I've posted about this problem before and it seems like as Ezio gets older and bigger he becomes more unmanageable.

Just this weekend, for example, we went to the dog park. He knows where we are immediately and he becomes so excited that I can't control him. My husband walks him, he pulls, we make him sit so the leash has slack again, and once we start walking he immediately pulls again. As we were going into the park he pooped and we forgot bags, so my husband had to run in to grab some while I held the leash. As my husband was jogging back Ezio pulled me so hard I actually landed on my knees. It seems like a ridiculous thing to be upset about, but I was basically in tears. I've been doing what I've read time and time again is right, but he just gets worse. My husband is in the navy and in a few weeks he has to go to Virginia for a little over a month for the last of his school. If something isn't done I won't be able to take Ezio to the park at all during that time. I know I have to keep being consistent and he's still a puppy, but it's become painful. He used to listen to me to a degree when people would walk by. He'd normally sit quietly. Now he's back to 3 month old puppy mode where he pulls and jumps, except now he's 9 months old and over 50 pounds.

Right now we're still using a regular leash and collar, but I'm desperate for any suggestions for good harnesses that may deter pulling. I know it won't do all the work for us, but we definitely need to try something else. When he was really small we had a harness that clipped in the back and it only made him pull harder than with a collar. Maybe something that clips in the front? Has anyone had any luck with a specific leash/harness? I've been hesitant to buy one when I'm not sure if it'll make him any worse than he already can be. Links would be super appreciated.

Ouch, it must have hurt landing on your knees. Have you seen Kikopup's videos on teaching leash walking? e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFgtqgiAKoQ They are very good. You have to pracise at home a lot and in your yard too - on the way to the dog park is very exciting so that's when you would expect to see a lot of pulling. The stop-start method works well for some dogs, but for others it helps to show them what you want them to do, which is where Kikopup's approach is good.

I like the Easy Walk harness, like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Premier-Harness-Large-Black-Silver/dp/B0009ZBKG4/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355171051&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=ezy+walk+harness
It comes in various sizes and there's a reflective version too. It fastens at the front so it stops pulling and makes walking so much easier.

I'm looking into getting a different harness for Lucian as well. He's only 30lbs, and I can still over power him, but I'd like to avoid the situation you were just in. This is the one I'm going to get the next time I'm at petsmart.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11372093&lmdn=Dog+Collars+and+Leads&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

It's got some good reviews. I'm hoping to get one soon, and when I do I'll let you know how it goes.

If an anti-pull harness doesn't help then perhaps a head collar would help with the loose leash training. I would recommend a Canny collar if you opt to try a head collar. I have a Halti (have only ever used it twice) for instances where I absolutely must have complete control and when my sibe is wearing it I swear he sprouts wings because he walks like an angel with head collar. I had not heard of the Canny collar back when I bought the Halti otherwise I would have bought the Canny collar since the design is better than that of the Gentle Leader and Halti head collars.

Bodhi is three.
He weighs 47 lbs. and pulls quite hard.
I use a regular leash, because I can overpower him most of the time, and most of the time he's obedient for me.
But my wife can't walk him without a prong collar.
He has pulled her down and scared her, much like your story.
He obeys her and walks like a lamb when he's wearing it.
It's a Herm Sprenger Prong Collar 18 inch.
Some people think these are cruel, but our trainer recommended it.
He had me put it on my neck and pull.
It gets your attention but doesn't break the skin.
Just a gentle tug is enough to get the dog to comply.
It's important that you get a Herm Spenger.
We first bought a petco knock off and one of the prongs bent, leading to an escape.
I've also added a carabiner safety strap to Bodhi's collar for extra security.

I highly recommend a prong collar. It's worked brilliantly for us and for Kaya as it is an instant behaviour modifier.
I wrote a topic about it a little while ago on the forum.

Here's a link to the photo of the collar and the addition to it I made.
https://www.itsahuskything.com/t3638-prong-collar-popping-open?highlight=prong+collar

I use a martingale collar...the same concept as a prong, with without the spikes.

As with any training collar/harness you use, its important to learn how to use it properly. It can result in injuries if you don't, or your dog will just learn to fear and not respect you if you use it wrong. (Like, as in you tighten up the prong collar to max, and you yank on it really hard. I know of an owner who does that to his boxer, the poor thing is scared shitless of him!)

