Harnesses and Dog Walking

Not every dog is an angel when it comes to taking a walk. For some reason everyone else's dog or puppy will be composed when on the leash, but yours seems to go haywire. Going for a walk can become incredibly stressful while your dog or puppy pulls on the leash, drags you around, and tries to chase other animals. But you can not skip your dogs walk, since your home will become a target of boredom and of excess energy. So what can you do?

Using a harness is the easiest way to simplify the chaos of daily walks. Personally, I prefer harnesses since choke and prong colors can easily (and accidentally) harm your dog - especially smaller dogs. Regular collars do not provide good control of a dog who is erratic on their walks because you end up tugging on the strongest part of their body. Harnesses on the other hand target their two "weaker" points, their head and shoulders.

The Head Harness

If you control the action of an animals head you can easily redirect the energy of the body. A head harness loops around the neck and the nose, but does not restrict the dog in any way. They can still drink, chew, and bite. Once they have the harness on, all you need is a gentle tug on the leash when they start to run. Immediately, they will return back to a normal walk. I use (and highly recommend) this type of harness because this has given me the best results. Within one walk, my dogs behavior went from chaos to calm. I can now go for walks with no tension on leash whatsoever - in fact the leash is often loose with slack. However, it takes a bit more time for some dogs to acclimate to this type of harness. Some generally dislike having the harness on their face - so you may have to start with them wearing it inside the home for 10 minutes and then gradually use it during walks, using plenty of positive reinforcement. Also, they may be able to manipulate the loop around their nose off their face (this is very uncommon but my dog managed to figure out how to do this) but eventually with positive reinforcement and association with walks they will be less resistant to wearing their harness.

The Shoulder Harness

This harness specifically targets the action of the weakest muscle groups in a dogs body. An energetic dog will not notice a tug on the neck which contains the strongest muscles, but they will notice it when applied to a weaker area. Also, this type has the added benefit of your pet not being able to slide it off while you are not looking. This type did not work as well in my situation, but did aid in curbing the chaos slightly.

Once you find the harness that works for you, your daily walks will become much easier and more pleasant for you and your pet. If you are not sure what type would be the best for your situation, talk to and obedience trainer or vet and they will be able to give you their personal recommendation.