General Question Is a harness a Better Choice?

[Lily122511]

I’m having some issues walking Lily.
Lately she has been pulling on the leash whenever she sees another dog.
I’ve tried to keep her right by my side and not give her to much lean way when walking.
But she still pulls and she is pretty strong for a 9 month old pup.
I’m worried about the collar hurting her every time she pulls.
I have even tried to stop and make her sit when she pulls but that doesn’t seems to help either.
Do you think a harness would be a better choice?

I don’t know if a collar is right for her anymore.
I’m also looking in to training classes for us.

 

[Lucy-licious]

Harnesses are the safest bet for bullys, and also for any dog that pulls on a lead because they give better control. We use both harnesses and collars depending on where we are walking and how far...the quick even ing walks are collars because they mostly walk off lead, but bigger walks and we use the harnesses

 

[Bizzymammabee]

If she is a puller then definitely go for a harness. Personally unless we are in our backyard, I use a harness. It gives me way more control. You just never know if a car goes out of bounds or if another dog that may not be too friendly pops up on the scene.

 

[LillyNBruin]

Harness. My Lilly (2 L's ) pulls all the time and since I put a harness on her she still tries to pull but she stops a lot quicker. And I have to put a harness on Bruin b/c after he poops he likes to take off like a bat out of heck while I'm still there focusing on poop pickup and he tends to pull my body in directions it just shouldn't go. The harness is Bruins kryptonite, one little tug with the harness on and its a dead stop! Its great!

 

[BruceP]

Training is the BEST answer by far. In a perfect world you wouldnt need a harness because they would walk quietly beside you...... yeah riiiiiight!!... Get a harness til you find that perfect world and get them in training ..... don;t wait.. earlier the better.

 

[Lily122511]

Harness. My Lilly (2 L's ) pulls all the time and since I put a harness on her she still tries to pull but she stops a lot quicker. And I have to put a harness on Bruin b/c after he poops he likes to take off like a bat out of heck while I'm still there focusing on poop pickup and he tends to pull my body in directions it just shouldn't go. The harness is Bruins kryptonite, one little tug with the harness on and its a dead stop! Its great!

Ha Lily does the same thing! I'm there trying to pick up the poop and she is already pulling the other way.
And then I'm going around in circles with poop in my hand!!!
It's the funniest thing to see!!
Thanks for the info!
We are going to get a harness before we go walking tonight!!

 

[DesertBum]

I use a harness with all my furkids. I never liked the idea of choking hurting their necks and if I have to it is much easier to reach and grab the harness for control instead of using a leash.
They all wear collars all the time, but that is so they can show off their "bling".

 

[Lily122511]

Harnesses are the safest bet for bullys, and also for any dog that pulls on a lead because they give better control. We use both harnesses and collars depending on where we are walking and how far...the quick even ing walks are collars because they mostly walk off lead, but bigger walks and we use the harnesses

Thanks for the info!
Ok stupid question here....how do I know what size harness to get?
Do they go by the weight?

 

[Lucy-licious]

Thanks for the info!
Ok stupid question here....how do I know what size harness to get?
Do they go by the weight?

Well over here they go off neck and chest measurements....not sure if its the same there but I would think so...measure around her chest behind her front legs...and around her shoulders/neck those are the measurements you want the harness to fit. most are adjustable so get the one that fits her at its smallest setting so that it will grow with her xx

 

[Meggs19]

Harnesses work best! It's not good to have all that tugging on the neck either, I know dog's who have had their wind pipes collapse from excessive pulling over the years. You definitely have more control with the harness.

I just saw some people posting about a good harness to buy--the EZ-walk harness or something like that. Ha, I am sure someone can post the name of it for you since I'm sure i've got it wrong.

I might look into a new one for Tonka. He hates his harness for some reason. He goes and hides in the corner when he sees me pull it out. I hope all is well with you and Lily!

 

[elearn]

i agree with [MENTION=1034]BruceP[/MENTION] - if she's pulling, then she is going to need some training because she's going to get stronger - last thing you want is a strong dog with more leverage pulling you down the street In training they wont let you use the harness, depending on the age you'll have to use a buckle collar or slip lead. So while the harness is safer, until you can get her to walk perfectly, you may want to alternate and get some practice with a collar as well.

Herman just got his first harness - he loves it I got a Lupine harness and it goes by "girth" so I got one that is 28"-34" girth - I got the step-in version of the Lupine harness. I'm not going to use it all the time though until he learns to heel perfectly.

 

[LariP]

We had a helpful Petsmart associate help us fit HRH for the harness she wears most. It's an easy step in one buckle between the shoulder blades close type instead of the over the head wrap around the waist and buckle type. It is adjustable for several sized bullies.

 

[dalmatina38]

I use a harness on Amber but something to try would be to change the behavior; redirect her attention when you see another dog/animal close buy. Find a word or phase that gets her attention and refocus her during those times. When she starts to pull, say the word/phase to redirect her attention and eventually she will stop the behavior. I started using this approach on my Great Danes when I was training them and eventually I was able to walk them with slack in the lead. Amber has learned this but it took more time to teach her because she is a little more stubborn than a Great Dane puppy. The word treat usually works great.

 

[JeannieCO]

I have always used harnesses for all my dogs when walking. I have more control over them and I don't need to worry if something does happens that they're going to slip out of it like they can with a collar or getting yanked hard on the neck (dogs like people can injury their neck). They still where their collars with their tags anytime we travel in the car, just in case something was happen.

 

[Vicaroo1000]

I use martingale style collars for many reasons.