Harness fitting and size

[grizzly]

the way i see it get rid of all the collars and harnesses and get a weight pullin' harness if that dog wants to pull let him pull!!

i know a dozen or so people who would love there dog to pull

seriously though my dog pulls me when he walk , but i trained him to pull.
he gave michelle a hell of a time.i found i tight quarters a 1ft lead works best for me but my dog is tall.they also have collars with handle , but short dog/ tall owner doesn't work well that way.
when i paraded griz into the providence RI pet expo-1000 people-200 dogs -100 cats-couple horse etc., i just led him by his collar without any problems.

every dog and situation is differnt the best thing to do is try everything and see for youself what works best for you and you dogs


p.s. don't forget to weight pull that dog before you teach him not to pull


Rob

[Karen]

I dont see what the big freakin deal is. YES, my dog does not respond to the prong collar. I thought it was due to me not knowing how to use it so THAT is why I went to a trainer to have it fitted and to show me how to use it. She DOES NOT RESPOND plus I came to the conclusion that prong collars are for lazy peole who dont want to take the time out to train their dogs. THAT is why we have taken three obediance classes, she now knows how to walk properly.
YES I have used the gentle leader when she was younger and for when we are in large crowds, its adds security but we havnt used it for months.
I just feel that when we are running on the beach or hiking up hills it would be more comfertable for Rory to have a harness while we are making quick turns or hauling fanny up a hill. I was trying to think of her comfort THATS ALL.
So now that I have explained myself please, feel free to pick apart my response and attempt to make me feel like a inadequate dog owner.

Well if you went to 3 whole obedience classes and she knows how to walk properly why do you need a harness? A flat buckle collar should be fine. Am I missing something here?

As to the lazy remark, puhleeze. Dilly is in a prong frequently and it is covered by a bandana and now that her stylin pink baseball cap with the rhinestones and her pink aviator Doggles with the rhinestone trim will be getting here shortly, I dare anyone that sees her to remember a prong under the matching pink bandana. Why does she wear a prong? Because my fat old lady elbows and shoulder are telling me they remember getting run over and stepped on by that Draft mare in 2003. The falls off the young stuff and fractured things from the 80's aren't helping either.

[lipshipsattitude]

I dont see what the big freakin deal is. YES, my dog does not respond to the prong collar. I thought it was due to me not knowing how to use it so THAT is why I went to a trainer to have it fitted and to show me how to use it. She DOES NOT RESPOND plus I came to the conclusion that prong collars are for lazy peole who dont want to take the time out to train their dogs. THAT is why we have taken three obediance classes, she now knows how to walk properly.
YES I have used the gentle leader when she was younger and for when we are in large crowds, its adds security but we havnt used it for months.
I just feel that when we are running on the beach or hiking up hills it would be more comfertable for Rory to have a harness while we are making quick turns or hauling fanny up a hill. I was trying to think of her comfort THATS ALL.
So now that I have explained myself please, feel free to pick apart my response and attempt to make me feel like a inadequate dog owner.

Well if you went to 3 whole obedience classes and she knows how to walk properly why do you need a harness? A flat buckle collar should be fine. Am I missing something here?

As to the lazy remark, puhleeze. Dilly is in a prong frequently and it is covered by a bandana and now that her stylin pink baseball cap with the rhinestones and her pink aviator Doggles with the rhinestone trim will be getting here shortly, I dare anyone that sees her to remember a prong under the matching pink bandana. Why does she wear a prong? Because my fat old lady elbows and shoulder are telling me they remember getting run over and stepped on by that Draft mare in 2003. The falls off the young stuff and fractured things from the 80's aren't helping either.

We went through 3 obediance classes becuase she is STUBBORN and I wanted her to to be well behaved. They wernt the same obediance classes they were progressive. I want a harness because I was trying to think of her comfort. I dont drag my back pack around on the ground but I would still ratehr wear it on my back then around my neck. Thus I thought a harness would be more comfertable for her

[rockermom]

I went through 3 1/2 obedience classes of different types one using no treats and one using treats. As Rocky matures he seems to want to go off and sniff more. And of course he has gotten stronger. I just dont want him to pull at all and I too do not want him to be pulled by the neck. Anyway who the frig cares if I use a harness or not. THe only place I have been questioned about why I use one, is here. Why is everyone questioning her obedience with her dog? Yes she got a bit defensive but I kind of dont blame her since ya cant ask about a harness without getting the old get your dog to behave stuff. I want to use a harness cause I like to not just to get dog to behave. Now back to the thread. Lips did you find a harness you like yet? Hows it going? If not go to Walmart. They have a no pull harness for a fraction of the cost of petsmarts or Sporne. It is similar to sporne except the collar part does not wear like a collar it goes more around the upper chest. The brand is yuppie puppy. I have a size medium 12"-17" necks. And still have a little adjustable room. Rocky's neck is probably 16" he has a thin head and neck. A large would swim on him. Interestingly I just went to find a picture of it for you guess who actually makes it Sporn. Well anyway I think it was 7.00 cant find it on walmart website.

