Hi everyone,i need some advice as to what kind of harness is the best to stop a dog pulling,i want to avoid a halti,but any other suggestions would be very welcome.She is a 1 year old akita-inu so quite strong!!

Hi Billybob

Harnesses, collars etc do not stop a dog pulling.  The ONLY thing that stops dogs from pulling is training them to walk nicely on the lead and sadly this take a lot more time and effort than most owners are willing to put in with their dogs.  :-(

Some harnesses do stop a dog pulling - but only by inflicting pain/discomfort - I agree with Kerioak in that the best way is training, training and more training......

The best way to stop a dog pulling is to prevent it happening in the first place!

Pulling is a habit which is reinforced each and every time you allow it to happen.

Wny not teach your dog good habits eg by just not moving each time the lead goes taut.  It is rather monotonous and boring but it does work and of course it teaches you not to let this happen with your next dog :D

My sister found a gentle leader has been really effective in getting Chloe (Dobie pup) to stop pulling.  She now walks fantastically,and only had to wear the gentle leader for a few months.  Obvoulsy her training classes really helped aswell, she's now moved on to Silver good citizen award! :)

Training is definitely the best solution but I found a gentle leader an absolutely godsend.  We had our border collie from pup but he had a real fear of the world problem so we had to really encourage him out of the house to go for a walk and inadvertantly taught him to pull - its so easily done.  We have now used the gentle leader for about 3 months and he is an absolute angel on it.  We used one on our new pup from the word go and now don't have to use it aged 5 months old and does not try pull at all as he hasnt learnt to.

Claire