I have a 16 week large & very strong on the lead puppy, regrettably going to have to get a harness, nit keen in the idea if a head harness for a puppy, any suggestions?

There are lots of harnesses around so do your research. Don't get one that hurts the pup when it pulls. I'd advise getting one that allows you to attach a lead at a ring on front of the chest, as well as one with a ring on top. The ring at the front makes it hard for the pup to push into the harness- which you don't want as it can ruin a dog's front.

See this below

The 'Sensible' harness
Manufactured by www.softtouchconcepts.com
Available from www.4-legs-good.co.uk

You can also check out the Mekuti harness, the Halti harness and the Easy Walk, on google. Each has its pros and cons.

I should have added that many strong pups will pull because they haven't yet learned to walk nicely. Just me but I'd really advise against letting your puppy pull you on anything, because that's how they make the strong association between the feeling of pulling and forward momentum and it becomes a really tough habit to break.

Puppy is only young and needs only very short bouts of lead walking, so why not focus that time on getting him/her to walk beside you without pulling?

Sorry is I am stating the obvious here- I may have misunderstood your request.

I have heard harness's can affect a dogs front?? Especially if your are going to show and could make a difference on how they move? Is this the case?
Interested to know as I have a pully 5mth old when in new places or sees people, walks quite nicely when undistratced but in busy places he is terrible and all his training goes a bit to pot!

Try   www.fleurdeleadz.co.uk  the lady makes various types of head collars and harness, all softly padded with fleece so they do not rub. She will make you anything you want to measure, and alter it as the pup grows.

She also made me a lovely padded walking belt, it helps as when I am walking four dogs, they are attached to my waist, so not straining my back or shoulders.
If I stop they can't go anywhere, they soon learn not to pull, she made me lovely soft leads with a steering loops at the bottom, so if going through a gate way, or if you need to have them close you can just slip your hand through the loop.
The leads just flick on to a D ring with a one way slip clip (like climbers use) I find it great for when I am getting dogs in and out of the car, as my hands are free to get car keys out, or open cage doors etc.
I was struggling with four dogs leads in my hands, and with all these stolen and lost dogs recently I know they are all secure while I get each one in and out of the car.
The belt can be used with the lead attached to a harness or collar or both if you want. I have used it in the house as well when we have visitors with my youngster, I can keep her with me until she settles, but still go and put the kettle on etc.
Once she has settled I let her off, so is working well.

Really not looking to be controversial but it is not IMO a good idea to resort to a harness for a pup of 16 weeks much better to teach it not to pull, it has, after all, only been walking on a lead for two or three weeks, give up on the training now and you will have a real problem by the time it is a year. Lots of pups are not good on a lead when they first start formal walking and it really is worth trying to train the pup before giving up and using a harness.

Absolutely agree with Nova..I have a 9 m pup,now 23 kg and have persevered with a leather collar, and lead....just this last two months he has become so light on the lead and really started to listen..  A joy.......we use the stop start method.."treat " to "watch me " when he gets distracted and its working. I see a lot of harness dogs and whilst pups it is an easy fix...but later you just have a pulling machine. It is so worth the effort to stick with a
leather collar and lead ,plus you also avoid the possible shoulder displasia that the harnesses can create with a pulling pup,or an ill fitting harness.

Sorry I have just reread the post and missed the age of the puppy. I agree with Bellamia and Nova, do try and persevere with lead training before you try a harness.
Are there any good Dog training Clubs in your area ? Have a look on Obedience UK for a list of Clubs. A good trainer may be able to help you with some techniques or exercises that might help. 

I don't see a problem with headcollars, and often use them for pups myself -I have found they always grow out of the pulling stage. My trainer once said that it is far better to pop a headcollar on if you haven't the time to go out and do some training, as the headcollar will stop the pulling and the longer the pup is allowed to pull, the more of a habit it will become. So I'd use a headcollar whilst at other times train on a normal collar. Am not a fan of harnesses at all however.