[mnp13]

I went through 3 1/2 obedience classes of different types one using no treats and one using treats. As Rocky matures he seems to want to go off and sniff more. And of course he has gotten stronger. I just dont want him to pull at all and I too do not want him to be pulled by the neck.

Training stops pulling, harnesses don't. If your harness stops the pulling then your dog is being controlled by the harness. Most people prefer to have their dog obey them, not a piece of equipment, but to each his own I guess

From personal experience when you rely on a harness you are SOL when that harness gets lost / chewed / forgotten somewhere. Cleo chewed hers off when I was out of town. It was two days before I could replace it and she was a wild child until then. You know what I did? Trained her to not pull instead of the band aid fix of a no pull harness.

I have no idea why you have never been questioned before on this, and I don't really care. I have been on plenty of forums where people talk about the magic results of a Halti. There is no magic in training a dog, only hard work.

If you don't want him pulled by the neck, train him not to pull.

[rockermom]

Why, Because this is really the only forum I go on other than another one I use to visit often. I meant no one on the street questions me. And in my case for my dog it does not controll him from pulling he still does pull sometimes it just takes some of the shock out of the pull. Also he is not out of controll with out it in a regular collar. He does ok on a regular collar it just yanks a little harder when he tries to pull. I still need to and do correct him in the harness. It does not magically make him not pull. It just takes the yank out of the occasional unexpected pull to check something out. For ME. I dont know about others.

[Karen]

I went through 3 1/2 obedience classes of different types one using no treats and one using treats. As Rocky matures he seems to want to go off and sniff more. And of course he has gotten stronger. I just dont want him to pull at all and I too do not want him to be pulled by the neck. Anyway who the frig cares if I use a harness or not. THe only place I have been questioned about why I use one, is here. Why is everyone questioning her obedience with her dog? Yes she got a bit defensive but I kind of dont blame her since ya cant ask about a harness without getting the old get your dog to behave stuff. I want to use a harness cause I like to not just to get dog to behave. Now back to the thread. Lips did you find a harness you like yet? Hows it going? If not go to Walmart. They have a no pull harness for a fraction of the cost of petsmarts or Sporne. It is similar to sporne except the collar part does not wear like a collar it goes more around the upper chest. The brand is yuppie puppy. I have a size medium 12"-17" necks. And still have a little adjustable room. Rocky's neck is probably 16" he has a thin head and neck. A large would swim on him. Interestingly I just went to find a picture of it for you guess who actually makes it Sporn. Well anyway I think it was 7.00 cant find it on walmart website.

FYI I think if you're using those no pull harnesses you are abusing your dog. You you read that ABUSE. They CONTROL the dog by putting pressure under the armpit and it is sensitive and thin skinned under there. Have you seen what those do to a dog? Really looked? I have seen dogs with raw oozing places from those harnesees. Sure they work why wouldn't they/ If you truly were hurt to the point of redness and oozing sores then you damn well won't pull!

[pitbullmamaliz]

FYI I think if you're using those no pull harnesses you are abusing your dog. You you read that ABUSE. They CONTROL the dog by putting pressure under the armpit and it is sensitive and thin skinned under there. Have you seen what those do to a dog? Really looked? I have seen dogs with raw oozing places from those harnesees. Sure they work why wouldn't they/ If you truly were hurt to the point of redness and oozing sores then you damn well won't pull!

Wow - that seems excessive. I use a no-pull harness with fleece-padded straps under the armpits, and I can assure you, my girl is most definitely NOT abused. She's not chafing at all from it. Maybe if you're yanking them all over the place, but with normal, appropriate use, no harm will be done. Please look at my dog and tell me she is abused. Good luck convincing yourself of that point!

[lipshipsattitude]

Since some of you didnt read the whoel way through I'll repeat myself.
I didnt want a harness to control or stop Rory from pulling. I wanted one becuase it is more comfertable for her when we are jogginh, walking the beach, the dunes, or hiking. I plan on getting her used to a bike soon, who uses a collar while riding a bike?
I got a regular harness last night and when we walked the dunes this morning she LOVED it! We started to scale a huge dune and she was matching my pace, I gave her the go ahed to take off OH MAN was she excited. She hauled lil pittie butt up that hill and made my climb so much easier, haha! She was SO excited it was great.
Its just nice to be able to jog on the beach without seeing her collar bouning around from me holding the leash and jogging too. She was stoked, she dosnt pull but she seemed happy!

