# harness or gentle leader?



## abatt (Jul 10, 2012)

Hi everyone.

We are still working on leash walking with our 15 week old puppy. Currently, when outside, his nose is constantly on the ground eating and sniffing everything he can. He already got stomach bacteria few weeks ago by picking up something on the street. We are worried that the regular collar hurts his neck, as his is pulling so hard and almost chocking everytime we want to keep him away from something (for now "leave it" command works only about 50% of the time). So we are looking into getting either harness or gentle leader. Can anyone recommend which one is better to have more control over him until he gets better with the leash walking?

Thank you!


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## zigzag (Oct 4, 2011)

15 weeks is so young. I would just keep the walks short and give him off leash time at a park. Maybe even drag the leash or Check cord. After he is older maybe incorporate the collars you mentioned. I would just keep it simple and get a nice Leather Pinch collar from gun dog store. I only use the leather pinch collar, it is a great tool when you use it right. Read how to use from books or online sources. You should have no problem training Whoa, Heel. With a quality Leather Pinch collar.


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## jjohnson (Nov 9, 2011)

We use a harness with the leash attachment in front for our 14 month old. It is a life saver and keeps him from pulling on the leash (when he isn't obeying the "heel" command). I would definitely reccomend one.


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## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

15 weeks is maybe a bit young to try the higgins method, but here's a short clip of my Ruby the first time we tried it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKrZVg_B6hQ&feature=plcp


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## pippylongstocking (May 21, 2012)

Not sure where you are in the world, but my vizsla Ester, has recently started using a head collar. She was about 6 months, and walking her on the lead was becoming quite difficult. Our trainer suggested either a dogmatic or a halti head collar. I was a bit sceptical, as I didn't think anything would stop her pulling or keeping her nose to the ground. My goodness me, what a revelation. I would go head collar all the way! It's like walking a different dog. She walks beautifully, and seems to enjoy it more, as she is not coughing and wheezing as she was pre head collar. I went for the dogmatic head collar in lemon leather. Customer service also excellent, would highly recommend.


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## Brittrkerr (Sep 9, 2012)

I have a 13 week vizsla and she WOULD NOT walk with a leash for nothing. She just sat there. I thought maybe her harness was too small and possibly hurt so we bought her an Easy Walk harness. I also would drop the leash and just start walking. Since they don't like being left behind she started walking to catch up. Throughout our walks for a few days i dropped the leash every time she stopped (instead of pulling to make her walk). Now only 3 days later she's walking almost perfectly. I think both the new harness and the method I used both contributed.

Good luck!

Search "leash walking" on here. Ppl have some great advice.


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## minihero (Jun 19, 2012)

Welcome!
We use the Walk Your Dog With Love (http://www.vcli.net/?page_id=1031), they donate to Vizsla rescue groups as well. She was on the small until a couple of weeks ago we bought her the medium 25 - 55 pounds and it's still loose. Most of our long walks are on this. She gets testy sometimes because it prevents her from pulling, but with treats, praise, and a lot of stopping she eventually got the hang of it, but not at 3 1/2 months that's very young.

Your pup is still young at 5 1/2 months and leash walking will be a project for many many months. She also got a parasite and took antibiotics :.

I think with time and lots of consistent practice they just get better and better. We walk her on the flat collar up and down the driveway, on short walks, and during puppy school. We keep her on the left with leash in right hand and a treat in the left hand. We say "Let's go" she follows and takes the treat and does nicely most of the time. The leave it command works but it is going to take a long time for it to be perfect. We are also practicing stopping at sitting at crosswalks. As mentioned below there are a lot of ideas and information about leash walking on the forum.


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## LaVidaLoca (Feb 20, 2012)

harrigab said:


> 15 weeks is maybe a bit young to try the higgins method, but here's a short clip of my Ruby the first time we tried it.
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKrZVg_B6hQ&feature=plcp


*Harrigab,*

how long did you walk your Ruby with the loop around her muzzle?Was this the only way you trained her to walk heel?! I'm trying different methods...


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## abatt (Jul 10, 2012)

Thank you all for the comments.

We do realize that he is still very young and we have a long way to go.

After some research we got the "easy walk" leash with a front buckle. But we cannot seem to fit it properly. He still pulls and kind of trips with it. Also, we have a major leash biting problem where he grabs the leash and basically tugs us along (no sprays or repellents seem to work). "easy walk" leash gives him an easier access to grab and pull at it.

As a result we bought a harness with a buckle on the back. It doesn't help with pulling at all, but at least his leash biting is not as bad.

I will search through the leash topics on the forum. Hopefully more research, time and patience will get us there.


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## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

abatt said:


> After some research we got the "easy walk" leash with a front buckle. But we cannot seem to fit it properly. He still pulls and kind of trips with it. Also, *we have a major leash biting problem where he grabs the leash and basically tugs us along* (no sprays or repellents seem to work). "easy walk" leash gives him an easier access to grab and pull at it.
> 
> As a result we bought a harness with a buckle on the back. It doesn't help with pulling at all, but at least his leash biting is not as bad.
> 
> I will search through the leash topics on the forum. Hopefully more research, time and patience will get us there.


That's a tantrum! 

We had it loads of times and took a lot of patience and consistency from our part to train it out of her. No easy fix. They all love to run and being on the leash of course means no run.
What we did was we would stop when she starts it and wait. Totally ignored her and just checking her from the corners of our eyes if she has calmed down or not. Sometimes I would even turn away from her. No attention whatsoever! When she stops and sits or lays down or just stands then you praise and carry on walking. If it happens again then the above method again. 
I did lose my cool at the beginning and all it did just made her even more crazy on the leash. She would throw herself back and just struggle on the ground. Trust me it was very embarrassing but eventually we started to ignore her and that's when she learnt it that is not much point behaving like that. Finally I learnt to read the signs and could see it before it would happen. I would stop, give her a command and just wait for a minute or two then carry on with the walk. This is something that you have to watch out for a while. If you learn to stop it before it happens and praise her at the right moment for being calm and well behaved she will get the message. 

Never used a harness for walks, it just encourages to pull. 

As I said there's no quick fix but lot of work, training, consistency and patient from your part.


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