Obedience training or harness?

Hi everyone,
On our way back from our afternoon walk this afternoon, Rosie came across a few other dogs, 2 she had never seen before and another who had come up to her once before. I have her in a Halti head harness which is attached to her collar and when these dogs came within a few metres of her she pulled and when I pulled her back she tried to pull her Halti and collar off of her head to get near these dogs. Mind you she didn't seem to want to say a friendly Hello. Now the dog she's met before is also a female (not sure if desexed or not) and she has free roam of the town. As we walked by this dog's owners house she came out to Rosie growling and hackles raised, I told it to go home but it persisted and I encouraged Rosie to move on but she growled and tried pulling out of her collar and Halti once again. On both of these occassions I picked her up until these dogs moved on and then put her on the ground shortly after. I know I shouldn't have but she was certain to pull her head out of her collar/Halti if I didn't take control. I apologise for the long explanation but I wanted you all to get atleast an idea of why I'm asking...
Should I get her a body harness so that I still have control and not have her be able to pull herself out when I'm trying to encourage her forward, or do any of you have some tips to train her to ignore situations like these and move on without me purchasing a new harness?

P.S. Recently she's been rubbing her nose/face into the grass/dirt where her Halti sits and roll around in the grass. Is this an irritation on the Halti's part or just a normal thing for her to do? And I mean, she does this very frequently on walks.

We use a collar and harness and switch the lead back and forth depending on the situation. Have you taught the watch me command yet? This is what we use when we have to walk Suki by a situation we want to avoid.

Ah yeah. Rosie's a big time puller without her Halti, but when it comes to other dogs being around all that training goes out the window. How does the harness go with pulling? If any.
No I haven't even heard of it actually

We use to have Pixee on a harness, but due to hurting her shoulder and vets advice, no harness, so we brought a wide collar, 2" ezdog one. Now Pixee has got out of her harness a few times by walking backwards, ever her thin collar which was attached to the harness once too. We were out in town for a gentle walk weekend just gone, and Pixee not liking certain people (something to do with her history, she is a rescue dog) barked in warning at this lady who held her hand out to fuss her, (this lady has staffies and said how sad it is for Pixee and what a pretty girl she is) and to our amazement Pixee also tried to get out of her collar as she just didnt like that lady, but I am pleased to say, that the wide collar held in place, we had to calm her down by walking away from the lady. So a body harness may not be the answer unless anyone on here has a harness that their staffie hasnt got out of yet? How wide is Rosies collar? And I would try as jstaff has suggested too.

She had a spiked leather collar from her previous owner when I first got her but now has a 2.5cm nylon collar as she seemed pretty irritated by the leather one. Hmm, after reading your story I wonder if she'd be able to pull out of a harness too...

A harness gives you control by you being able to pick the dog up by the front legs then they can't go any where. I don't know how they can get out of a harness as it fastens around the belly area.

mazz wrote:A harness gives you control by you being able to pick the dog up by the front legs then they can't go any where. I don't know how they can get out of a harness as it fastens around the belly area.

Thats true re the control, which is why I liked the harness. Pixees harness did fasten round the belly area, its when she walks backwards its kind of like slipping out the arms first, and the rest comes off over the head, it happens so quick, you just dont have a chance, as you tell them no and walks towards them, they walk backwards ever more. Which is why I wonder if anyone else has a harness that they cant walk backwards out of and what kind it is.

Suki is a puller as well. We clip the lead on the collar when we want to be able to control her head to stop her from eating off the ground or potentially biting anything. Once that isn't an issue we switch back to the harness which seems to help the behaviour a little.

Even if she is pulling a bit we prefer to use the harness so we don't damage her throat. The turning around tatic does work it just takes time and alt of patience. Suki doesn't pull often except for the start of her walks due to a high energy level and if she sees something she wants to investigate.

The best thing I've found is her backpack. She rarely pulls if we have that on.

We use a harness when walking Rocky. He used to have the Julius K9 one, but he is able to get out of it. He kind of backs up and twists himself out of it. We now use the EzyDog harness which he hasn't got out of yet and I dont think he could, so I would recommend this one over the Julius one.

We walk Fiver on a harness as it gives us better control and stops him pulling which he did a little on just his collar. We bought an expensive Bergen harness which is mainly really good for travelling in the car as it has been tested in RTAs and keeps him safe and secure in the car. He did work out how to get out of it though by walking backwards so we don't use it any more for walking just when he's in the car

Pets at Home do a specialised dedicated Staffy harness but at £59 quid it is a tad expensive, though it looks fantastic quality. I might get him one to test it. We currently use a Pets at Home Trufit harness which cost us £18 quid which is really easy to get on, and stays put too. Fiver has never got out of it and likes walking in it without pulling.

As a back up though we also have a double ended lead that we clip onto both the harness tether and his collar so if he did ever get the harness off he would still be attached to the lead so couldn't run off.

Rosie's Ezydog harness arrived today. Tested it out straight away. I have complete control of her now. When she pulls in the opposite direction I can virtually pick her up with just the lead and turn her around. Don't think we'll be using the Halti anymore. You wouldn't believe the amount if people that thought her Halti was a muzzle!

Of course she pulled because you teach her so,try red-green techike or start walking in oppositive way and when she came to your leg award her.Start trainning with no disstraction and then add some step by step.Try to be alpha in positive way and with limits.
Sorry for my bad english

We walk Sasha on a harness. she isnt too bad with a collar but when she is excited starts pulling. The harness we have was a padded one from pets at home (£9) and we had it fitted by them, she now never pulls and cant get out of it.

Hi

I have a harness which helps but also after recommendation, I ahve a gencon collar which goes over Ozzy;s nose which really stops him pulling