[a-bull]

I went through 3 1/2 obedience classes of different types one using no treats and one using treats. As Rocky matures he seems to want to go off and sniff more. And of course he has gotten stronger. I just dont want him to pull at all and I too do not want him to be pulled by the neck. Anyway who the frig cares if I use a harness or not. THe only place I have been questioned about why I use one, is here. Why is everyone questioning her obedience with her dog? Yes she got a bit defensive but I kind of dont blame her since ya cant ask about a harness without getting the old get your dog to behave stuff. I want to use a harness cause I like to not just to get dog to behave. Now back to the thread. Lips did you find a harness you like yet? Hows it going? If not go to Walmart. They have a no pull harness for a fraction of the cost of petsmarts or Sporne. It is similar to sporne except the collar part does not wear like a collar it goes more around the upper chest. The brand is yuppie puppy. I have a size medium 12"-17" necks. And still have a little adjustable room. Rocky's neck is probably 16" he has a thin head and neck. A large would swim on him. Interestingly I just went to find a picture of it for you guess who actually makes it Sporn. Well anyway I think it was 7.00 cant find it on walmart website.

FYI I think if you're using those no pull harnesses you are abusing your dog. You you read that ABUSE. They CONTROL the dog by putting pressure under the armpit and it is sensitive and thin skinned under there. Have you seen what those do to a dog? Really looked? I have seen dogs with raw oozing places from those harnesees. Sure they work why wouldn't they/ If you truly were hurt to the point of redness and oozing sores then you damn well won't pull!

I can tell you that my dog never had any sores, oozing or otherwise---maybe some have, but either way, you'd be pretty hard pressed to convince me that a no-pull harness used properly is abuse.

[Sue]

FYI I think if you're using those no pull harnesses you are abusing your dog. You you read that ABUSE. They CONTROL the dog by putting pressure under the armpit and it is sensitive and thin skinned under there. Have you seen what those do to a dog? Really looked? I have seen dogs with raw oozing places from those harnesees. Sure they work why wouldn't they/ If you truly were hurt to the point of redness and oozing sores then you damn well won't pull!

Wow - that seems excessive.

Just a bit

My Pepper wears a harness every single day. He was tied to a dog house for 5 years on a choke chain. He can NOT be leashed on his collar alone since his throat is damaged and very sensitive.

[a-bull]

FYI I think if you're using those no pull harnesses you are abusing your dog. You you read that ABUSE. They CONTROL the dog by putting pressure under the armpit and it is sensitive and thin skinned under there. Have you seen what those do to a dog? Really looked? I have seen dogs with raw oozing places from those harnesees. Sure they work why wouldn't they/ If you truly were hurt to the point of redness and oozing sores then you damn well won't pull!

Wow - that seems excessive.

Just a bit

My Pepper wears a harness every single day. He was tied to a dog house for 5 years on a choke chain. He can NOT be leashed on his collar alone since his throat is damaged and very sensitive.

abuser . . . . . .

I think Karen is referring to the Sporn, etc.---the no-pull training harnesses. Regardless, that theory is a stretch.

[ellie@ny]

Since some of you didnt read the whoel way through I'll repeat myself.
I didnt want a harness to control or stop Rory from pulling. I wanted one becuase it is more comfertable for her when we are jogginh, walking the beach, the dunes, or hiking. I plan on getting her used to a bike soon, who uses a collar while riding a bike?
I got a regular harness last night and when we walked the dunes this morning she LOVED it! We started to scale a huge dune and she was matching my pace, I gave her the go ahed to take off OH MAN was she excited. She hauled lil pittie butt up that hill and made my climb so much easier, haha! She was SO excited it was great.
Its just nice to be able to jog on the beach without seeing her collar bouning around from me holding the leash and jogging too. She was stoked, she dosnt pull but she seemed happy!

Ok I guess I got it now! You want a comfortible harness?
Go on this site they have Walking-working harness,I have one too,It's the best!
http://www.itsmysite.com/cgi-bin/itsmy/go.exe?page=2&domain=1&webdir=cdpits

[Marinepits]

didnt want a harness to control or stop Rory from pulling. I wanted one becuase it is more comfertable for her when we are jogginh, walking the beach, the dunes, or hiking. I plan on getting her used to a bike soon, who uses a collar while riding a bike?

Actually, my brother is a part-time professional downhill mountain biker -- he would bike for endurance all the time with his crazy Springer Spaniel hooked up to the bike by his collar. Worked quite well for both of them.

