To Harness or to Collar?
- K9 Catch Ups
- Dec 13, 2019
- 3 min read
When you bring an adorably excitable pooch into your home it's hard to fathom all the decisions you have to make regarding their welfare- you are still very much entranced over how cute their tiny faces are and their exceptionally sweet toe beans.
But there comes a moment - usually within the first ten minutes- where you are forced to make decisions. (Usually about what they can and can't be nibbling on)
But these decisions are what will provide your dog with the right balance to be healthy and happy.
This is why training your dog is such a hard task to do - you constantly wonder if the method you are going with is the right one.
Trust us though, we have all been there....dogs are basically like our children as they say.
It's a frightening prospect especially when it comes to bringing your beloved furball out into the real world.
You are bombarded with information..
There are so many options and discussions over what method is best to use.
More so about whether utilizing a harness will be beneficial to your dog.
When K9 CatchUps conducted a poll on both our Facebook page and Westies Aberdeen, the 71% of the 87 participants responded with using harnesses when walking their dogs.
But does this mean they are necessarily right for every dog?
Well an expert in the field, says it really depends on the training of your dog and how well the fit of their harness will be.
Pauline Mitchell, Emmett Therapist for Dogs and Professional Dog Walker, said:
"Training is the key to helping the dog to walk nicely on a lead."
She recommends a harness with two points of contact as it will help your dog balance themselves on walks. But it is essential that you teach your dog to not pull on the leash nor invest in a harness that is a mismatched size for your pooch.
These are highly recommended by the professional dog walker as (if not considered) they can cause serious damage to your dog's health.
"If the dog pulls on the lead while the lead is attached to a collar it could cause damage to the throat and the small bones just behind the tongue which cannot be sorted once damaged...If the girth (of the harness) is too slack and your dogs gets a scare while out walking I can guarantee they will pop their elbow back through the girth and step back out of the harness."
This is why Pauline recommended a Y front harness that should be fitted by professional trainers or she even commended the Aberdeen shop- Decidedly Dogs for fittings.
Click on picture to link of recommended
fit for harnesses
The Y shaped harness is connected so it will provide maximum freedom for your dog's fore legs and will not interfere with dogs who have prominent breastbones such as dachshunds.
They will be able to run or walk balanced, unhindered and not irritated with the beginnings of matting fur with this type of harness.
Pauline recommended brands such as:
But they have to be fitted correctly otherwise the recommended harnesses will be of no use to your cherished pets.
So to sum it up - training is what is essential for your beloved pet in order for it to be truly safe and healthy when making the decision to harness or to collar their lead.
If you do manage to train them out of the excited pulling of their leads phase then a collar attachment is okay.
However Y shaped harnesses are beneficial to give your dog freedom of movement with no risk of irritation and can create balance so they learn to walk via your pace.
The choice is of course, entirely up to yourselves.
What are your thoughts after reading this article?
Have we changed your mind at all? Well let us know in this simple poll:
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