[conurgenceDen]

I just bought a $55 collar and leash a week ago. I was told a harness would be better for a pitbull. I really dont wanna spend another $30 on a harness right now if i really dont need to. Is a collar good enough?

[nerohedfrs]

Most harnesses encourage pulling. If you want your dog to pull use a harness. You can also get a front-clip harness which does NOT encourage pulling, but it's no better than a collar IMO. A good 2in collar is all you need for daily walks IMO. My dog knows that in a harness it's OK for her to pull (it's good exercise) but in a collar she must heel.

---------- Post added at 08:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:33 PM ----------

If your dog has a problem not pulling on a collar you can also use a prong collar, I do.

[conurgenceDen]

The main reason im worried i guess is that he does pull sometimes and gasps for air especially when he's pulling and trying to get to another dog(to play with). I didnt like him pulling at first but i figure hes getting a lil more exercise that way because he is using more energy to pull. It helps me sometimes too because i have good upper body strenth to hold him but my knees are bad so when he pulls it kinda helps me lol. He was really trying to get to another dog tonight when we stopped to talk to some other people walking their dog and they were saying that they have had pitbulls before and if they pull too hard with a collar it can damage their windpipe and i should get him a harness. Do some people like their dog to pull or am i alone there?

[nerohedfrs]

When we are working out she pulls (on the harness). When we're out in public and she need to not pull she is on a collar. I trained her to stop pulling against the collar with a prong.

[Uojeyak]

harness's could encourage to pull but its how you train your dog. Roxy does fine with a collar but the reason why i got her a harness was because if she saw a squirrel, cat, or duck she would start pulling like crazy(she has high prey drive) and no command would phase her and she would pretty much start to choke herself out and start to breathe really heavy because of the collar. Now that she has a harness the heavy breathing and choking herself out is not an issue and as far as her pulling she does great she heels on command and with a harness i have a lot more control, but its up to you and i think it depends on your situation because all situations are different, but thats just my experience.

[Friend_Joe]

I have a 5 month old pup that is terrible about pulling when she has a collar on, to the point of choking herself out. We put a harness on her to train her to walk on the treadmill. I hook the leash to that now when I take her out to potty and there is no pulling. I thought maybe she was outgrowing the pulling and tried the collar again this morning, she was right back to the pulling. I guess some dogs are just opposite. All our other dogs pull hard with a harness.

[conurgenceDen]

Well i think ill try the harness then because he pulls hard when were just walking sometimes but very hard when hes trying to get to another dog to play with. Im afraid hes gonna hurt himself with the collar.

[Anymnillulky]

I prefer a wide collar. I like to have full control of their heads where the teeth are. I'm like you and actually LIKE when they pull as it's a better workout for us both. When I walk them during the day or where there are people and dogs about they wear both a wide flat nylon collar and a prong and two leashes for safety... one a short one foot traffic lead and the other a two footer. If I'm somewhere I need more control I put the shorter leash on the prong and the longer one on the flat so the pressures on the prong. If I want them to pull I switch the leashes around. If I do a late night walk and no ones around I forget the prong and just use a four footer and let them zig zag in front of me to get more mileage in. I have yet to find a harness that they can't weasel out of or one that doesn't gouge the crap out their arm pits.

[conurgenceDen]

Yeah ive been reading about harness's and the chaffing thing concerns me so i looked up padded ones on ebay. I found one thats padded and not real expensive. I posted a couple links to um in (products and equipment). Ones paded and the others not but i think ill get a padded one and try it. I gotta try something because he's choking himself lol. I think he almost passed out after trying to get to that dog. He layed in the grass and acted like he wanted to go to sleep. He's pretty much been lethargic ever since.

---------- Post added at 12:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 AM ----------

[Anymnillulky]

Well, that's not good. I hope he didn't injure himself. How wide is the collar you are using? I had a padded harness and it didn't seem to make much of a difference for my crew unfortunately.

[conurgenceDen]

The collar is 1 1/2 inches wide.

[Sironimoll]

I got a really cheap mesh reflective harness forTrigger (made by muttgear) when we walk or bike and it works great with his collar. It's not super heavy duty so we don't use it for pulling, but it is very comfy on him and looks so cute on him. It gives us a little extra security until we get the boy back with our son, who has his a real heavy duty pull harness.

