I have the most beautiful 8 and a half year old boxer called Holly who has decided, in her old age, to completely ignore all the training she has ever had and just do her own thing!!

On the whole this isn't really a problem as she still comes when called (in her own time mind you!) and is well behaved but she has started to pull on her lead. She now walks round town doing her "look everyone my mom is choking me" impression

I wanted to buy her a nice comfortable harness where her front will take most of the strain and not her neck/throat. Can anyone please recommend one to me that might be suitable. Sorry if this is a stupid question as this is my first post on Champdogs but I thought I'd ask the experts!

Many thanks

If you want to stop a dog from pulling, don't put it in a harness. Yes, with a collar, they give the "choking dog" but all a walking harness does is allow the dog to put more weight behind the pull, using the chest and shoulder muscles. All you succeed in is stopping the awful noise. If you want to stop pulling, try one of the many head collars available - halti, dogmatic, gentle leader.... they will give you control over the head and your dog can't pull as bad.

Not all harnesses give the dog an advantage for pulling - the Walkezee is excellent for pullers (google it), as is the halti harness.  Incidentally, you also stop the potential physical damage done by putting all that pressure on just the throat, as well as spinal problems from lopsided pulling where constant pressure nudges vertebrae out of line.

I recommend headcollars as well, but only if they actually work (is that makes sense) - if the dog still tries very hard to pull they can cause trouble as well, and if the dog lunges at something there's the potential for neck damage.  I won't use a headcollar alone on my Soli as she tries so very hard to pull on it that the potential for damage with her is high - I walk her on a halti harness and headcollar combo with a double ended lead, so she can't pull.

I stand corrected :)

Even the ones that are not designed to stop pullers can help.  We put our Golden in an ordinary harness and it helped cure her.  I suspect because it felt different she didn't quite know what to do with it :)

Thanks for all you help and advice...  I've decided to go with the Walkezee Harness and have ordered one today so we'll see how it goes.

I'm sure she'll be disgusted when she sees it :rolleyes: but we'll give it a go.

I'll let you know how we get on!!

As she is elderly and short coated make sure it doesn't rub her under the armpits.  I believe that they have rubber tubes over the thongs now. 

I assume she isn't shown, as these types of harnesses can really put their fronts out and make them elbow out.

http://www.walkezee.com/

The Walkezee isn't the type of harness you are thinking of Brainless...The harness focuses on the strap across the chest not straps that go under/round the top of the front legs.

Yes I was thinking of the Lupi and similar stop pull harnesses, that one seems like an ordinary harness

I've seen plenty of owners with dislocated shoulders in Somerset whose dogs are wearing these. :rolleyes:  I've been so surprised by the numbers that since the beginning of the year I've been asking the owners about them and have always been told that their 'trainer' told them to get one.  To me the only answer for a pulling dog is back to basics training.

Or a dogmatic