Also, be careful with head collars/gentle leaders. I tried one on my boy, but he kept on pulling anyways. I was scared it would damage his neck or spine, so I took it off and bought the martingale collar.
Head collars have been known to severely damage dogs' necks and spines, to the point they are paralyzed.

And I feel your pain...I have a small frame, and being pulled over (and dragged!) by a 77 pound dog isn't fun at all!

We use the Ezy walk harness when walking our two.. Kerian pulls like the dickies.. but the ezy walk harness helps some what.. Blaze does great with a collar or the ezy walk harness. We tried a martingale collar with Kerian my husband doesn't like them so we don't use it.

The problem I have with the ezy walk harness is the slides in the from move to much for me I ended up sewing them down on the one we purchased and and make a look a like for kerian with a change in the front.

We use a top paw harness and connect the leash to the front of the harness.

So I went to my local pet store last night(not petsmart) and bought this harness:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751027&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

It was the only thing they carried besides a head collar. I tried it out last night, and Lucian didn't like it at all. He stumbled quite a bit, when he would try to take off, and reached the end of the leash. I didn't care for that at all. But I tried it again tonight, and he did fairly well this time. It did stop some of the pulling, but the leash was never slack. I also noticed when I took it off of him, there was a chunk of his fur that got pulled out and stuck to it. So I'll be taking the harness back. I'm not going to use something that pulls his fur out. It tends to slide around a lot as well.
I'm going to try to make it out to petsmart soon, for the better looking one, and see how that works. I've been putting off cause petsmart is right in the middle of the biggest shopping area! I dread heading out in the traffic during peak holiday shopping time, lol.

I bought a harness from Xtradog. It's padded, and it has a loop on the back and on the front. Very good quality, though kinda expensive. I think mine was around $60 CAD with shipping.

Unfortunately it still doesn't fit him (even though it was a custom-fit...maybe I measured wrong?), so I can't return it.

Kota's our puller. We've tried the Halti harness http://www.petco.com/product/114796/The-Company-of-Animals-Halti-Dog-Harness.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch

It worked fine 'cept when my mom started walking the two by herself, she continued to walk even when the leash wasn't slack, so they eventually saw that pulling still got them where they wanted to go as long as they didn't pull so hard that they got redirected by the front lead harness. I'd say this works if you practice at it.

After they began full on pulling with that harness, we moved to a head collar, same brand, Halti http://www.petco.com/product/6008/The-Company-of-Animals-Halti-Headcollars.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch

It works real great but again, practice at it. Once in a while if I'm not the one walking Kota, I'll notice after a few days he pulls juuuust strong enough so the leash is tight, but not enough so he gets redirected. You're right to say you want something that will assist, but you're especially right when you say it won't solve it all. I hope you find the tool that works for you!

I used a triple crown collar which is a plastic prong collar. Our trainer is also had us buy a HOLT head halter. We spent days just getting her use to it and walking in the backyard. She does so well on the triple crown, we might not use the Holt. We back up the triple crown with a simple slip collar just in case the prongs break apart. We used the German prong with our late husky backed up with a slip collar too. Good thing, it come apart a couple times.

Keyda81 wrote:

I'm looking into getting a different harness for Lucian as well. He's only 30lbs, and I can still over power him, but I'd like to avoid the situation you were just in. This is the one I'm going to get the next time I'm at petsmart.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11372093&lmdn=Dog+Collars+and+Leads&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

It's got some good reviews. I'm hoping to get one soon, and when I do I'll let you know how it goes.

I got this one for Cloud and I hate it. Cloud is about 20 pounds and I bought him the smallest one and the width is still a bit too big and he chokes himself even worse when wearing this harness than how he does on a normal collar.

I second the Easy Walk Harness, it made a world of a difference with Kane's pulling and we just purchased one for Halligan and have started working with him. A regular Top Paw harness seemed to encourage Kane to pull, the prong/pinch collar slowed him down a but at first, but then he seemed to ignore it and pulled until he'd choke himself to gagging.

Good luck!

I'm not a fan of prong collars - they are not allowed at shows either, so I decided to go a different route. We use Nylon chokes, placed high on the neck right behind the ears - the dogs walk liek a dream.

http://www.cherrybrook.com/index.cfm/a/catalog.prodshow/vid/429071/catid/132/vname/Braided_Nylon_Choke_Collars

A halti head collar will put the dog back into your control until you can work him out of his pulling craziness.

