12/01/2024
Some helpful info. Personally I prefer walking dogs on a harness however a correctly fitting collar is fine . I am not an advocate of extenda/ flexi leads
We’ve had a few people asking this week about walking their dog on a collar versus a harness, so I thought I’d pop in with a Top Tip on this topic for you!
Let’s start off by having a look at a few pro’s and con’s of collars and harnesses
Collars
✅Often relatively easy to fit
✅Often relatively affordable
❌Poses a strangulation risk if it gets caught on another object, or even on another dog’s jaw during play
❌Distributes pressure over a small, sensitive area (the neck)
❌Some dogs, especially those with smaller heads, are able to slip out of collars
❌Car seatbelts designed for dogs should never be attached to a collar due to the risk of injury this poses if you are involved in an accident
Harnesses
✅Distributes pressure over a large, less sensitive area (the chest and back)
✅Generally offers a secure fit, which dogs cannot slip out of if fitted correctly
✅Many harnesses are considered safe for use with car seatbelts designed for dogs (but not all have been crash-tested)
❌Can be tricky to fit
❌Can be expensive
The most important point from the pro’s and con’s discussed above is the distribution of pressure. Because a collar concentrates the pressure in a small and sensitive area when a dog pulls, it puts the dog at risk not only of suffering pain and discomfort whilst pulling, but also of potentially suffering injury and long-term damage, including:
- Skin damage
- Nerve damage
- Ischaemic necrosis (the death of tissue due to reduced arterial blood supply)
- Vision loss (due to high intraocular pressure exerted when pulling on a collar)
- Damage to the trachea, laryngitis and/or oesophagus
(https://bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/vetr.1627)
If your dog tends to pull on leash, you may find that walking them in a collar as opposed to a harness reduces their tendency to pull. This is due to the discomfort that pulling in a collar causes. A safer and more humane approach would be to teach your dog, using force-free and positive-reinforcement methods, to walk calmly on leash (have a look at Deb’s top tips for Loose Leash Walking from Monday’s Masterclass if you missed it!).
If you decide to purchase a harness for your dog in place of their collar, here are a few tips for choosing the best harness for your dog:
- Look for designs which do not inhibit shoulder movement – Y-shaped harnesses are generally the best design for this
- Look for designs which you can completely unclip to fit over your dog’s head, rather than ones which need to be pulled on over their ears
- If you feel you need a bit of extra control when walking your dog in a harness, look for a design which includes a D-ring for leash attachment on the chest as well as the back
My all-time favourite harness is the PerfectFit harness – it ticks all of the boxes above and you can purchase each of the harness components separately to create the perfect fit for your dog. Some other great harness brands to consider include Ruffwear and Dog Copenhagen.
Image credits:
Image showing the sensitive structures in the neck which a collar exerts pressure on https://raisingageniuspuppy.com/2016/08/06/harness-vs-collar/
Image showing the restriction of the shoulder area caused by Norwegian/saddle harnessed compared to Y-shaped (also sometimes called H-Shaped) harnesses https://www.dfordog.co.uk/blog/why-h-shaped-dog-harness.html
Also, Lucy proudly modelling her PerfectFit harness which is almost entirely hidden under her fluff 😝
A note on head-collars
Head-collars are often recommended as a training tool to prevent pulling on leash. The premise behind this is that they exert pressure on the nose to turn your dog's head towards you - and it is very difficult for a dog to travel with any particular force in a direction in which their nose isn't turned! There are, however, several problems with this approach. The biggest problem, from a behavioural point of view, is that physically preventing your dog from pulling is not addressing the behavioural and emotional reasons as to why they're pulling. If they're pulling you in excitement towards another dog, they're still going to feel excited when they see that other dog, even if they can no longer pull you towards them! Not only does this then act as "putting a Band-Aid" on the problem as opposed to actually addressing the problem, but can also lead to a build-up of frustration in your dog which may worsen reactivity. Furthermore, if your dog does lunge forwards when on a head-collar, this exerts a twisting force on their neck and spine as their head is pulled to the side, and thus can also cause serious injury.
Veterinary professionals (VPs) are often the first source of advice for clients struggling with their dog's behaviour, and pulling on the lead is a commonplace undesirable behaviour VPs will encounte...
