Hi! Today’s farm tip will discuss dogs. If a dog pulls when on the leash, most people think that a harness would be a better thing to use when walking your dog. However this is not the case, you should not use a harness for your untrained dog. Once they are trained to walk nicely a harness can be ok.
A dog’s chest is much stronger than their neck. So if you have a dog that pulls and you harness them, you are allowing them to use their chest to pull against you. Thus, instead of correcting the pulling, you have only made it worse.
Also, there are front clip harnesses which are called no-pull that are harmful to your dogs body because they prohibit the shoulders from moving properly. These should not be used.
If someone tells you to buy a choke collar, do not listen to them. A dog that seriously pulls will not stop pulling just because something is choking them. If you have a dog like this, you will kill them. The choke collar gets smaller under the force of the pulling and eventually if the dog doesn’t stop pulling, it will collapse their esophagus.
People also try to use a shock collar which does not train a dog. It forces them to do what you want instead of having them walk nicely because they want to.
A prong collar may be ok to use, but it still doesn’t train the dog it just prevents them from pulling. And on a serious puller it will hurt their neck.
The best way to walk a dog is with a normal collar, 6ft leash, and lots of training using positive reinforcement (treats, a toy, a scratch, whatever your dog enjoys). Once you go through with training, you can skip the treats and have a dog that doesn’t pull. It will feel rewarding if you put the time in instead of trying to force them to obey with a shock collar or anything like that. If you are struggling, try using a gentle leader and train them with that.
- choke collar-NEVER use
- prong collar- use with caution if absolutely necessary
- harness-NEVER use
- shock collar-NEVER EVER USE, doesn’t really train a dog
- Gentle leader-use with training if you need it or want it, or train with a regular collar
Thanks for reading!
Big Green Acres 