Harnesses, large breeds and pulling

My Tibetan Mastiff's only fault is he's a beggar for pulling. I must have one of each head collar that's ever been manufactured, about 5 collars and none has worked as he learns to pull into them. I don't really want any advice on putting him on any of the above as I've been there, so try not to bicker, please.

I've always been a bit dubious of harnesses, especially seeing as I tried him on a no pull harness of the type that are a basic collar with two straps that go under the armpits that had no effect whatsoever.

He's coming up for 8 years old now, not that he's any less energetic. My cousin's dog has damaged her trachea from a lifetime of pulling at 10 years old. He keeps her on a short lead (I know, I'm sick of telling him, but he seems to think a chain lead with a leather handle is somehow superior to a good webbing one) and of course she pulls constantly. Anyway, I digress. The TM isn't a constant puller and walks on a loose lead on the road and his Flexilead in open spaces. He's mainly a puller when he sees another dog he wants to greet or sees the fox at night. However, I'd hate to think I'm doing him any damage even though he only pulls in small bouts rather than constantly.

My question is, has anybody had experience of a large dog (43 kilos) on a harness? I was thinking of this type with several attachment points. https://www.kumfi.com/index.php/onli...harness-detail Have we anybody with reformed pullers out there due to the use of such a harness? Success stories, suggestions of other harness types and training advice welcome please. Thanks in advance.

Good design of harness, the only caveat I would mention is that harnesses (IMHO) do not prevent pulling (only training does that)

However for some dogs harnesses are naturally calming (thundershirt theory) for others..............

Similar design is the Mekuti harness.

Is it the Kumfi harness with a ring at the front? If yes, I've been told this is a good harness.

My Lab is smaller of course than your TM, but he lunges and pulls like a lunatic if he sees something he wants to get to. In all honesty I've not yet found a harness that has helped as much as a headcollar.

Have you tried a Gencon AllInOne? It's a figure of eight lead/headcollar which I think is good for dogs that don't pull too much. When the dog pulls, it does tighten, but it does prevent lunges and leaps... If your dog is usually calm, it might be worth a try

Of course, training would be an essential part of swapping over to a harness. I don't expect a miracle.

Yup, have a Gencon. It was one of the better head collars, but he still learned how to pull into it and it rubbed his nose. The biggest problem with all of the head collars was rubbing the fur (even the padded ones) and keeping them out of his eyes. And pulling into a head collar can't be good for a dog's neck.

For some reason, TM's head shape doesn't seem to do head collars any favours. I talked to a fellow TM owner who had a Dogmatic adjusted by the company who makes them several times and it never sat well on his head. Funnily enough, they settled on a Gencon in the end.

I used this for Ollie Bernese very heavy dog 11 stone. That was due to his illnesses that made him a very weighty dog not for want of trying to reduce his weight.

He walked brilliantly till he saw another dog then it all went haywire I use to use a double ended training lead on a casual walk I didn't need to clip it to the other side of the harness but the option was there if needed which sometimes we did and it worked very well for us. Or you could clip to the harness and the collar also very good.

http://dogtrainingharnesses.co.uk/de..._the_walkezee/

The Walkeezee is a design I would avoid

Can I ask why ?

I tried several for Ollie and this I found the best the Mekuti I returned very difficult to use and didn't do what it said. The Easy walk also I found not to be very good it use to always move its position for fitting by the end of the walk and I was forever stopping to tighten it up.

The RVC used the walkeeze and were impressed with it also they were impressed with the ruffwear harness he had as it had the handle to help him rise which he had difficulty in doing. When he was really bad on his back legs the combination of the two were very useful and helpful to him.

Because of the design it goes over the shoulders instead of clearing them.]

The Easy walk is another poor design which I would not recommend.

Ruffwear have various designs, the one developed for S & A is just that and is bulky and covers more of the dog's body.

If you are using a harness to LIFT and MOVE a dog this is vastly different from expecting a dog to move freely unobstructed.

Even the APDT no longer recommend Walkeezees.

i found phoebe pulled so much more in her harness as it was comfy and across a strong part of her body. But phoebe was a constant puller and dislocated my wrist once