harness, sensitive throat/trachea?

[Discussing Labradoodles & Goldendoodles]

Does anyone else have to use a harness because their doodle has a sensitive throat or collapsed trachea? Noah does not have a collapsed trachea, but the other day, he took off because he saw a squirrel and I think he got major whiplash on his neck. He was wheezing / coughing for a little bit. The next morning, he was making a honking / raspy cough sound and I was really scared he was showing the early signs of kennel cough. We went on a walk and if he pulled and had resistance on his neck, he would start wheezing. I'm worried he hurt his throat, but this morning it sounded better - still a little bit of wheezing when he tried to pull - no more honking/raspy cough. I was looking into the easy walk harnesses, but I read reviews that they break easily - anyone else experience this? I might opt for a more traditional harness, but now I'm afraid this will encourage him to pull. I like using a collar and lead because I have a lot more control and he doesn't pull frequently enough to warrant a gentle leader or harness, but I don't want him to hurt his throat again. Other than the occasional wheezing noise when there's resistance on his neck, he acts totally fine. But if the wheezing is still there by the weekend, he's going to the vet.

[Missi]

Hey Jane! I use a harness on Lizzie all of the time now! One, she was pulling on her neck pretty bad when she would try to chase the cats (in the house) and then end up coughing. Not really wheezy, but it still bothered me. She used to jerk against the collar really frocefully! At 15 weeks, I didn't want to just give-in and get an easy-walk, I wanted to see if I could train her myself to walk with just a normal harness. It took her a few hours to get used to it, but I think she likes the harness better. And, I've found that she pulls LESS than she did with the collar, plus since it's her whole front legs, it's really easy for me to re-direct her as I have control of more of her than a regular collar. She doesn't leash-bite while walking as much either, because the leash attaches on her shoulder blades. So no more regular collars here, until she at least gets older!

[Carole (*Koda*Monty*Bindi)]

Jane, we use the easy walk harness with Gaston. We started when he was about 12 weeks old. It wasn't a matter of him pulling-- it was because I thought that he was very sensitive to being led by his neck. It's hard to explain but even if I tugged the slightest bit to lead him he would cough. That concerned me and I just decided to go with the easy walk harness. We've loved it. It doesn't constrict him at all. Just leads him from his chest instead of his neck and we've not had any coughing since! :)

Give that little fur ball a hug from us :)

[Sandy]

I am in the process of trying to figure out what to do with Toby. We are in obedience, and a couple of instructors have suggested the gentle leader, but I'm not really a fan of it. I have been researching the easy walker harness, and it looks promising. Toby is over 50 pounds, and almost 8 months old. I wonder if the harness is our answer? He walks well in the neighbourhood, but gets so excited going to class that he starts pulling, and that's all the instructors see!

[Paul & Michele]

Hello! I had alot of people tell me about the gentle leaders they have at petsmart and petco, I have a 3 year old and when we got Molly (our goldendoodle) our little girl wanted to walk her but as Molly got bigger she started pulling so I broke down and spent the $24. on a gentle leader and you wouldn't believe the difference. I was taking photos of a couple and their 3 labs and they had one for each of there dogs and told me they now sold them at walmart (not called gentle leader brand but same thing as I bought at petsmart) and they ar $6.(at walmart) I got one for our lab who I could never walk because he pulled so bad and tried it out. The first time he had it on he walked perfect NO PULLING!!! (there was slack in the lease even) It is a collar that goes around the neck and then it has a loop in the middle that you put around their nose, (some one told me they were originally made for training horses) when they start to pull the piece around their nose starts making them walk crooked and they stop pulling. It's kinda hard to explain but trust me they work. You'll be surprised.

[Elizabeth]

