Collar or Harness?

[Zach]

So, Presley is 8 weeks old and I am using a harness on him. He doesnt seem to mind it. Is it good to use that or should I be using a collar? I have heard mixed reviews on both.

[Kelly & Zoe]

Agreed - we put the harness on only for walking - leave the collar on.

[Judith and Addie]

I will add my voice for the Easy Walk harness for leash training. I use a collar now that my dog (almost 14 months) is pretty good with loose-leash walking. One thing I noticed that I haven't seen mentioned yet in the comments is that, especially when my puppy was going through her coat change, the harness tended to cause more mats than a collar.

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Agreed! Loki is just finishing up loosing his puppy coat but the matting was getting crazy for a whil especially after a long walk.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

The Easy Walk Harness is a great accessory in teaching your dog to walk nicely, without pulling. It is also much safer, as pulling on a collar can do some damage to the pups trachea. DO NOT leave the harness on when not walking or training.

[Nikki & Charlie]

You need to get a slip leash. They are life changing. I'm biased but Charlie's trainer is 100% against the gentle leader (which is what I originally had and thought was great) and anything similar, including a harness. He is all about the slip leash and I have to say I've seen a dramatic change in Charlie after it being on him for 5 minutes. I 100% recommend this.

 

 

[Judith and Addie]

Slip lead

Please be very cautious with a slip leash. It is possible to harm your dog. The quote below is from the Humane Society of the U.S.

"These leads can be helpful when you don't have another leash available, but shouldn't be used on a day-to-day basis. A slip lead looks like a regular flat leash, except it has a metal ring on one end instead of a clip. You pass the handle end of the leash through the metal ring to form a loop. Then you put the loop over your dog's head. Pulling on the handle tightens the loop around your dog's neck. A slip lead allows you to walk your dog on leash when he's not wearing his collar.

Caution! Only use a slip lead when a regular collar and leash aren't available. Because you can't control the tightness of a slip lead, don't use it as your regular leash. You don't want to risk damaging your dog's windpipe or neck, or even strangling him."

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

I agree with this, Loki had something similar before we tried the easy walk- it was a journey to get to that harness trust me, and he would just keep pulling and pulling regardless of how tight it got. Naturally we got rid of it. One thing that is pretty cool is a martingale collar for when we aren't using the harness because they can only get so tight, same type of design as the front of the easy walk. That seems to work better than a regular collar for him at least.

Side note: Some places even have cute options to have the buckles engraved with there name and whatever else you want :) I love cute little extras like that! Also it's very nice if their tags fall off.

[holly b]

I see the Easy Walk harness recrecommendded a lot. Which one do you get though? Our goldendoodle is about 20 lbs but should top out around 65. The harnesses in store are in protective packages, and there doesn't seem to be a good size guide on the packages.

[SoSa]

My doodle is 18.5 lbs. The medium was way too big. The small, too small. We got the small/medium combo which is good for us. He'll grow out of it, but it was the best fit for now and will be good for him for a little while. I had originally purchased one at Pet Smart for neatly $30, but found one at a local boutique pet store for half the price, so with that price difference, it's easier for me to swallow the need to size up when necessary.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Harness Sizing Chart
Size Pet Width Sample Breeds
Petite 12-16 inches Teacup breeds, puppies
Petite/Small 14-18 inches Chihuahua, Pomeranian, Shitzhu
Small 15-20 inches Jack Russell, Miniature Poodle, Sheltie
Small/Medium 19-25 inches Boston Terrier, Beagle, Pug, Lhasa Apso, Westie
Medium 20-28 inches Border Collie, Springer Spaniel, American Staffordshire Terrier
Medium/Large 25-36 inches Boxer, Bulldog, Dalmatian
Large 26-36 inches German Shepherd, Labrador Retriever, Rottweiler
Extra Large 34-46 inches Greyhound, Great Dane
Measure your dog’s width/girth by wrapping a tape measure around your dog’s chest, just behind the front legs.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Here is a website on the Easy Walk: http://www.petsafe.net/support/training-behavior/harnesses-collars-...
Be prepared to buy at least two while your pup is in the growing stages.
Also there is just not a small, medium and large. There are all sm to med, med to large, ect.at oneii t, the small was too small, but the medium was too big. The small to medium fit Enzo perfectly. We are now in a med to large which is perfect.

[Sari Schwartz]

Hi there, Milo, our Doodle is just 9 weeks but he's growing fast. I'd like to take him into our backyard for a bit walking around (it's not gated) or even up and down the street, but I don't like the lead we have. Is he an ok age for putting a harness on?