What type of harness ?

Hi all, just wondering if any of you use a harness if your dog is strong.
Dougal has gone seriously strong within the last few months. I have been trying to train him, bringing him back to heel, then setting off again - this lasts about 6 strides, then the gap between us becomes bigger. I walk in the other direction, works for a while then stops.
I have tried a halti on him, and even though it fitted well, it worked at first, then he just learn't to pull with that aswell. I had to take it off as it was marking his nose.
I am now thinking about a harness so i have more control over his body.
Can you advise me on some good harness's i can buy before one arm gets longer than the other !
Thank you.

The problem with a regular harness is it will make it easier and more comfortable to pull. An anti pull harness is a training aid rather than a solution, so in order for it to work you would have to treat every walk as a training exercise. Each time he pulls, stop walking until he returns to heel. This could mean you don't get a proper walk with him for a couple of weeks or more and can be frustrating for both of you so you have to be consistent. If he tries dragging you down the street come back into the house, take his lead off and sit down, then try again after five, ten minutes or so. He'll soon learn that you don't like him pulling, although at his age and being a Dally you may be in for the long haul!

I used a headcollar for Dan with some rolled up fleece sewed onto the nose strap so he wouldn't wear a hole in his face. It worked for us, and six months down the line we don't use the headcollar anymore. I use a half check and he walks better on that than a flat collar.

Good luck!

Im currently trying the look at me type plan. I walk 1 step and wait for the dog to look at me, then reward. Am building it up slowly. The dog cant pull like a stem train and look at me at the same time

If you want to go for a harness, the Mekuti harness is quite recommended for pullers - it has a d-ring on the front as well as the back, and the shape of it helps give you more control.
http://www.mekuti.co.uk/

You could also look into different headcollars, I find the Dogmatic headcollars a lot better than the Halti ones
http://www.dogmatic.org.uk/

It's worth remembering that these are just to aid with training though, not quick fixes, and as you've seen, the dog will learn to pull on all these gadgets if it's allowed to. If you're struggling with the stop/start method or changing directions, perhaps give the 300 peck method a try. Remember to keep training sessions short and sweet - 6 lots of 10 minutes spread over a day is much better than a solid hour of training. If it's short, it's more likely to end on a better note, without you or the dog getting bored or frustrated. If you have to walk somewhere and can't carry out this 300 peck method, try to drive instead or use a different kind of restraint, e.g. headcollar, otherwise you could undo all your progress by letting the dog re-learn that it can pull on its lead.
Here's the 300 peck method explained
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Dog_Car...ur_Dog_to_Heel

Thanks -- I'll have to check this out. Pulling is one thing I've found very difficult with my dog.

Hi guys, apologies to butt in. The right sort of harness can also depend on what breed you have. Some breeds are not suited to harnesses, because it is in their genes to pull i.e. Huskies, Rotties etc.
An alternative to the full head collar (halti etc) is a figure of eight lead which can also be used as a slip lead and regular lead.
Hope this helps

Mekuti harnesses are excellent - and work very well.

They are used with a double-ended lead. One end clips to the off-side of the dog (left if your dog is walked on the left), passes through an O-ring on the chest then through another D ring on the near-side (optional but I find it works best).

The other end of the lead then clips onto a D ring on the back. The lead is held with both hands like reins on a horse. Sounds more complicated than it really is!

When the dog tries to pull, your tension on the part of the lead that passes in front of the chest, means the dog actually ends up pushing instead, and naturally falls back to walk beside you.

Tala would pull even in a headcollar if we were going to a particular field because she got so excited at meeting her friends. I found that if I stood still it turned into a game where she bounced back to my side and as soon as we set off she was out in front again.

So I decided she would only get to run free on the field if she got there without pulling. When she pulled I said 'no' calmly and turned round and walked the other way - for quite a distance. We had an interesting morning walking backwards and forwards and all around the streets and in the end she didn't actually get to run free on the field. It definitely had an effect on her and now she can be commanded to heel even going to the (very exciting) field.

If you do this I think you have to be prepared to follow through to the end and turn round and go home if necessary. And I think training is as tiring as a run so I didn't feel guilty about the lack of exercise. But while you are training loose lead walking you can always drive to the field and miss out the walking bit.

I've never had much luck with the non-pull training collars/harnesses. The Halti harness worked ok, until my dog learnt to pull into it. Plus, it was fiddly, which I hated. The Halti Head Collar she HATED (despite months of trying to get her to accept it), so I had to give up on that one.

Now, I just use a regular fleece harness (from www.snugglepets.co.uk), a regular collar and good old praise. The Snugglepets harness has a front and a back clip for extra control, but most of the time I attach a double ended lead to both her collar and the back clip. This gives good control of the head and body. If I am walking her on her own (without my other dogs), however, I'll just use a flat collar but be armed with lots of high value treats (chicken being the favourite) and she'll walk nicely to heel.

One head collar that I think looks better (for the comfort of the dog) is the Canny Collar:

http://www.cannyco.co.uk/home.html

The lead clips from the top of the head rather than the bottom. I've never tried one as we are (veeery slowly ) making progress with lead work, but they look good to me.

I've tried it and I didn't get on with it. I had an anxious GSD with dog aggression but she had hip dysplasia so I needed a gentle way to hold her back if she saw another dog, so I tried just about every headcollar there was. The Canny Collar didn't work very well for her at all, she still pulled like a train, and for whatever reason it made her make horrible raspy noises. Wasn't long before I stopped using it and went onto another headcollar.
May be worth a try though as different things suits different dogs. But it definately wasn't comfortable for my dog - I think the Dogmatics are one of the most comfortable looking headcollars and my two seem fine with them. The leather ones are a lot more solid and more like a horse bridle than the Halti, Gentle Leader, etc which I think helps.