There are are a couple tools I have found useful, it just depends on the dog, they are all used very differently.
1. With Ruck, a large mixed breed, (about 120 punds, a very large dog- i think he was part great dane) the gentle leader was a wonderful tool; he was well behaved and knew many tricks and commands.. I found that the gentle leader helped, but it did not break him of the habit per se. It was wonderful for gaining control and for training purposes. It is very important to use gentle, soft, corrections with the gentle leader. It doesn't take much to correct the dog. With a regular collar, many people use a quick jerk on the collar to correct the dog when walking. With the gentle leader, this could potentially hurt their neck.
2.With Sophie, my doodle, it's an entirely different scenario. Though I have used the gentle leader on her, I find it is not as effective. Since sophie has regained her sight, she has also gained her confidence (plus some!). She is very smart and knows many commands. With her previous owner, she was allowed to get her way for along time. She can be bullheaded and was doing things only when she wanted to. Also, she was very very easily distracted. The pinch collar has worked amazingly. Initially, we used it during training sessions and on walks. Now, we have begun to wean her off of it, using it on some walks. She now listens much better. But it wasn't easy at first because she was very upset about giving up her right to do whatever she pleased whenever she pleased. I didn't feel the gentle leader was right for her at that time, but maybe a usefull tool for her at some point.
3. For a foster dog Lucy, she stopped pulling with the addition of a harness. A pinch collar was not a proper choice for her personality, she was very timid and submissive. The harness worked great!
Good luck and I hope you find what works best for your guy.

[Kim Williams]

Hi Jane,
I used a pinch collar with Parris for training also, but now I have started using the Martingale fleece leash at agility and she is not pulling as much on this. I think that would be a great choice. I'm glad Noah is ok, that kinda scares me too. I 'm still in the process of weaning the pinch collar and the martingale seem good. I got mine from www.kollarsbykathryn.com. It is a fun website with lots of collar options.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I also love the Gentle Leader Easy Walk harness,(don't confuse it with the Gentle Leader head harness, a lot of people do).
If you don't want to use a harness, definitely try the poinch collar or the martingale. I learned early on with Jack that ordinary choke chains (training collars), and sometimes even plain buckle collars on the smaller dogs or puppies, can actually cause minute fractures of the trachea if the dog pulls hard enough. I know of several people who had this happen to their dogs, and didn't even know it for awhile. You may hear a lot of negative opinions about pinch collars, and I myself have never used one, but one thing I know for sure is that they are safer from an injury standpoint than the traditional type collar for a dog who has a strong pulling tendency.

[Marianne *OZZY & ZOEY]

I used the Gentle Leader Easy Walk Harness, and Ozzy got out of it....Ozzy has a habit of jumping up and going backwards that is how it came right off of him, I was shocked when it happened. It works great if he just goes forward, so if any of your doodles have that same habit of jumping up in the air you can attach a double walker one end to the leader and one end to the collar. That is what I had to do....Even Ozzys trainer was so suprised to find out how easy it is if they go backwards.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Maybe Jack is too dumb to figure that out, lol, but I can't imagine how they could get out of it by going backwards. The belly strap runs behind their front legs, under the axilla, they'd have to have both legs straight out in front of them to manage it! I think Ozzy's harness may have been too loose...you should have to pull a little bit to get the strap fastened.
Or maybe you just have a "Doodini" on your hands!

[Mommy2Max]

Max uses the easy walk harness and he gets his leg stuck in it. You hit the nail on the head though. It's a bit loose because he is in between sizes. If he gains another two pounds or so, it will fit perfectly. It works fine when he is walking forward but if he jumps all over the place - his leg gets stuck or it comes out of the harness completely.

~Danielle

[Marianne *OZZY & ZOEY]

You got it Karen, his legs go straight up and he backs up just like taking off a tee shirt. I have used it many times and thought this was the greatest thing until he got all excited in our backyard (thank God) that is where it happened just before I opened the gate to take a walk.
Good name now maybe I will call him Ozzadini!

[chastity]

Hi Jane!
I can't really say i've experienced major pulling with Charly, she seems to know that when she's on the leash she cant go to far. when i first got her i would always keep her very close to my left side as we walked. i did this hardcore for about 2 weeks, i'm sure there were times she wanted to bolt but she never did i guess she just knew like hey... i can't really go too far. so 2mths have passed since i've had Charly and until last week i decided to buy a harness, only because everytime we go to the park and i run with her, i would have to pull her because she didnt really want to run and i felt bad pulling on her neck with the collar. I thought she would want to pull alot being on the harness as i've heard that many dogs tend to do, but i think that because i got her so used to sticking close to me at all times, she just does the same on the harness. I absolutely love the brand EZY DOG. they have the greatest collars, leashes, and harnesses. Charly has one of each and let me tell you.. they are great! very comfortable. Charly has her collar on at all times and i always use it when she has to go out to do her business. The only time i use the harness is when we go out, wether to a park, someones house, basically anywhere other than our home.