Hi,

Wonder if you can help, I have a 6 month old lab who is an absolute darling but does pull abit on his lead. I am currentlky trying to do some loose lead work but the progress seems quite slow - mainly down to me in finding the time to do it.

When we go for a walk i usually use a canny collar which works kind of like a halti but has a lead around the nose which come up either side of his ears and connects to the lead (so pulls him back rather than to one side like a halti), he is now growing out of this, i am now looking at replacing it as is too small. My question is should i buy another or go for a harness? which i have no experience with.

The canny collar worked when he was younger and smaller but he is now bigger (obviously) and stronger, he does seem to be pulling more could this be because the canny collar is now too small and therefore not as effective?

Any views, opinion etc would be gratefully received. I would really like to get him walking nicely and really see the canny collar or harness as a temporary measure until this happens. Also any tips of loose lead work would be great.

thanks for your help. Lauren.

I would have another canny collar ..... have never found any of the harnesses effective.

Do you attend a dog club ... its easier to "make yourself" find the time for training if you sort of feel expected to be somewhere at a certain time ...

My Lab is now 10 and will still pull unless I am nagging ....

Hi Lauren

I have a Canny Collar, so I do know what they are, although I don't use mine.  The reason why you're now finding him able to pull into it more, is because the locus of the Canny Collar is around the neck, and because as you've said, it pulls the dog's head back and not to the side.  This means it's easier for the dog to throw his weight into it, with his neck down, and still pull.

I think, if he's happy wearing a head collar, then you're lucky because a lot of dogs aren't.  So, why not get him another one, but don't get another Canny Collar - as you've noticed, he will be able to pull into it.  Try a Gencom or a Gentle Leader.  My favourite is the Gencom.

If you go for a harness, beware of getting one which isn't a stop-pull harness.  He will very likely be able to throw his weight into this and pull a lot, worse than with an ordinary collar.  (Why do you think sled dogs wear harnesses?!)  So, if you go for the harness, I would try one of the stop-pull types.

I've found all harnesses that I have tried for my Lab useless as she just puts her head down and pulls!

Halti was the only thing that worked but she hated it.  back to good old fashioned collar and keeping her in check.

Hi Lauren.

When I came on to these boards to ask similar advice I was told that a head collar was  a management device and no substitute for training - which has proved entirely true.  I now have a dog that walks beautifully on loose lead away from traffic but must wear a head collar in it.  So horses for courses - if you want to train to walk well on lead don't use a headocllar but if time/committment/energy is low I would recommend a Dogmatic as it doesn't ride up like the Halti and is generally much more robust.

Linda

I used a stop pull harness for a while - my girl went frantic when walking alongside traffic - she would pull like mad.  However she refused to let me put the harness on after a while which was just as well because nothing substitutes training as was said earlier.  I really had to persevere with the sit, watch, treat to distract her from the traffic.  Then I used the command 'with me' (because I wasn't looking for perfect heel work at this stage)  This has worked a treat.  However she still pulls towards people and other dogs.  When I went to see an agility competion the other week I bought a 'bungie' lead.  This is supposed to create a check when the dog pulls against it and save my joints.  Having arthritis playing up I gave it a try.  It does work - though I have to allow a bit extra distance for the lead stretching.  What it doesn't do is prevent any injury to the dog's neck when pulling - not sure whether it could do any harm or not.  The web site for this lead is www.DOG-GAMES.co.uk.  They also had a harness that was completely buckled around the dog doing away with the need to put it over head and legs.
Luckily my present dog is a lot smaller than the male setter I had before who used to pull the lead out of my hand when he did a sudden pull.  The halti was the only way that I stopped him pulling me unexpectedly.