Harness behavior

Justicemom said:
I just got one for Birch for agility. When he is actually running he does not wear a collar at all. Martingales are actually illegal collars in agility because they do hang loose and also tighten so could cause injury if caught on the equipment.

A regular collar is hard to find at the end of the run in the 2-3 seconds you have to find it and get out of the ring(there is likely another dog already running behind you). I had a leash and martingale combo but he would get so excited to go into the ring he was choking himself. So the harness fits the bill. It does not tighten on his neck, he does not choke himself, his head is free and he can play and tug easier and not yank his neck on the leash and it is easy to get on and off and doesn't pull his hair.

I do not need the harness for control at all. He responses to his obedience commands just fine and I am finding even better in the harness because I don't have to hold him back(thus no opposition reflex engagement).

For the record , yes Birch does relax more with the harness on but he fires up quickier as soon as it comes off.
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Barb, Dr. Shelli explains it best. Your dog doesn't wear the harness when he runs. Martingales and hanging tags are not allowed in the ring. Some Venues don't even allow collars at all. Your dog has to run naked.

My dog doesn't wear a harness because she is out of control, she wears it because she will slip a regular collar and chokes herself with martingales when she gets excited.

Sheep, my dog hides when she sees or hears the tags on her harness. She's fine once it's on and enjoys walks, but for whatever reason hides under the table when I want to put the harness on. I can't figure out why.
 
Can you post a video of him running in his harness? There may be something he is doing or something else going on, like the way he pulls. Deska kept fumbling at the box until I realised the front of the harness wasn't holding his ruff down. May also be worth either loosening or tightening the harness to see if he prefers more or less movement.

Had a look at the Julius K9 and I must admit it does look heavy weight for flyball. I agree that the top could feel like a hand, there may also be more movement with all the hardware on the top and of course there would be even more movement for a sheltie with all that extra fur. Is it possible to remove some of the extras on the harness to make it lighter?
 
*Caro said:
Can you post a video of him running in his harness? There may be something he is doing or something else going on, like the way he pulls. Deska kept fumbling at the box until I realised the front of the harness wasn't holding his ruff down. May also be worth either loosening or tightening the harness to see if he prefers more or less movement.

Had a look at the Julius K9 and I must admit it does look heavy weight for flyball. I agree that the top could feel like a hand, there may also be more movement with all the hardware on the top and of course there would be even more movement for a sheltie with all that extra fur. Is it possible to remove some of the extras on the harness to make it lighter?
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He is not at a 'run' point. Right now he has kind of stopped progress again. I loosened it at the start of class but once off he changed. Spitfire is a funny little guy. He swings between lapdog and everything must die! in a blink. He will also get upset over silly things and ignore things that you would think might bother him. One thing for sure once he thinks he is captured he acts all submissive but if he thinks he has the edge will escape in amazing time :lol:
 
Btw - I see Sca has his FMX now. Congrats, Tully retired on her FMX, sadly. Just seems like yesterday when you had your first race and Sca was doing laps...
 
*Caro said:
Btw - I see Sca has his FMX now. Congrats, Tully retired on her FMX, sadly. Just seems like yesterday when you had your first race and Sca was doing laps...
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Yep and we need 1633 for our FMCh. I think we will get it at CanAm unless we have a super weekend in 2 weeks :pop This will be two years for Sca in November :biggrin2: Last time at CanAm when he choked he was still a 'green' dog of 11 months (this year he has no excuses :hugs )
 
I am going with 'like a thundershirt' Spitfire generally goes wild and wants to attack thunder. Well last night at 2:30 we had horrible heat lightning storm (I know because I got woke up) that later became a regular storm. Well I decided since I was already up I would test him. It did not last but when I first put on his harness he mellowed for about half an hour. New harness on order :biggrin2:
 
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