[Marinepits]

FYI I think if you're using those no pull harnesses you are abusing your dog. You you read that ABUSE. They CONTROL the dog by putting pressure under the armpit and it is sensitive and thin skinned under there. Have you seen what those do to a dog? Really looked? I have seen dogs with raw oozing places from those harnesees. Sure they work why wouldn't they/ If you truly were hurt to the point of redness and oozing sores then you damn well won't pull!

While I don't find a well-fitting padded harness to be abusive, I worked at a vet as a groomer for a long time and had more than a few dogs come in with huge mats in their pits and rub marks across their chests and bellies from ill-fitting harnesses. Most of these dogs had terrible sores after I removed the mats and the owners always got a good lecture from me about proper harness wear.

[a-bull]

FYI I think if you're using those no pull harnesses you are abusing your dog. You you read that ABUSE. They CONTROL the dog by putting pressure under the armpit and it is sensitive and thin skinned under there. Have you seen what those do to a dog? Really looked? I have seen dogs with raw oozing places from those harnesees. Sure they work why wouldn't they/ If you truly were hurt to the point of redness and oozing sores then you damn well won't pull!

While I don't find a well-fitting padded harness to be abusive, I worked at a vet as a groomer for a long time and had more than a few dogs come in with huge mats in their pits and rub marks across their chests and bellies from ill-fitting harnesses. Most of these dogs had terrible sores after I removed the mats and the owners always got a good lecture from me about proper harness wear.

I believe that, because like anything else, people don't always use them right.

I would think people bothering to have their pets professionally groomed, probably mean well but were just clueless, don't you think?

Or did you think they were abusing their pets?

[Marinepits]

While I don't find a well-fitting padded harness to be abusive, I worked at a vet as a groomer for a long time and had more than a few dogs come in with huge mats in their pits and rub marks across their chests and bellies from ill-fitting harnesses. Most of these dogs had terrible sores after I removed the mats and the owners always got a good lecture from me about proper harness wear.

I believe that, because like anything else, people don't always use them right.

I would think people bothering to have their pets professionally groomed, probably mean well but were just clueless, don't you think?

Or did you think they were abusing their pets?

Most were just plain clueless, other were just stupid, LOL.

Don't get me started on people and dog grooming! I can't tell you how many people would get annoyed because I couldn't do a show cut on their cocker spaniel/shih tzu/fancy-pant long haired dog -- hey, jerks! Maybe if you brought your dog in more often than ONCE A YEAR and actually BRUSHED the dog, I wouldn't have to shave the poor dog down! Look, the dog is one GIANT mat -- how am I supposed to get the dog to look like it's going to win Westminster? UGH! I loved that job, but boy did I hate it sometimes!

The worst EVER for me was a woman who flipped out on me because I had to shave the rear-end feathers off her Golden -- the dog had a gigundo rock-hard mat on it's butt cheek and I couldn't de-mat it, even with the razor comb. So I shaved it off. After I shaved the mat off, I found the problem -- the dog had the top of a BROKEN WIRE HANGER twisted into the mat and it had rubbed a sore into the back of the dog's leg. How does an owner NOT notice that?!? But, of course, it was my fault for not untangling it.

Okay, off rant.

[SisMorphine]

FYI I think if you're using those no pull harnesses you are abusing your dog. You you read that ABUSE. They CONTROL the dog by putting pressure under the armpit and it is sensitive and thin skinned under there. Have you seen what those do to a dog? Really looked? I have seen dogs with raw oozing places from those harnesees. Sure they work why wouldn't they/ If you truly were hurt to the point of redness and oozing sores then you damn well won't pull!

I don't use a harness, not a fan of them, but about half of my clients have the GL body harness. Not a one has any oozing or bleeding or any of that.

You can also say that there are dogs out there with raw oozing necks from prong collars. I've seen them. But I've also seen many more dogs without those marks who wear a prong.

It's all in how everything is fit and how they're used.

[rockermom]

THank you Ellie for posting that working harness. It looks as if it is comfortable. Do you own one?Right now with the heat and humidity Rocky is getting red from his collars well as harness. One did cause some sores rather quickly from one walk. So I stopped using it. THis is why I had a thread on collar comfort. Sis- I do also have a gl chest harness it did not cause sores however it did cause kind of a welt like hives which did not oozze or scab but went away after an hour or so. So I was going to try putting mole skin under his collar as suggested on the collar comfort thread. Since he is white he is very very sensitive and any little rubbing shows up on his pink skin which turns red just from excitement let alone some rubbing of anything.

[lipshipsattitude]

OMG I;m such a idiot! I seriously thought you two were sisters until I just read her name. WOW I need some more coffee!