Should you use a collar or a harness when training your dog? Compulsion trainers don't want you to use a harness because they don’t understand how to communicate with a dog unless there’s something around the dog’s neck 😬 Are you confused about choosing the right collar or harness for your dog? This video is your ultimate guide to selecting the perfect training tool that suits your dog's needs and ensures their comfort.
Discover the secrets that old-school trainers don't want you to know: why harnesses, specifically Y-shaped harnesses, are often the best choice for training. Unlike traditional collars that may restrict a dog's range of motion, Y-shaped harnesses offer flexibility without inhibiting your pet's movement. Learn how these harnesses serve not just as a training tool, but as a safety net that supports effective communication with your dog.
In this video, we break down the myths about harnesses and explore why they're often misunderstood by traditional trainers. You'll understand why they believe something must be around a dog's neck to communicate, and how modern training techniques challenge this outdated perspective. Whether it's a Y-shaped harness or a flat collar for a well-trained older dog, we discuss various scenarios to guide you in making the right choice for your unique situation.
Additionally, you'll get insight into how training tools like harnesses and collars are merely secondary to the underlying training methods. Emphasizing positive reinforcement and understanding your dog's emotional state, we'll reveal how the tools themselves don't teach the dog, but aid in creating a strong bond and effective communication between you and your pet.
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I don’t use a harness. I have balance issues and if my dog ever pulls on the harness I lose my balance and fall. Using a flat collar has worked just fine for me.
I don’t know what your balance problems are, but I’ve got the mother of balance problems. I fell down some stairs a few years ago and suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). My memory wasn’t impacted, my ability to speak wasn’t impacted. What was impacted was my ability to walk and balance. I spent almost two years in physical therapy learning how to walk and stay upright. I’m successful–most of the time (but not always). I no longer drive (it’s too dangerous for me to do so) because my legs don’t always respond immediately to what my brain wants them to do and I have to pause and “reset” my brain (when walking, you’ll notice a “hitch” in my walk; fine for walking, not fine for driving!). I walk with a cane on good days. On occasional bad days, I have to bring out the walker to get around. I walk my dogs on a harness with no problems.
I don’t use collars now. I have used Ruffwear harnesses ever since I discovered them. My favourite is the modern version, the Flagline harness which has 2 straps round the body as well as the one round the neck which means that the dog can’t wriggle out of it. It also has a front attachment, ideal if the dog tends to pull, and a handle on the top which was great when Jasper got old and his legs tended to give way.
I agree. Ruffwear harnesses are terrific, especially the Flagline.
The flag line looks great, but all the ruffwear harnesses look like the straps are too close to the armpits? I’ve been on the verge of buying one so many times and end up saying no.
@Coastal Coyote I haven’t found them to be close to the armpits. There is flexibility in the fitting. I particularly like the fact that the Flagline has a fabric piece under the body so there’s no straps pressing against the dog’s belly. It was wonderful for supporting old Jasper when he would stumble on his walks.
We adopted an untrained pit/mastiff cross a year ago. We went from collar to a gentle leader and now a harness. The front clip harness is best for control. Now that she is trained, we can use the back clip. She likes the harness best, too.
Exactly! This is what I do for Danes and Wolfhounds who come in to rescue who haven’t been trained to walk on a leash and are the worst pullers and who pull you everywhere they want to go. We go from gentle leader to front clip harness to “regular” back clip harness. It saves potential injury to those of us trying to teach these dogs to walk calmly on a leash. Stopping, turning around and going the other way, etc. work with smaller dogs. But when you have a dog as big and powerful as a Dane or Wolfhound, that doesn’t work very well—they’ll just knock you down and drag you along behind them. We’re able to skip the gentle leader for a few of the dogs, but most of them start out on the gentle leader.
I was so happy to use a harness with our little one. Granted, he’s a smaller breed, but it gives me greater control and allows me to react quickly if an encounter with a new dog friend doesn’t go as expected for him. I can simply lift him up, which is something I couldn’t do in the past with a leash-on-collar. He’s so used to it that he gets in a yoga-like puppy pose as soon as we reach for his harness by the front door and he pretty much climbs in on his own. We have more work to do with him and his training, but so far, so good!
My 10 month old puppy comes on recall while playing with her friends in the dog park! ❤ All positive training! I use a harness on her and will continue doing it.
Harnesses are also the best for when you need to pull dogs appart!! Hasn’t happened to me but I have seen others super benefit from it!
Also to pull your dog above your head ( if not to heavy dog) when your dog gets attacked by a other dog.
That happened to me.
Someone’s dog escaped the yard, and attacked my dog, luckily she was on a harness, and I could pull her above my head.