Sorry Goldmali, I usually agree with you but not this time - with a pup of 16 weeks you simply MUST have time for training it is not as if you will be doing formal walking for very long at a time and 5 to 10 minutes a few times a day is not a lot of time to find. Better surely than using a harness and hoping the dog stops pulling, what happens if it does not and you have to start training at 16 months will take a good deal more effort then, it is so easy at 16 weeks.

Nova the point is that there are times when anyone can be in a hurry but the dog still needs a short walk -far better than to stop the pulling from happening at all. The less times it pulls, the less likely it is to become a habit.

A pup that will only just have started being taken out for a walk can manage without if you really are that busy after all the walk with take about the same amount of time as to fetch and fit the harness. You, I know, have a large number of dogs and much experience but I would never advise using a harness when training is what is needed at a few weeks old.

A lot also depends on the breed - some are born to pull and they must be trained not to the problem must just not be allowed to happen.

She's a cross breed so not going to be shown. I have every intention on her just being walked on a lead & collar & will put a lot of training into her, but in struggling during holidays as have limited opportunities to walk both dogs ( due to un willing walking children ;) ) so taking both dogs out together, when i off load kids. She's much better walked alone, as when with my other dog she's constantly wanting to be ahead of him or jumping at him. She's a weim x so strong willed & bodied! As for training classes I've gad no luck tried 3 times with one & they've still not arranged anything :/

agree with Marianne.  I use head-collars when walking all mine together.  Usually have them started on them at about 5 months.

A lot of professional trainers recommend walking on a harness as it is much kinder on a young pups neck. By some miracle my 2 youngsters (now 7 months) have never been pully pups and I initially walked them on a harness (Gentle Leader Easy Walker). Because they now go out with the adults, at times, I walk them on GenCon's because I need to be able to keep hold of them if they see something unexpected (rabbit, cat, etc). They still walk nicely on the GenCon but it gives that added degree of control.

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">I need to be able to keep hold of them if they see something unexpected (rabbit, cat, etc). They still walk nicely on the GenCon but it gives that added degree of control.

Ditto, walking my 6 (that's about 120kg) in the evenings when al the cats are preening in the street or under cars and the local foxes are out and about not batting an eyelid to within 10 feet, I need that extra reassurance that I won't dislocate a shoulder or get pulled over.

My older dog has a dogmatic, it's excellent as he can randomly lunge at tractors motor bikes. Just wasn't sure if it was the done thing with puppies as never seen one wearing a head collar. I can see a body one just giving her added pulling power. Thanks for the advice :)

> I can see a body one just giving her added pulling power.

If you get one which attaches at the front (as the Gentle Leader Easy Walker that I mentioned above) if they pull it just turns them towards you. If you have one which attaches at the shoulders they do give more pulling power. It's just a case of getting the right harness. :)

Well her Gencon head collar arrived today... What a difference it made! No arm almost out of it's socket! Occasional flips & dives onto grass to get it off but a massive improvement �� 

You should be taking time to get her used to it, not just putting it straight on for a walk - she will be diving to get it off because it's new and unpleasant.  It's your job to make it nice for her - feed her treats through the nose of it, reward her for looking at it etc.  There's a nice video here from Jean Donaldson:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wakterNyUg

One of the mistakes most people make with headcollars is to just put them on with no prep work and it can make for an unhappy dog and a horrid walk as the dog tries to remove it.  If you take the time to get her used to it, she won't be diving around onto grass at all.  It doesn't need to take long - I used the same method to get my minpin used to wearing a muzzle last year and it took about 30 minutes in total over three sessions before he was happy to put his nose in for me to do it up, and wear it for an hour.

I did spend time getting her used to it, and the duration of her walk she was praised with treats, i think any dog with a new one no matter how long you spend getting them accustomed to one will have the occasional nose dive etc all my others have  done in the past with no ill effects now, apart from this she walked lovely on it.