar!

For the garden I would get a puppy pen set up so that she can have an explore about without restraint. And inside I would use baby gates. It is also a good idea to let her get used to not always being in the same room as you so don't feel like she has to be with you every second. Get a puppy pen set up somewhere so you can leave her safely.

My puppy managed to chew through her harness twice.

it was not only expensive, but she was in the crate in the car once, it could have been disastrous when I wanted to let her out and put a lead on her, on the road.

so another con to take onboard

My dog has a soft harness and he wears it all day. If I don't put it on in the morning he goes and sits by it because he likes to have it on.

You can as long as it fits well but you’d be much better creating separate areas for the cat and policing points where they may overlap. I say that as someone with a puppy, cat and open plan house! It is durable with gates and a large room divider in our case as well as vigilance.

Durable - doable. I’d not want a puppy tethered to me for any length of tine and no, don’t even think about a slip lead until you pup is a master at loose lead walking.

Imagine asking for advice as I want to do the right thing to be told I'm not fit to own a dog lol. Unbelievable.

Because what you want to do is not the right thing.

Puppies grow fast, they need freedom to move. A harness in the house might be helpful for you, but not for the puppy.

@Newpeep plenty of places they can be separated as I do have baby gates on some rooms so the cats can still access them but dog can't and those are the ones I have the lead used in as one of the cats is dog savvy and fine but the other is blind and will literally let the dog just leap on him, it's been a nightmare because although pup is just playing, he can get very bitey and my blind cat was seeming depressed despite not getting out the way (he's blind but honestly very clever and perfectly fine at getting himself out the situation!) but that's why I approached the 1-1 trainer in the first place as not sure what else to do at this point

@ChardonnaysBeastlyCat yes and that's fine? That's why I asked. I'm asking so I can do the right thing, that's the whole point of asking? if I was going to just crack on and do it regardless, surely I'd never have asked...

I don't think it helped that you said the reason you wanted to do it was because you were finding it annoying taking it on and off.

We did for a brief period of time when our puppy fitted through holes in the fence. Now she’s bigger, she can’t fit & we don’t need to keep her ok a lead the whole time. We did take her harness off when she was in her crate though.

God. Some people are just so rude and totally love a good old fashion pile on.
My dog sometimes wears a harness all day. It’s a specific one made for it, and it’s non rub so he doesn’t get his hair tangled etc. He prefers it on I think. Plus he’s in and out with me a lot so it’s quicker for me and it means he comes out more often.

@TheNineNine I get that, I just meant when we go to a room where he doesn't need a lead, taking all the harness off etc to then sometimes 5-10 mins later we are putting it back on again to go into a room he does need it, etc. it gets a lot. I don't mean it's annoying to put it on and off for general reasons, like yes it's a bit annoying as well because it's outside very quickly when I see circling to pee and I worry I'll miss it by putting on a harness etc