that was a good one! and absolutely true

mine once fell out of a rubbr boat by all of her euphoria, when once we made a trip over the river
could get her back in quite easily without to strangle her by a collar

Malka, that photo is lovely

that's exactly why I'm using a harness and no collar

I have started using one for Lola, I do think it is kinder on her neck. Ossie never got on with a harness, he wouldn't walk with one at all, so he had his collar. I never keep a collar or harness on my dog when they are indoors.

Well, I've never used harness in all my years of having dog but I thought I'd get one for in the car.
I tried it for walking to see what it would be like and it really does seem to be a kinder way of dog walking.

I bought an Ezydog one which has a handle on the top. This will be very handy for getting hold of him in an emergency. Its quick to put on and off too.

Many people saying they have no collar at home but what if your dog was to get out by accident? they would have no ID tag for a quick and easy identification and return.

Thank you! It is difficult to believe that she had gotten so podgy - she had gone from 17kg in the April to 20.8 by October that year and that photograph certainly shows podge, although she always has had a very thick scruff with loads of loose skin [her hair is longer on her scruff as well]. But her face - so fat and squished against the arm of the chair... now she has lost all that excess weight she looks exactly as in my avatar [and Welcome photo] - slim and beautiful!

Anyhow, I think that the photograph shows how comfortable her harness is and how comfortable she is wearing it. That was a L and she has gone to M/L and now S/M. I know they are adjustable but I want her to be comfortable so the fit has to be perfect.

I liked the EzyDog Quickfit which is the same style, but this one is much softer so better suited for her. But each to his/her own and all dogs are different shapes and sizes so need different styles of harnesses.

Shane,

I am the same, never used a harness previously, but decided to try one with our new pup and it's great it doesn't pull his neck, I feel I have greater hold of him when we are out walking and he can't slip out of it like he could with a collar.

I also bought a seat belt clip which we used yesterday for the first time time and again it worked a treat.

I'm not keen on dogs wearing collars in the house in case they get caught on something (especially when running around like a mad puppy!) but Dougal is microchipped too. The only time I would leave a collar on him 24/7 is if we are staying away from home.

Having seen the benefits of a harness, I won't go back to a collar.

I used harnesses on all my dogs for different reasons:

Lasqa was a shy little lady, scared of other dogs, cars, loud noises etc. and with a collar she managed a couple of times to wriggle out and run away. She was also traumatised as a pup by the kids who lived with her mum as they tied little leads around their necks and dragged them around when they were only 4 weeks old, so if she felt any kind of pulling on the lead she just stopped paralysed. With a harness she was much better and more confident.

Musette used to pull a little occasionally but her throat is so sensitive that even an accidental jump and pull would cause her to cough for hours. Harness was an easy solution to that.

I used a harness on Wassily as a puppy but reverted back to a normal, padded collar as an adult as he was so huge the harness was a massive hassel to put on and as he didnt't pull and didn't have any problems the collar was fine.

When I first walked Ella she only had a collar and she pulled quite hard. I obviously need to do a lot more training with her for that, but I also bought her a harness. She pulls a lot less and I feel more confident with it as it's easier to pull her back on it if she lunges at a dog without fear of injuring her. Also, I can just clip her into the car seat belt easily.

Oh and I never leave anything on the dogs when they are alone at home. Imagine what would happen if they jumped up somewhere and got caught on a door handle or something..

And my trainer advised us to get them used to not wearing a collar, as in Switzerland you weren't allowed any kind of collar in agility competitions. And if a dog has never got their collar removed they might act differently if suddenly they feel 'free'.

I have never had a dog get caught on anything when left with a collar or harness on over 30 years 10 different shapes and sizes of dog. Most of them sleep when we are gone I believe.