I generally walk my dogs with a regular harness that clips at the back. I expect my dogs to walk nicely on leash without pulling. They generally do but there are distractions we encounter where they do pull so I prefer to use a harness rather than have them yank their necks. I have tried a head halter on Max when I knew we would be walking around major distractions (squirrels). I have shaped it to the point where he will walk quite nicely with it and it certainly does help hold his brain in place when we encounter squirrels but I'm not very comfortable (both literally and figuratively) in using one on such a short dog. I know the proper technique of sliding your hand down along the leash to the end but the problem is that the end of the leash is only 12 inches off of the ground which means either I need the arms of an ape or I need to bend right over. This takes more time than it would for a large dog and there is the risk that Max will be able to jerk the head halter (and his neck) and/or I will put my back out.
I know the regular harness reinforces any pulling the dog does do so I decided to try an easy-walk harness. I've been using it all week on our walks. I haven't made up my mind about it yet. I'm used to walking with the leash in a "J" position. When I do this with Rylie the leash tends to get tangled around his feet. Even with Max it slaps at his front leg. Not sure what the solution is. I also find the leash itself gets wrapped around Rylie's neck as he is in the habit of changing sides a fair bit so I have been doing a lot more untangling than I normally would have to. Having said that it doesn't seem to bother either dog to wear it. I can't honestly say about the pulling as we haven't met up with any major distractions on our morning walked this week (well until today when I had them in their regular harnesses and they acted like they had never been walked on a leash in their lives).
I'll give it a try for a week or two more and search out some high level distractions before I make up my mid whether I like it or not.
1 comment:
I've used a Halti for Maizey, but she really hates it so I don't use it anymore. These are two good no-pull harnesses we sale at work: http://www.wiggleswagswhiskers.com/newsite/freedom-no-pull-harness.htm and http://www.softouchconcepts.com/product/sense-ation-harness
The sensation is similar to the easy walk, but the Freedom works off a back hook too which I think is a little easier on a small dog. It's still a lot of hardware and you do have to get used to how it works as a dog switches sides, but may be a good option. I just use a puppia harness and if they pull they pull, but Magnus rarely does and Maizey. . .ahh Maizey's just Maizey.LOL They both have a great LLW on a collar and I just use the harness to give them a little more freedom. I do like it better to protect their necks though.
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