collars and harnesses

Last year, my fiancee and I consulted a dog trainer over various behavioral issues we were having with the pups, including separation anxiety, chewing, and what I refer to as "little man syndrome." In addition to some training techniques to implement, she recommended an item decrease their pulling on the leash.

The first thing she recommended was a no pull leash. This leash was essentially a thin long leash with an extra loop on it in the front. It went under their armpits and across their back (behind their shoulders.) If they pulled, the leash would tighten and it would push their shoulders forward, initiating their backwards "breaks."

I noticed that when I used it, Butters would scream because his armpit would get pinched between the clasp and the leash. After a short period of using it, I noticed both dogs had raw scabbed over skin under their armpits. Immediately I got to thinking of ways I could alleviate this from happening, so I put a soft tube over the leash under their arms. It helped a little, but not fully, so I discontinued the use of the leash. 

 Left. You can see the leash clips to the collar and goes under the arms.

Right: You can see the leash around Griffy's torso. When the leash gets too loose (if they aren't pulling,) the leash will just fall off the back.



I've used choke chains and pinch collars to no avail. They would rather strangle themselves with the choke chain, rather than not pull and the pinch collar, even though it helped a little, gave them wounds on their neck. I also don't like inflicting pain on them.

When we are just taking them out quickly to go potty, we use a combo collar. It is like a martingale collar, but a different brand, and doesn't contain a chain. I found it at our local mom and pop pet shop. They didn't have them at Petco or Petsmart. I like this collar because it has an extra fabric loop where, when the leash pulls, the loop tightens. It makes it so the dog won't slip out of the collar, so the collar doesn't have to be tight.

We tried using front clip harnesses on the boys. Unfortunately, since they go under the armpits, like the special leashes we bought, their sensitive skin ended up raw and bleeding, so we returned the harnesses. The same thing happened with the traditional style, top clipping harnesses.

Since we purchased some bikes and dog bike attachments, with the intention of using them to tucker out the boys, we needed to find a harness style that would work on the boys. We didn't want them attached to the bikes by their necks. My fiancee just happened to see a harness on a dog, at the dog park, that he thought would be perfect. The owner sent us to the local mom and pop pet shop, where we got those nifty collars. Alas, we found the  perfect harness! Not only does it avoid their armpits, but it also can be used to buckle your dogs into the back seat of your car! You can either thread the seat belt through the cloth loop on the back and buckle them in that way, or purchase a short handle leash (pictured below,) clip that to the back of their harness and thread the seat belt through the leash. I prefer that method, as it allows them a little more freedom of movement. I LOVE that harness. No more dogs trying to get in the front seat!

As for walks, the best solution we've found is to use the face harness on our boys. Yeah, they hate them, but I LOVE them! They cannot pull very much. Without them, I am afraid they will pull my arm out of place. These face harnesses come in different styles. I highly suggest you use the one that also clips to the collar. They come without that option, but it is nice safety precaution. That keeps the dog attached to the leash, even if they get the face part off, which Griffy has done. If that clip hadn't been there, he'd have been free to run off. Now, this harness won't work with all dogs. My mom tried it on her lab, twice, and both times he managed to break it right away.

It's been a frustrating path of trial and error, but we've finally figured out options that help with their pulling and sensitive skin.