And there are countless stories of collapsed trachea, laryngeal paralysis, not to mention AGGRESSION caused by dogs pulling on the lead.

I am not sure if you are aware but when a dog pulls on a collar it restricts the intake of oxygen to the brain which can then cause behaviour changes, quite often aggression?

This was discussed at a seminar I attended earlier this year with Tony Nevin on handler restraint, where the pros and cons of collars, harnesses and head halters were debated.

It was also part of the Christine Zink seminar.

Now I agree that anti pull harnesses may damage dogs and those which are poorly designed ie with the shoulder and/or humerus restricted; buckles etc on the point of shoulder and overly bulky ones are not to be recommended.

But that is down to the DESIGN of the individual harness and poor fitting rather than harnesses per se.

The same can be said for collars and head halters.

So "WE" (as in owners;breeders; trainers; health professionals) see soft tissue damage and worse in ALL types of handler restraint.

There is no need to demonise a piece of equipment just because some designs are poor, fitting is poor and use is poor.

If this was the case we could so the same with ALL equipment.

That is why some of us bother to continually educate ourselves in order to provide the best advice for dogs and their owners and to learn how to inform people of all the pros and cons of the equipment choices out on the market.

Which is a little more useful I believe than sweeping generalisations which do not adequately enumerate the pluses and minuses.

It's funny this whole idea of harnesses. I posted a picture of Pennie in one on a gundog forum and was asked "Why the harness" Well she's a puppy, she's still growing, it makes it easier to get hold of her and clip on her lead, if she gets scared she can't pull out of it or strangle herself, if she gets in the way I can move her out of the way without choking her, I can get her out of the car quickly by holding the top of the harness and under her bum.. not to mention other pro's to it. The only con is if you use the wrong type harness.

I found all of the above to be true for us too

Fleece looks good as it is soft, but it retains the heat and there have been studies done which show the muscles on which these harnesses rest retain the heat for 24 hours!

Not healthy.

I find this interesting. Shall investigate the sort you have mentioned and linked to - Whisper does not need any extra heat with all her fur!

Constant learning curve this doggy thing isn't it!

Dont be silly. That is sooo melodramatic! Ive owned this breed for almost 20yrs, never known one strangle itself yet just because an owner cant put in a bit of extra effort! The harness will make him worse because he is freely able to do whatever he likes while he is on it.

Amazing isnt it. Im pretty sure that there are very very few instances in this world where a dog will strangle itself while its owner has it on a lead. Unless of course its a regular occurrence, and dog death by strangulation is a common thing and Ive simply missed them all. After all, it would be be incredibly difficult while the dog is on the end of a lead held by its owner!!

Believe what you like. Have you managed a boarding kennels for 20yrs that boards up to 116 dogs?

I have NEVER seen a dogs damaged neck because of a collar, I have seen MANY cases of ruined front and soft tissue damage, particularly in young animals, because of owners being towed about with dogs on harnesses. Whether you believe it or not, holds no interest for me.

I read (( This Information )) on the Dog Games website about the health benefits of harnesses - convinced me anyway.

The very idea of harnesses being 'ugly' is frankly laughable.

Anyway; luckily Whisper isn't too fashion conscious and has never objected to hers.

However; they obviously detract from the look of a dog...














..... and are horribly uncomfortable and seriously inhibit movement....





















And this is obviously much 'prettier' (photo' taken at the Rescue)





........