I have been watching your videos since I was just a kid with my first puppy. I love your videos and I really agree with this!! We use to have an American Staff that would make himself pass out from his collar. So we switched to a harness and did lots of training with him. He eventually learned pulling was going to get him anywhere and he never had a problem after that. Our main concern was the constant tension on his neck. I wish people were more aware of the problems of a dog getting his neck tugged and pulled. Harnesses are safer and do work with proper training
I use a collar for ID only, and a Y-shaped harness for walking. The harness gives me so much more control with my strong, large-breed, reactive dog. If we need to change direction or move away from a trigger, the harness (especially with a handle on it) can be very helpful. I also like that it doesn’t put pressure on her neck. I walked my first dog with a collar and she always found ways to slip out of it. I didn’t discover harnesses until much later in her life and was so grateful, especially step-in harnesses.
We’ve used the easy walk harnesses on our Aussies and they’re great. And you can flip them around so the attachment point is on the back more like a harness for hiking or whatever. Or on the chest for regular walking
I have a big big dog, a Great Pyrenees and I love her harness. Especially when she was a young pup but still huge. It has a big leather handle on the back and it was so convenient to have a good place to hold onto if i needed control for safety things (like while she was still learning to be around poultry and one of the birds came around unexpectedly). She doesn’t pull and walks way better than a lot of the dogs I dog sit that just have collars.
So glad to hear this. My dog pulls more with a collar and the sound of him choking himself out is awful. My Dog can be a nervous nelly. Most of the time he listens but I don’t feel I have full control over him in the cases where he decides not to listen or is so nervous that he’s not taking commands well. He can be sneaky sometimes if there’s food lying on the ground outside. Plus he has IVDD. I don’t need him to have neck or trachea problems too.
Thank you for speaking truth for the dogs! ❤
Our dog LOVES her harness. She loves it so much I have actually seen an uptick in the number of dogs wearing them in our neighborhood. It’s so much safer than her old collar which actually did damage to her neck before we adopted her – she had a pressure cyst that needed to be drained. I love her so much and it’s a simple swap that makes her life healthier and soooo much happier.
My sheltie has a collar for his ID tags, but we walk with a Y harness for many reasons: 1. he hated having a leash on collar from day one and shut down, refusing to walk. 2. he has so much fur its impossible to put a collar on him to accomodate his lovely ‘mane’ that he wouldn’t slip out of (we tried, we failed). 3. I feel like it’s more humane (would you rather be led around by your neck or a vest over your back?), like you I wanted a harness that wouldn’t impede his gait or cause discomfort. Plus, shelties have very delicate necks and I wouldn’t want to risk injuring him.
I had a trainer for a specific issue and she pushed the ‘no pull’ harness rather insistently. I bought one and let her fit the dog, and then promptly put it in a drawer where it remains.
My dog wears a collar with her id on it. I always use a harness for walking and it gives complete freedom of movement. It’s a Y shaped harness but it has thinner straps than the one you showed us. Each part is adjustable to get a good fit. You can also add a belly strap if you want. Some dogs can back out of a harness and an extra strap will stop that. I use a lead with a bungee section so that if the dog does suddenly pull for some reason neither of us gets any kind of jolt.
I’m a 100% positive reinforcement trainer and our gym uses both flat collars and harnesses. We do prefer two types (and only sell these, not others). We prefer the Martingale flat collar, and the Wonder Walker or Sense-ation harnesses. We prefer the front clip on the aforementioned harnesses for two reasons. First, dogs tend to walk and not pull near as much on a front clip. Second, without the leash falling over the dogs head / shoulder, they tend to do much less leash biting and it seems to be less annoying to them with the leash coming out the front away from them.
Always a harness. My first rescue had a damaged trachea, and the vet assumed it was caused by being choked with a collar. My dog was deaf, so you can imagine the frustration that may have been taken out in her. My latest rescue has only known a harness. There’s absolutely no rational reason not to use a harness over a collar. Thanks Zak for staying at the forefront of the new training.
Our first dog used to pull like crazy until the age of 9, basically first half of his life. We were less experienced and he was behaving very dominant towards other dogs (despite his corgie-like stature). What eventually helped with pulling besides him getting older, was showing him trust, by letting him loose occasionally. I was risk welcoming teenager, so it was my “merit”. Point is, he was on harness, because collar was making us look like we would been choking him.
My current dog is bubbly, calm and friendly. But he has long hair and he used this as his advantage, when he really wanted to escape collar (for example when he was afraid of getting on the train). So he is wearing harness now as safety precaution
What brand or brands of collars/leashes/harnesses do you use? Also, can you do an equipment tour as one of your videos? I would love to see all of what you use to train your doggos! 🙂
Harness. Definitely. Much safer for the dog. I did all my dog’s basic training in a fenced area without a leash and have very pleased with the results — he thinks it is a fun game:-).
After receiving a recommendation from a trainer, I decided to gradually transition my dog to wearing a collar. It is a large and comfortable collar to minimize any discomfort. However, I have noticed that, in the past two weeks, our walks have become more anxious since using the collar. I’m unsure if this is because I am being overly cautious to avoid hurting Loki, or if he genuinely dislikes wearing a collar. As a result, I have returned to using his harness during our walks. The harness provides a sense of security and allows me time to focus on capturing his attention. Instead of relying on collar corrections, I prefer to train my dog to pay attention to me and correct any necessary behavior through verbal cues or introduce an alternative behavior.