Collar Leads vs. Harness Leads For Training Large Dog

[Drift's Owner]

Hi, our small to medium rescue dog is growing beyond medium and as a little girl in the park said the other day: 'Hello massive dog'

Drift's training is going pretty well considering his stray background and puppy age (depending on which park punter/expert, vet, dentist, TV talk show host you speak to, he is anywhere between 7 & 12 months). However we need to do more work on recall. Fine when it is just us, but if any other dog appears - his ears become painted on versions of the real thing. I predict a % Lurcher of some description when we get the DNA results back!

As he is a large galloping dog, we want to be able to really let him run, but being a large, can't work out how to control my legs just yet, chewy-bitey staged puppy we have to be wary that a lot of people think he is fully grown and should be well trained for the 3 years, not 3 months people have assumed we have had him for. So I am cautious and want to get him performing a lot better on recall.

Everyone has a lot of advice on leads, from the charity we got him from, to every expert known to man. Neck leads choke, harness strain their ribs etc. Still I would be interested in what owners here have used to train any other medium - large going on giant dogs that haven't had all the love and attention every puppy at a young age deserves.

All thoughts & experiences we will gladly read.
Many thanks.

 

[Sally&Daisy]

Hi, our small to medium rescue dog is growing beyond medium and as a little girl in the park said the other day: 'Hello massive dog'

Drift's training is going pretty well considering his stray background and puppy age (depending on which park punter/expert, vet, dentist, TV talk show host you speak to, he is anywhere between 7 & 12 months). However we need to do more work on recall. Fine when it is just us, but if any other dog appears - his ears become painted on versions of the real thing. I predict a % Lurcher of some description when we get the DNA results back!

As he is a large galloping dog, we want to be able to really let him run, but being a large, can't work out how to control my legs just yet, chewy-bitey staged puppy we have to be wary that a lot of people think he is fully grown and should be well trained for the 3 years, not 3 months people have assumed we have had him for. So I am cautious and want to get him performing a lot better on recall.

Everyone has a lot of advice on leads, from the charity we got him from, to every expert known to man. Neck leads choke, harness strain their ribs etc. Still I would be interested in what owners here have used to train any other medium - large going on giant dogs that haven't had all the love and attention every puppy at a young age deserves.

All thoughts & experiences we will gladly read.
Many thanks.

I find the same problem with my agility dog with harnesses and collars, we tend to switch between the two for various events. It depends on lead training (pulling) and what harness you use: I recommend fleece lined ones as they avoid excessive pressure in certain places and are generally comfortable for the dog. If you do get one, I also recommend one with a Y shaped chest straps instead of T shaped ones as they fit better on slimmer, lurched types

I hope this was helpful!

 

[Drift's Owner]

I find the same problem with my agility dog with harnesses and collars, we tend to switch between the two for various events. It depends on lead training (pulling) and what harness you use: I recommend fleece lined ones as they avoid excessive pressure in certain places and are generally comfortable for the dog. If you do get one, I also recommend one with a Y shaped chest straps instead of T shaped ones as they fit better on slimmer, lurched types

I hope this was helpful!

Yes thank you. I haven't seen any fleece lined ones in my searches, but I will type that in. I have seen a few Y shaped harnesses in the park so I will definitely look into those too. I can see he is loosing fur underneath the harnesses we were given from the charity, so we have swapped to a different one, but it is a bit too big & the next sizes down are too small. He sounds like Goldielocks looking for the perfect lead.

 

[JudyN]

Have a look at the Perfect Fit harness - I've no experience of them, but seen them recommended a lot, and you can buy the different components separately to get the 'perfect fit'. The customer service is meant to be good, so if just one bit is too big/small you can send it back and get a replacement.

 

[Shalista]

Bax has a bit of a lurcher build despite being a terrier (thick neck, barrel chest, and tiny waist) and i had really good luck with the Ttouch harness'. i especially liked the options for the leads. every harness comes with a front clip and two back clips (one up by the collar and one down low on the back) i did alot of my loose leash training with it on the front clip (for obv reasons, bax is a terrier and highly opinionated about which direction we're going in)but now its easier to just put it on the low back clip.

 

[Sally&Daisy]

Yes thank you. I haven't seen any fleece lined ones in my searches, but I will type that in. I have seen a few Y shaped harnesses in the park so I will definitely look into those too. I can see he is loosing fur underneath the harnesses we were given from the charity, so we have swapped to a different one, but it is a bit too big & the next sizes down are too small. He sounds like Goldielocks looking for the perfect lead.

Yes thank you. I haven't seen any fleece lined ones in my searches, but I will type that in. I have seen a few Y shaped harnesses in the park so I will definitely look into those too. I can see he is loosing fur underneath the harnesses we were given from the charity, so we have swapped to a different one, but it is a bit too big & the next sizes down are too small. He sounds like Goldielocks looking for the perfect lead.

Trixie ‘Premium’ touring harnesses - paw-things.com Link to harness I sometimes use for agility! Hope this helps

 

[Drift's Owner]

Trixie ‘Premium’ touring harnesses - paw-things.com Link to harness I sometimes use for agility! Hope this helps

Thanks very much.

 

[Drift's Owner]

Have a look at the Perfect Fit harness - I've no experience of them, but seen them recommended a lot, and you can buy the different components separately to get the 'perfect fit'. The customer service is meant to be good, so if just one bit is too big/small you can send it back and get a replacement.

Thanks for the advice. I went with a Perfect Fit and they were really helpful!