Collar or Harness?

[cmae]

Collar. Teach your dog to walk on a leash and then you don't need a harness. (I'm old school, I guess)

Eventually I would like him on a collar for everything. We use a collar at home and while training. The harness will just be for he first few times he's outside walking. Like I said, he is a noise sensitive puppy and I would rather be safe than have him slip his collar if he gets spooked. So, harness it is until we know how he will react when scared outside!

 

[Greenepony]

Thank you everyone for your input. We decided to go with a harness (better safe than sorry!), and he actually seems to like it. Normally he is fairly anxious in the car.. we put it on him for the ride home and he was super calm. Maybe it acts like a thundershirt?

Anyway, we will be using it for the time being and maybe switch to a collar in the future. Thanks again!!

I believe it's TTouch that has a figure 8 type wrap that works on the same principle as the thundershirt, just more targeted and that's what I went to as a theory for why Olive is calmer in a harness (that and her skin was sensitive to the martingale lead with her allergies.)

 

[Caro]

I'd be inclined to teach him to walk on a collar first (martingale for safety). It's much easier to teach loose lead walking and heeling (to walk nicely) on a collar, then switch to a harness. Many dogs lean into harnesses so it can encourage pulling if they aren't well trained. You'll want a collar anyway to put his tags on. In classes my puppy's and level 1s have to train on a collar, it's not until they have mastered that they are allowed to use harnesses instead, altho most opt for collars for training.

You'll probably be going through several collars/harnesses as the pup grows. You don't want a harness he'll grow into as it will be too easy to wiggle out of.

 

[cmae]

I'd be inclined to teach him to walk on a collar first (martingale for safety). It's much easier to teach loose lead walking and heeling (to walk nicely) on a collar, then switch to a harness. Many dogs lean into harnesses so it can encourage pulling if they aren't well trained. You'll want a collar anyway to put his tags on. In classes my puppy's and level 1s have to train on a collar, it's not until they have mastered that they are allowed to use harnesses instead, altho most opt for collars for training.

You'll probably be going through several collars/harnesses as the pup grows. You don't want a harness he'll grow into as it will be too easy to wiggle out of.

He has both a collar and a harness now - both fit him well. So far in the house he hasn't tried any Houdini shenanigans but I have a feeling that will change outside as he is a scaredy cat when it comes to noises. We do have a lot of big trucks pass by so I think the plan right now is to use a harness for the first few times out until we know how he reacts when it comes to those noises. Inside the house we train with a collar and lead and he does well. If he isn't a Houdini puppy outside then we will use the collar all the time.

 

[shelby1]

I use both a harness and a collar , I just purchased a martingale collar for my puppies and I have to admit I was nervous walking them, but the martingale does seem to work pretty good.I got a all nylon one. I definitely favor a harness.

 

[ghggp]

both
the round leather collars hold their tags but the leash is attached to their harnesses.

just make sure that whatever you use fits well

I totally agree! My boy Logan slipped his collar as we went into the groomers! I was mortified as it was on a busy service drive by the highway!

He almost ran into the busy street as I yelled at him and blocked him. He then ran down the side street... The groomer ran with me to help me catch him. He kept running away from us. I knelt down on the sidewalk and called his name softly and patted my leg. He stopped for a second and then kept running.

We were 5 blocks away when a man driving down the street saw what was happening. He lived on the street. His house was a few houses farther up from where Logan was. He pulled in his driveway, ran in his house and grabbed his little white dog and proceeded to sit on the sidewalk with his little dog in his lap.

Logan was running towards him and then stopped. My groomer was ahead of me and scooped him up! I swear I almost had a heart attack. I thanked the man profusely for what he had done. I could not stop crying.

I was heart broken that he would run away from me as much as I loved him. I could not understand. I was told that they will sometimes just go into flight mode and they are not thinking at all. The outcome could have turned out so much worse. He now wears both!

Please, please, please use both. You will not regret it!

 

[iceprincess]

You might want to try BOTH! I tried a collar first and spent couple days leash training him but Max didn't like it. He refused to move. Then couple days later I tried a harness, he was doing OKAY. I trained him for 20mins and he was doing good. I will continue using harness.

 

[vickaaayhay]

Congrats on nearing that time of being able to see the world! Just reached that stage with Aimee and I find that I like harnesses better. She also happily walked beside me indoors, but once we got outside she wanted to sniff everything! I've tried martingales and her regular collar also.
She has tugged on the leash before pretty hard - maybe enough to slip her collar if she was wearing one at the time. Also I don't feel guilty giving a slight tug to get us to keep moving if she's wearing a harness than if she had a collar on. I feel like tugging by the neck would be much more uncomfortable. We are new to walks so I hope this helps ^^"

 

[cmae]

Congrats on nearing that time of being able to see the world! Just reached that stage with Aimee and I find that I like harnesses better. She also happily walked beside me indoors, but once we got outside she wanted to sniff everything! I've tried martingales and her regular collar also.
She has tugged on the leash before pretty hard - maybe enough to slip her collar if she was wearing one at the time. Also I don't feel guilty giving a slight tug to get us to keep moving if she's wearing a harness than if she had a collar on. I feel like tugging by the neck would be much more uncomfortable. We are new to walks so I hope this helps ^^"

We are free now, yay! We have decided to go with the harness as well.. I am way more comfortable with him in it at this stage. He is noise reactive and we often have big trucks coming by so until he is better leash trained and used to all these loud noises, harness it is. Hopefully at some point we will be able to switch over!

 

[Mom2Melli]

I like martingales. Don't get me wrong. I walked my Aussies on them for years. Melli is a delight on one. However, my shepherd and Cubby are more skittish. Shay with anything and everything, Cubby with pretty severe stuff like jet airplanes and banging things.

The best safest no pull out harness I have found after literally field-trialing every single harness made on my Shay is the Ruffwear Webmaster harness. It's pricey but not as pricey as loss or death. Our first outing, before I got that harness, Cubby pulled out of the other harness while my mom had him and I spent the rest of the day with the harness and extra loose martingale clipped together for piece of mind. I was waiting for Cubs to grow up before getting the Webmaster and I very well could have lost him into traffic (it was REAL close).

We use the harness. We trained from the get-go to not pull and to walk "in the loose leash zone". Consequently, he has always been a dream to walk and I have gotten special permission to train on harness. He does completely shut down on martingale or any pull on the neck aside from the slipping out part.

Harnesses don't make the best photography but I trade that for safety on both the boys. Melli is just bombproof.

Congrat's on "freedom" time.