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Harness or Collar?

Well puppy class was today and I guess that's it for the puppia harness and back to the less fashionable but functional Holt. Max was a real pill and wouldn't do a thing I asked. He doesn't pull with the other harness but today he decided that's all he wanted to do - except for when he was chewing his leash (which is another thing he never does). I also noticed that instead of applying the pressure to his chest like my other harness does it's like all the pressure is around his waist.
 
We use a Puppia harness. She has had it since she was 8 weeks of age, and we got her used to it by having her wear it indoors before taking her out walking. We were told by a dog trainer to never walk a cavalier using a collar. You do need to have an identity tag on your dog here in Ireland though, so she does wear a collar - we just wouldn't ever dream of attaching the lead to it.

We correct her every single time she pulls on the lead, and at 16 weeks she is now very much inclined to walk side-by-side with us. I will correct her every two seconds if I have to - she'll never learn unless I persevere. But we're getting there!
 
I had to convince our class leader that Annie must use a harness. She pays close attention to me and I am able to correct her without pulling or tugging. The goal of my obedience is to train Annie off lead anyway so they should not be leash dependent. We are a long way away from that, but Annie LOVES class and loves doing well so I will continue. On her harness she never scratches (she did on a collar) and so far there is no bunny hop. She has a great many sypmtoms of SM and has seen a neurologist.
 
The goal of my obedience is to train Annie off lead anyway so they should not be leash dependent.
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Well done you! This is so important. We train this way and it works out very well indeed.
 
mjones5 said:
I had to convince our class leader that Annie must use a harness. She pays close attention to me and I am able to correct her without pulling or tugging. The goal of my obedience is to train Annie off lead anyway so they should not be leash dependent. We are a long way away from that, but Annie LOVES class and loves doing well so I will continue. On her harness she never scratches (she did on a collar) and so far there is no bunny hop. She has a great many sypmtoms of SM and has seen a neurologist.
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That's wonderful if you can train off lead. I wish I could do that with Dylan, he does air scratch on a harness but usually only when he pulls. We are having a job to stop him doing that as it is! Well done you (y)
 
My biggest problem at puppy class is that Max does everything we've learned so far I do off lead so a harness isn't really a training issue - just a puppy class issue. When I walk the dogs I walk them together. When Max is on the lead himself and I'm not walking him - (i.e. I'm telling him "down" he things its' fun to chew on the lead which he doesn't do when we are actually walking). I guess I'll take some bitter apple spray with me next week.
 
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