[enrisaabsotte]

I say it depends on the dog.

Ike has to have a harness because he can slip collars easily. It's like his super hero skill or something. He can even slip some harnesses, so I tried out a couple and found one that he can't slip and use that.

Rita I have to use a harness with or she will choke herself. She was never leashed until I got her almost 2 years ago. She gets so stupid excited about going for walks and being leashed that she pulls hard. With the harness we were better able to teach her to stop pulling. And she doesn't choke herself. She responds better to the pressure of a harness across her chest than she does to a collar and has made a lot of progress since using one.

Owen and Renee I use collars and they do fine.

---------- Post added at 08:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 AM ----------

I own these harnesses and haven't had a problem with chafing. I also like the loops on either side of the clip as added security. If the clip were to break, the loops would still hold the harness closed.

This is a different maker, but the same design

[Klavalala]

OP you should look into a good prong collar.

Lucy's always been a puller, and when she was younger she did mess her throat up a bit the few times I tried walking her with a choker because she'd attempt to drag me.

I switched to a wide flat collar and a properly fitted prong (collar below the prong since it will slip out of place a bit, and it's a good back up in case something decides to break). It got her out of the habit of trying to drag me, and she learned that when it's on, there's no pulling. I don't mind her pulling if we're going for a walk or a bike ride, since I try to keep up with her, but if we're going somewhere with a lot of people and distractions, I like a prong on her too. Same goes for my Rottie too.

My Saint Bernard is the only dog who walks nicely in a heel when leashed. Go figure.

[Leaters]

You need to train the dog to loose leash walk. I use clicker shaping with treats and if I really need to I'll use a prong to train something. I pretty much don't have to use the prong at all anymore because they are trained well enough.

I'm not a fan of using a harness to walk a dog, but irregardless of what you use ALWAYS have a properly fitted strong buckle collar to grab in case of emergency. When my dog got attacked the Am Bully wasn't wearing a collar, just harness.... I got him off in less than 30 seconds because I was prepared (his owner was f'ing useless), but Lily still underwent emergency surgery. I could have gotten him off quicker if he'd been wearing a collar. And needless to say I always pack a breakstick now. Only reason I relate this story is because of how often I see dogs without collars in public.

[Anymnillulky]

I used a similar harness MJJean with Deeohgee when her neck was kinda irritated by the wide collar (she's got a small head so has to wear her collar quite snug so she doesn't slip it... we've started taking her collar off her when she's crated to let her neck breath a bit and it's remedied the situation) and the leash would constantly come off one of the rings. Drove me batty! lol

[Rwujnezq]

Peanut wears her car harness and tag collar on neighborhood walks. When we take her paces she has her car harness with a 1.5" martingale with and attachment between the two. The leash is on the harness.

I don't like walking her with just the martingale - she has injured her trachea in the past and now if she pulls she starts wheezing and coughing. That said I have seen a lot of dogs do fine with flat buckle collars.

[conurgenceDen]

Gonna have to try a harness because he pulls too much. Ill probably get one today or tomorrow and see how it goes.

[Khurlxgq]

Our pit generally does fine with just a collar, but I do recommend leash training. There's a sticky here somewhere with a great tutorial on how to leash train. I used that and it worked great with Petey. Now I do still use a harness on occasion if we go somewhere he's unfamiliar with, just to be sure there's no chance of him panicking and slipping his collar. We have a lab/hound mix who cannot be walked on a collar even in familiar areas because she WILL slip it sooner or later (she can be very skittish). Until you know your dog better and he's comfortable walking with you, I think it's best to start with a harness. If he slips his collar and takes off, you may never see him again. If you do, it may only be after he's hit by a car.

[conurgenceDen]

Well the problem is that when he sees another dog he wants to get to it so he can play with it. Sometimes he will not listen for nothing and he just keeps pulling. I think he hurt his trachea the other night because he has pulling so hard. I ordered a stillwater harness today but didnt realize they take 2-3 weeks to get sometimes untill i had already ordered it. Im just gonna do my best to stay clear of dogs till then lol. I dont mind him pulling because from what ive heard it gives him a better workout and he needs to lose weight anyway.