Collar or harness?

Sorry if this is in wrong section, couldn't find a more specific area for this.

At the moment, Scooby has a leather collar when we go for a walk.

He pulls like crazy at times (to the point of choking himself) but we are currently attending a dog training school so hopefully over time he will get better, however I hear people say to have him in a proper harness as this will help a lot, but then I get conflicting opinions saying that a harness will only make him want to pull more as it wont be choking him as much.

I guess both reasons sound reasonable but before I spend money on a decent harness, I'd like to hear about the experiences from actual staffy owners

Got Iza a harness about 5 months old cause her pulling was bad and i hated hearing her choking she is 11 months now and doesn't pull as much so i only use the harness for really long walks in the country now.

It helped her a lot but the control is not as great as a normal lead but suppose its different for each dog and owner just got to find what works for both of you.

ColinW wrote:Got Iza a harness about 5 months old cause her pulling was bad and i hated hearing her choking she is 11 months now and doesn't pull as much so i only use the harness for really long walks in the country now.

It helped her a lot but the control is not as great as a normal lead but suppose its different for each dog and owner just got to find what works for both of you.

Yeah suppose it doesn't have to be all one or the other does it.

It's not very often we'll walk on lead for all that long anyway as he prefers to fetch the ball but on the occasion where a long walk is inevitable, a harness may be the way to go.

Gives me an excuse now to look into something else to buy him anyway

im afraid every dog is individual so its worth trying and learn from experience what works for you and in what occasions but anyway the best method is training just stop walking if you are getting pulled.

Flo used to pull when we first got her. She had a collar to start with but managed to get out of it one time too often so went for a harness instead. We had several of those before we found one that she didn't get out of. The odd thing is, she doesn't pull at all now especially on a loose lead. I think she kinda just decided it wasn't worth all that effort

half check collar is good stopped mia pulling i only used it over a short period of time she now has a wide fabric padded collar.

Got a couple of each. Iv got canicross harness for running and cycling them. A three point harness for fun in open spaces on a long line. To squirrel orientated to be let off. The collars are for Tuesday when I'm doing a 14 hr night shift and its a short walk day.
Sam used to pull like hell till I started the sports but has calmed loads.
If you like collars strongdogz do wide ones like I bought or use a greyhounds collar. Both are wide enough to protect the windpipe.
Good luck on deciding and show us a pick of the choice on the model

alicia26 wrote:Got a couple of each. Iv got canicross harness for running and cycling them. A three point harness for fun in open spaces on a long line. To squirrel orientated to be let off. The collars are for Tuesday when I'm doing a 14 hr night shift and its a short walk day.
Sam used to pull like hell till I started the sports but has calmed loads.
If you like collars strongdogz  do wide ones like I bought or use a greyhounds collar. Both are wide enough to protect the windpipe.
Good luck on deciding and show us a pick of the choice on the model

A wide collar may be a good idea if he keeps up on the pulling.

I'm determined to train him to not pull at all though - but patience is not one of strongest points haha

I have a wide collar (EzyDog) for Rocky when out on walks. We have the EzyDog harness for when he is in the car for the seatbelt clip to attach.

There are others available such as the El Pero who also do some extra wide ones, check the link below

http://www.elperro.co.uk/shop/product-summary/collars

Kathy wrote:I have a wide collar (EzyDog) for Rocky when out on walks. We have the EzyDog harness for when he is in the car for the seatbelt clip to attach.

There are others availalbe such as the El Pero who also do some extra wide ones, check the link below

http://www.elperro.co.uk/shop/product-summary/collars

Excellent, thanks for this.

We use both at the same time. When we are in a wide open space we use the harness but when we need more control we use the collar. It's easy to change the lead back and forth.

for close quaters walking i use a halti head harness. in my opinion harneses just make pulling more comfortable and is no substitue for training. thats quite rich coming from me who has two dogs that are encouraged to pull

Canicoller is awsom for this and built for short nose dogs. My other half bought one for me when I got stuck on crutches for best part of a year. http://www.cannyco.com/why-choose-a-canny-collar-to-stop-dogs-pulling-on-lead/choose-the-right-size-canny-collar-fit-and-use
Some of the collars on Kathy's page are awsom. Feeling doggy shopping spree coming on

If you have a pets at home near you, take the dog down and try different types. We use a half check collar and a sporn non pull harness with a 6ft double end lead. She walks very well as a rule but when she decides to pull the harness stops her and she gets a correction through the collar.
Pete

As J sez, if you use a harness, then they should always have a collar on as well .. just up to you and the circumstances which one you clip into

Max has them all ... megga wide collar, normal sorta size collars, leather harness, padded Hunter harness ... I use them all for different reasons