Advice please

[ibot]

hey all

so my puppy is about 6 months old and i put a new coller on him yesterday but he was pulling so badly that he has been coughing since. does that make sense?? its the only thing i can think of not sure what to do with him can i give him anything to help his throat ?

im not going to use that collar again as ive not had him like this before. although he spends more time off the lead.

what do you think??


thank you choc drops en route

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Use a harness instead.

You need to ensure he is wearing ID tags when outside the house.

 

[ibot]

sorry i did not word that right he is in a collar but not on a lead is what i meant. yes harness i agree

 

[ibot]

i also have another collar

 

[Spudlet]

Use a harness while you are training him to walk on a loose lead. The training is the important bit though! A harness is all very well and will stop him from damaging himself in the process, but getting him to walk without it being a tug of war is your goal.

 

[CorvusCorax]

As Spudlet, it doesn't matter what you use, you need to train him how to walk on a loose lead - yes a harness will not choke him but they can throw their weight into it and brace themselves against you.
The general rule of thumb with collars is that the thinner they are and the higher up the neck they are, the more severe the action. A big broad collar will still allow the dog to use its' weight against you. But either way, you don't want to be jerking a small puppy around by the neck. At six months he should be getting the idea about walking along beside you so maybe time to go back to basics x