HARNESSES
We strongly recommend that dogs wear comfortable and well-fitting harnesses when walking on a lead. Here are the reasons why -
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Escaping the pain
Because dogs are required by (British) law to wear a collar with the owner's contact details on, it is very common for people to attach their dog's lead to the metal ring on the collar - after all the dog is always wearing it! What these people fail to realise is that collars give unpleasant and painful choking sensations to a dog's throat and neck when the dog pulls against the lead. The pain and anxiety that this creates causes the dog to pull even more in an effort to escape the pain at the front of its neck. This is one of the reasons why dogs pull on their collars and leads. They have found it works as the lead is taken off when they arrive at their exercise area/home, so they pull even harder in an effort to get there quicker! See the Memory flow chart Why Dogs Pull on a Lead which explains how dog's thought processes work when a lead is attached to a collar, and when it is attached to a harness.
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Attaching leads to collars can cause damage to your dogs eyes
There is veterinary research to prove that when leads are attached to collars the build up of Intraocular Pressure causes eye damage to dogs with weak or thin corneas, glaucoma, and other eye conditions. In their research they compared the pressure to the dog's eyes when it was pulling on a collar (with a normal buckle) to when it was pulling on a harnesses. The results showed that eye pressure did not develop when the dog was wearing harness. As a result of this research, Veterinary Eye Specialists are actively encouraging dog owners to walk their dogs on harnesses, particularly terrier breeds which have a predisposition for these particular eye problems. Sadly too many dogs have had eyes removed due to Intraocular Pressure caused by pulling on a "normal" collar and their owners have begged me to pass on this information to all my readers. Read Pickle's Story for a first hand account.
- Avoiding bad associations
Many dogs build up bad associations from the unpleasant sensations of their collar. They begin to link either the environment or what they are doing with the choking pain they are experiencing and start to anticipate the situation by becoming either aggressive or fearful.
For example - A puppy pulls on its collar and lead in its eagerness to get close to other dogs; it soon starts to associate being near other dogs with the nasty choking sensation it feels in the front of its neck; it then either barks or lunges at the dogs to try and make the pain go away, or it tries to escape from the other dog, only to have more pain in its neck from being restrained by the collar and lead. Properly fitting harnesses (together with loose lead work - see Turid Rugaas's book "What do I do when my dog pulls?" available from our shop) overcome this problem as the dog's weight is evenly distributed over the chest and shoulders when the dog tries to pull, and so it feels no pain or choking sensation around its neck.
See also Leash Stress by our Guest writer Eggi Chromecek.
WHICH HARNESS IS BEST?
There are a number of different designs of harnesses from which to chose from
- some suitable, other not. Here are some features to look out for when choosing
a harness.
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It should be made with wide straps and be well padded HOW WILL I KNOW IF IT FITS? |
IS IT POSSIBLE TO MAKE A HARNESS?
Yes it is. We have come across a webpage called "Make Your Own Dog
Harness" that gives directions on how to make different types of harnesses,
including a Walking Harness. Although I have not actually tried making one myself,
it may interest those of you of a practical or imaginative nature! Only use
soft edged webbing so that it does not cut into the dog's body. I would also
strongly suggest that you experiment by customizing the harness by adding padding
to the neck area, and possibly putting it almost everywhere that the webbing
could rub against the dog. If you do make one of these harnesses,
let us know as we would be very interested to hear your comments.
Be careful how you introduce the harness to the dog, bearing in mind that we don't want the dog to have unpleasant or bad associations with wearing the harness, otherwise it will be reluctant to wear it and play any Games when in a training environment. Look at Nibbles for the ideal way of introducing a dog to wearing a harness. Soon the dog will look forward to seeing the harness and will be more confident when the harness is put on properly - building strong happy and positive associations for the dog.
WHERE CAN I GET A GOOD HARNESS?
Either visit your local pet shop to see if they stock suitable harnesses
or, better still, browse around our Dog-Games Shop. There are a variety of different
styles of harness to choose from in a various of colours and sizes. We are happy
to endorse these particular types of harness as they are both comfortable for
the dogs and suitable to play Dog-Games, or for
walking on the lead.
CAR HARNESSES
Our harnesses are designed as WALKING HARNESSES and should not be used as a
car harness as they have not been tested under crash conditions. We recommend
car harnesses made by Safe
Dog, who have designed and thoroughly tested them for use in cars.
Types of dog walking harnesses for sale at the Dog-Games Shop
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 Perfect Fit Harness to fit ALL shapes & sizes of dogs - available in Black, Blue or Red fleece lining |
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