Another harness one (sorry!) for a dog that pulls?

[sandi_84]

I've taken on a 2YO large mixed breed snuggle monster, he's boxer/rottie/staffie cross.

The lady he was with before gave me a harness for him which has been fine, but while we are still working on walking nicely at heel he does pull a bit and I've noticed the hair on his shoulder is being rubbed short.
It's one of those with multiple D-rings - one between shoulders, one at his back and another in the front of his chest which is apparently the one you clip to while training because they can't pull against you with as much force. It has made a difference clipping to the front D-ring, on the other two I'd be really hard pushed to hold him if he really pulled but then we've ended up with the rubbed hair problem.

Does anyone have large dogs that can make a recommendation for a harness that wont rub but will still allow me a bit of control when he starts to pull?

 

[Bellasophia]

Hi. Is he walked singly? if so i would try a leather collar,plus a harness and a K9 training lead,to attach to the collar and the harness at each end of the lead..
then go back to basic lead training focusing on the collar and lead,yet having the option to hold him on the harness if he explodes..this has worked well for me and gives confidence to know you have the harness as a backup.Gradually ,with practice you can abandon the harness,

 

[sandi_84]

He's an only and is walked singly yes.

Thank you I'll go have a look at those.

 

[Bellasophia]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Quality-police-training-leather-Brown/dp/B0095FAWEK

 

[sandi_84]

Thanks for the link Bellasophia!

Currently we are doing a lot of turning and walking the opposite direction, it is slowly slowly working, I just don't want him getting rubbed sore in the meantime. Hopefully a training lead will distribute the pressure a bit and help with that.

 

[Bellasophia]

Hi sandi..hope things are continuing positively.If you remain consistent I bet you won’t be using that harness after a month.


Re the180 turn..for those with pulling dogs..Ive had a lot of success in the walk forward,stop if dog pulls ahead then make 180 degree turn ..walk in other direction..dog is now at your side..then, return to forward walk ( 180 turn back)..dog is still at your side and you’ve not,pulled on his lead at all..May take a couple of weeks ,but it works.
The dog’s aim is to get ahead..if you gently intervene,dog will get his reward to proceed each time you turn back but he is at heel,and only then proceed forward.......it’s a win/ win.

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

Does he have a big enough nose for a figure of eight?

 

[sandi_84]

Hi Bellasophia thanks for checking in with us!

Walks have been mostly good this week, pulling minimal but still happening a bit.
Today the ratbag managed to catch what I can only imagine was the stupidest rabbit around (ran a bit and then just stopped and crouched down), which then had to be finished off by me poor little bugger! Dog thought this was a tremendously exciting thing to have occurred and spent the rest of the walk on lead because he wasn't to be trusted not to bugger off in search of more stupid bunnies that would just lay down and wait to be eaten.

You have articulated far better than I, what I actually meant by "doing a lot of turning"!
I found that if I just stop and wait for him to come back on his own we would be standing there till next week while he happily watches the world go by! So we tried the approach you describe above which we are having more success with so far.

I haven't been able to purchase the training lead yet but it's in my basket for when I've got the spare cash next week. I tried to google how to use them properly/find a video showing them being used and haven't managed to find anything, think I'm just being a bit dense though! Is it supposed to be one end clipped to collar and one end clipped to harness or something completely different?

Cinnamontoast - he does have a big snoot but he is a bit ginger about having it touched (previous owner used to smack him on the nose and he's a sensitive boy), he will suffer it if you persist because he's a gentle soul, but clearly is uncomfortable with it so not sure anything going round his nose will be the way to go with us?
This is going back a ways but how is your leg these days?

Sorry I don't use H&H anymore since I lost my boy and just randomly decided to check this thread again - at midnight, just before bed of course!

 

[Bellasophia]

Dashing in today..my youngest son gets married this afternoon..
...
yes clip the end of k9 lead to his collar,the other end to harness...use collar as your prime control,the second clip to harness gives you the security if he tries to launch off. Ie you are now walking the dog on a collar.Your harness in time will not be needed.Takes time,but it sounds like all is going to plan.Well done.

 

[sandi_84]

Aw very exciting and congratulations!

Ah cool, not being so thick as I thought then ha ha! Thank you! Hope you have a great day!

 

[sandi_84]

Just for interests sake he is a rehome from somewhere else. The progress we have made so far since the start of the year when I got him amounts to -

No more peeing/pooing in the house.

No more separation anxiety.

No more hypervigilance and barking at everything that goes by.

No more pulling me down my stairs before walks.

Walks are getting more pleasant, less pulling by far compared to the start, he almost pulled me off my feet twice in the early days from over excitable bounding!

Anxiety around other dogs lessening. We have started walks with a friend's older steady dog which is going well. We are hoping to bring her younger bouncier dog out at some point in the future because the older dog is so laid back he barely registers my dog is there ha ha!
This is a weird one really because he used to live with another dog and has been socialised with other dogs in the past with no issues, no bad experiences with other dogs that I know of so I'm not sure why this has happened.
I'm relaxed and not anxious on walks or about other dogs so I don't think he is picking it up from me - bit of a mystery the only thing I can think of is that I don't think he is used to other dogs while on walks? Any tips here would be appreciated!

Recall is still patchy-ok at best so we're working on that. Gave my lunge line away which is a sod, but I bought a really long shock absorbing one which has been good. He gets to free roam on lead when we are off the street and gets off lead time in enclosed areas where at least he isn't able to totally bugger off.

It's all still a big work in progress while out but he seems to be happy here and I'm really pleased he settled in so quickly and well.