Who's Walking Who? Choosing the Right Harness or Head Collar

Summer is here and your pup is probably anxious to pull you out the front door to go for a walk. Even if you don’t have a dog that pulls, choosing the correct equipment can make an ordinary walk with your dog safer and more enjoyable.

Choosing to walk your dog with a harness or head collar can have great safety benefits for your dog. Pet stores have a variety of different items to choose from, which can seem overwhelming. Luckily, there are three that Morris Animal Inn considers the best no-pull devices on the market today, and all of them are available for purchase..

Freedom Harness: Made by Wiggles Wags and Whiskers, the Freedom Harness is specially designed to gently tighten around your dog’s chest to prevent them from pulling. The harness features clips in both the front and the back, and is designed for comfort featuring a velvet strap that goes under your dog’s chest to prevent chafing. The harness comes in a variety of different colors, so you can find the one that best suits your four-legged friend.

Gentle Leader: This product is made by Premier and is marketed as a head collar that stops pulling, lunging and other unwanted behaviors. The Gentle Leader goes around your dog’s mouth and the top of their head and prevents pulling by guiding your dog’s head down when they pull. The device allows for great control of your dog, and is highly recommended for anyone struggling with enforcing proper walking skills. Even though this product goes around the dog’s mouth, it is not a muzzle; the dog will still have free use of their mouth to sniff and eat.

Sensation Harness: Designed by Softtouch, this front connection harness is meant to prevent your dog from pulling.  They also make a swim friendly version for all those water loving dogs! Since the harness clips in the front, where the dog’s chest moves, their body will follow, eliminating pulling.

These items are made to prevent your dog from pulling and have safety benefits unlike other devices such as flat buckles, prong and choke collars, which can often cause physical damage to your pooch when not used properly or used for the wrong dog. A dog who repeatedly pulls on a regular collar risks conditions like a collapsed trachea with repeated wearing. 

These selections mentioned above should not cause damage, will help you while walking, and can greatly benefit both you and your dog. Stop by our lobby and have one of our experts fit your dog for any of them.

A no pull harness can quickly improve your dog’s walking skills, however, manners training will complement these no-pull harnesses and head collars nicely and do more to change the pulling behavior of your dog. 

If any of you have a dog that pulls or deal with them on a regular basis, sometimes it is as easy as getting them on something that immediately works.  The magic is in the product, not the way you use it!  We are catering the needs of each dog, as well as taking into consideration your requests, and what we think would work best for them in a real life situation.