New harness for pulling

[R&Gsmom]

My trainer introduced us to a new harness that works for pulling. It's terrific!! My first reaction was "A harness??? HUH???"

What it does is put the leash ring on the front in the middle of the chest so when the dog pulls it puts pressure on the shoulders and the dog turns to look at you.

They are easy to get on and off and are designed to be left on if you want. I tried it all week on Duncan and he really likes it. Combined with positive reinforcement for being in correct position it works well and can be easily trained out of.

I also like it because it doesn't hold the stigma of the prong collar and no one freaks out because it looks like a muzzle like the halti's and gentle leaders.

It's called the SENSE-ation harness. I bought mine through the trainer for $30.00.

Just thought I'd share!

[frontierrots]

We have some at the kennel. They work because they restrict the front end movement.

It's a fine product for pet owners but not one I'd recommend for people who will be showing as the dog learns to shorten the front end movement to accomodate the harness

They are also difficult to fit to some dogs. We had two that we just could not get fit. They were too small for one size and too big for the next size down to get the desired fit

[SABELLESMOM]

Seen and heard of them. I'm not impressed, particularly. Since dogs are situational learners, you will 1) either always have to use the product, or 2) have the problem return as soon as it comes off.

I prefer to actually help my dog figure out what I want her to do. When the walk stops, so does the fun of activity. Walk starts, ok this is nice...pull, oops, walk stopped again..dang she wno't let me snif anything...just standing here is boring. Ah-h-h! Walking again, more fun than standing still. <Geesch!> Pull...Uh-oh! Stopped again. Ok, up and walking again, this is nice...just you and me, huh mom?

[diddybopper04]

I've always found it a little amusing for whatever reason, that people don't realize that they teach their dogs to pull when they start using a collar and lead with them.

With puppies, I NEVER let them have a tight lead. EVER. If they get to the end in front of me, I will tug and release, tug and release, until they learn that when they go out too far, they get that "tug". It's not much fun, so they learn to keep a bit of slack in the lead.

With an adult dog that has learned to be a strong puller, the same sort of exercise will work, but depending on who is administering it, and how they do it, can take a lot longer, of course, than teaching a little puppy.

Harnesses are FOR pulling, so I dont' think I would use one on any of my dogs to teach them NOT to pull, but for pet owners, if this thing works, hey, go for it.

[R&Gsmom]

Like I said in the beginning of my post I couldn't believe it when she said a HARNESS for pulling because I know harnesses are for pulling. I always laugh at that uneducated Huskie owner that is getting dragged across the Petco parking lot by their dog in a harness. No one ever explained the oppostion reflex that a harness causes.

This one is not conventional and does not cause the opposition reflex because it works more like a steering mechanism. When the dog pulls it is forced to turn and look at you because of the pressure on the shoulders NOT across the chest.

I agree if you are lucky enough to begin at puppyhood with training and you can do the tug and stop training or any other type of heeling training from the beginning then that is the way to go. But these devices along with the head harnesses such as the halti and Gentle Leaders are for those of us that resuce or adopt an older one that already has the bad habits in place and don't feel like getting dragged around by an 80-100 pound dog until that training takes effect.

I do plan on going on to competition obdience with my boy. Since this harness is easy to train out of using positive reinforcement for being in the proper position it is perfect for me especially right now while I am pregnant and CAN'T get pulled and yanked around.

[iluvmyrotti]

Hey, if it works for you, go for it! When training my 2 with the trainer we went through everything and ended up with the prong collars. I hated the way they looked, and how people look at you when the dog is wearing one. But when it's used correctly, it doesn't hurt my dog and more importantly, it works! I had just had surgery on my arm and with my husband working out of state, I had to be able to control them, especially Baron. If I needed to, I could walk them at the same time now without any problem because they learned how to walk so nicely with the collars. And yknow what? I don't care that other people dont like em!