I know exactly the pain that you are going through as we are going through the same thing with Kota. She is about 10 months old, and she pulls so bad that I cannot walk her without physically being in pain and I hate it. We have tried just about everything with her. (EZ Walk, Martingale, Flat Collar) So we decided, even though I hated to, to go with the head collar. She walks like a dream once she stops tossing her head around like a fool. That only last a few minutes till she realizes that once she stops thrashing around that she can walk peacefully.

The only thing I hate about it is the fact that if she was to take off after something I know it could injure her neck, so we keep her on a rather short lead instead of loose leash walking with her. I love the head collar I really do but I don't feel like it really corrects the issue as we have tried to revert back to her Martingale and she just goes back to crazy pulling dog.

If you are really worried about it while your husband is gone I would recommend the head collar because I bet it will work but I wouldn't use it permanently because I don't see that it corrects anything. Also please just be really careful with the whole neck injury thing because thats a huge risk!

KotaBear wrote:

I know exactly the pain that you are going through as we are going through the same thing with Kota. She is about 10 months old, and she pulls so bad that I cannot walk her without physically being in pain and I hate it. We have tried just about everything with her. (EZ Walk, Martingale, Flat Collar) So we decided, even though I hated to, to go with the head collar. She walks like a dream once she stops tossing her head around like a fool. That only last a few minutes till she realizes that once she stops thrashing around that she can walk peacefully.

The only thing I hate about it is the fact that if she was to take off after something I know it could injure her neck, so we keep her on a rather short lead instead of loose leash walking with her. I love the head collar I really do but I don't feel like it really corrects the issue as we have tried to revert back to her Martingale and she just goes back to crazy pulling dog.

If you are really worried about it while your husband is gone I would recommend the head collar because I bet it will work but I wouldn't use it permanently because I don't see that it corrects anything. Also please just be really careful with the whole neck injury thing because thats a huge risk!

I use a head collar too. It's the Premier Gentle Leader. I don't like using it because a) the risks, b) people always assume it's a muzzle and think she's dangerous, c) it never corrects the problem if you don't use it (as you mentioned).

As long as we know the risks and use techniques to prevent injury (i.e. short lead), we should be okay. I only plan on using this until she stops pulling on walks. She's actually accustomed to it quite well. We walk at night so she doesn't really get to see all of the animals scattering about. I always make her walk by my side (fully alert) and praise her when she gives me slack on my leash (I carry small treats with me). It's a work in progress. It's honestly the only way I have full control over her without pulling.

And once she hits 1 year (~4 more months), I will start bikjoring with her instead of taking her on walks so I don't have to use it anymore.

Thank you so much for all the suggestions! We'll be looking over all the links and deciding what we want to try first soon. Once we decide and get it I'll let you know if it works! Fingers crossed.

I tried this one too:
http://www.yuppiepuppy.com/store/training/anti-pull-mesh-harness/

Figured why not give it a shot, but it didn't help at all. Did about as much as his regular harness.
Hoping to get out to petsmart, and see what options they have there. I may just have to deal with the pulling until spring time when I can actually train him more on leash without freezing to death in the process.

Every dog is different. Some styles of harnesses and collars work better with some dogs than they do others. You just have to study what works best for you and your dog.

If nooooothing works, that shouldn't discourage you from helping your dog get the excercise he needs. Have you considered bikejoring? You attach a pulling harness to your dog and your bike and let him pull you on your bike. It helps with his pulling instinct and also gives him a better workout since he's pulling your weight and running at a higher speed than he would if walking or running alongside you. A tired pup is a happy pup.

Good luck!

We just ordered the Easy Walk harness -- should be here by Wednesday! I'll let you guys know how he reacts to it. Thanks again for all the help! If it doesn't work we'll probably have to try the head collar next, or the prong collar. I would consider trying the biking idea, but he's only 9 months old and I'd be afraid to hurt his growing joints running and pulling me on the pavement. And I would really like him to learn to walk before we encourage him to run/pull, especially at this age.

Just make sure with that harness you have it pretty snug against the chest (the part that hooks onto the leash,) it shouldn't dangle low otherwise it renders it pretty much useless! You will have to continue to check it's tautness overtime as it is nylon material and loosens.