Lead or harness??

Heyy

I have a bordeaux he is now 4 months old. My question is which
Is best? Harness or lead? Ive heard that harness can give them an enlarged heart and lead can cause breathing problems?!
He currently is on harness and he loves it. Whenever he has a collar on he kicks up a eight stink... But if collar is better i would use it and he would get used to it!
Any comments would be great
Many thanks.
Adam

Never heard about that but I would have thought he would need to get used to a collar really. I would make sure it's a comfy one and not to tight, put it on him and leave it on him. Don't pay any attention to him fussing about it and give him interesting things to do to keep him distracted and build up good associations with the collar.

I think it's important to get him used to a collar because harness can often be uncomfortable to run in and there may well be times when he can't wear a harness. A injury or sore spot could mean you might need to rely on the collar instead.

I don't see any reason for a collar or harness to be detrimental to a dogs health, unless you let them pull on either for Long's periods.

Thank you very much for your reply

If he loves his harness then I would leave it at that

I would never go back to a collar now having used a harness all these years.
I think they are so much kinder than a collar.

Hi Adam that's a new one , I think you would need a very tight harness worn permanently to have any effect then it is doubtful ...

As long as the harness is well fitting and not tight or rubbing under the legs it should be fine.

Of course I am not a dog but if I was and given the choice I would prefer to be led by a harness balanced over my body than a ligature around my neck .

One of my dogs is walked in a harness and the other in a collar. However, the one who wears a harness does wear a collar when out with is disc on it.

If your dog isn't a puller a collar is fine, but if he is prone to pulling I'd definitely use a harness. I think harnesses are far kinder providing they are fitted properly. The reason that my other dog doesn't wear a harness is that he is an escapologist and I just daren't risk him giving me the slip when out in town.

I too favour a harness over a collar. I think given that your dog is quite a large breed then a harness would work better. I have a harness that has a clip on the back and another in front which makes a huge difference to his ability to pull and lurch away from me. I can't bear collars on him now.

The other advantage, for me, is that it is much easier to pull him out of situations - the other day he was on his long lead and chased a duck into the river, it was steep banked and he couldn't get out but as he had his harness on it much easier to pull him and then pluck him out (with his help of course!).

Holly wears a harness and collar when she is out, but she is walked on her harness. She is abit of a puller, but is much better on a harness. Also for me Holly slipped out of her collar, since wearing her perfect fit harness this has never happened. I would never go back to walking her on a collar.

I would go for harness every time if I could find one that fits Bella comfortably. However is not a big problem now as she no longer 'pulls' on her leads. I just feel rotten putting a collar round her skinny little neck!

I also use a harness for my dog, he wears a normal walking harness rather than a anti-pull one. One of the reasons I favour a harness over a collar is that Max and I tend to walk rural footpaths that often go through sheep fields so we use an extending lead or long line and I would rather use that in conjunction with a harness than a collar.

As a couple of posters have mentioned already, make sure your dog also wears a collar with an ID tag when you are out to be legally compliant.