# No Pull Harness



## TheNamesNelson

So my wife and I purchased one of the no pull harnesses for our male; the kind with the ring in the middle of the chest and when they pull it compresses and pulls them to the side. We took him for a couple walks and it seemed to be working, he was walking better, less at the end of the leash. A couple days later while walking around the house the dog kept turning fast and sniffing at his arm pit, we had him lay down and looked at his pits and they were red and a couple spots were inflamed. Nothing seriously bad but it coulda been if we didnt notice.

Has anyone else ran into this when trying to use these leads? I'm not even fully sure I have it on him right because it didnt come with directions.


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## Packen

Best to use a flat collar only and teach loose leash walking. That way the dog learns it the right way and there is no need for short cut gadgets and their side effects.


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## kiya

I had read the book by Turid Rugaas Amazon.com: My Dog Pulls. What Do I Do? (9781929242238): Turid Rugaas: Books she actually says to avoid "no pull harnesses" just use a regular type. I decided I wanted to try a harness on Lakota. Since it was the first time I ever used a harness I picked up a cheapie from walmart, it has the mesh in front (which I think is supposed to be a no pull type) and sliding fleece that goes under the armpits. Lakota does walk very nice, loose lead until she sees a deer or picks up fresh scent. I could definately see where sores could become an issue. I will have to take a close look at her tonight.


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## lkcheertex

We have one of those that we used to use. We didn't have any problems with it rubbing. Now we just concentrate on teaching them to walk loose leash. We do use a prong just in case he sees something and yanks simply because I am small and Harley is so large he could easily pull me off my feet


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## Cassidy's Mom

I've had Sense-ation front hook harnesses for years - we first got one for Cassidy, who had discospondylitis and couldn't have a leash attached to her collar for health reasons. A regular back connection harness was a disaster, so I tried the front hook. I've never had a problem with chafing, but I have heard other people talk about that happening. 

I used Cassidy's harness with Dena when she was young. She was so distracted outside (she'd walk perfectly next to me both on and off leash at home, but I couldn't get her attention at all outdoors!) and it helped keep her more aware of me at the other end of the leash while I worked on her leash skills. I was having trouble getting any kind of rewardable behavior from her prior to that. The front hook harnesses don't really stop pulling completely but for her it was just enough to facilitate our LLW training.

I bought a couple more Sense-ation harnesses in smaller sizes for puppies after her, not as a substitute for teaching loose leash walking, but as a tool to help train it, like with Dena. 

Did you get the Easy Walk one? There might be instructions on the website, (there are on the Sense-ation website), and you could pad the straps with fleece if you want to try to keep using it. Are you working on teaching him proper leash skills or just using it to try and stop him from pulling?


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## OriginalWacky

Cassidy's Mom said:


> Did you get the Easy Walk one? There might be instructions on the website, (there are on the Sense-ation website), and you could pad the straps with fleece if you want to try to keep using it. Are you working on teaching him proper leash skills or just using it to try and stop him from pulling?


The fleece thing often works very well. And I too wonder if you are working on proper leash skills - the No-Pull harness is just a tool to help while you work on skill, in my opinion. 

Something else, with deep-chested dogs, it can help to put the harness on upside down - I had to do that with one of my dogs while we worked on her pulling. In the end, she did learn to walk pretty well on leash, and was quite the pleasure to walk, no matter what kind of collar or harness we used.


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## katdog5911

I use the sensation harness for my 120 lb newfie/lab mix. no problem ever with chafing and this is the only thing that has enabled me to control him when he was younger. now at the age of almost 9 he just walks nicely. i can't say enough great things about the harness. for my 7 month old gsd i have the easy walk harness. haven't noticed any chafing either. it is time to get the next size up now and i am thinking i would like to order the sensation again. not much different, just like the colors better.


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## doggiedad

how about training the dog to heel? then if you want
to take the heel a little further teach them to
heel on either side with or without a leash.


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## gsdraven

The Sense-ation harnesses sit up a little higher so there is less rubbing. It also has a little more padding than the Easy Walk. 

If you are using the Easy Walk, you can put it on upside down (different color strap on top over the back) which also helps it sit up a little higher. And you can pad it yourself with those fleece seat belt covers.


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## BowWowMeow

The Easy Walk doesn't seem to be a good fit for the gsd body. I also used the Sense-ation with three of my dogs and it worked great without causing chafing.


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## TheNamesNelson

The problem I have with him is that he isnt an excessive puller like some dogs ive walked. He wont hurt your arm but he likes to walk just to the end of the leash so its not loose. Sometimes he will pull the leash but its not hard. When he had the harness on he wasnt walking at the end of the leash and he was in more of a loose leash walk, but now I know its because the harness was rubbing him raw and he was just uncomfortable.

I am totally lost as to how to get him to loose leash walk on my own. I have watched a bunch of tutorials and none of the techniques seem to work for me. I know its something I am doing wrong but I dont know what. I tried stopping every time he pulled out in front of me and waiting until he came back to walk again, but that just lead to him coming back to my side, and when I would begin walking he would immediately pull out in front again. I tried the method where you turn around and go the opposite direction when he pulls out in front, but all he did was pull out in front no matter what direction I turned. 

His breeder does training and I have called and left a message so I am waiting for there to be an opening or for a new class to start but in the mean time im lost.


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## Cassidy's Mom

Nelson, check out my posts on this thread for some tips (there are several posts, scroll down to read them all): http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...my-training-method-will-work.html#post1981530

What methods have you tried so far? How much time did you spend on each before deciding it didn't work? I've found that if you really want to work on teaching good leash skills you have to focus on that exclusively for awhile, and completely give up on the idea of actually going for a walk, because at first you may spend a lot of time just walking back and forth over the same patch of ground. And the stuff that "didn't work" immediately often worked very well eventually, but I had to be patient and spend some time on it. 

Above all, I'd recommend reading about the Silky Leash technique, and watching the Shaping Polite Walking videos. Until we got Halo I had never had a dog that walked all that well on leash, so leash skills were definitely my weak link in training. But I was determined to fix that mistake, and she now walks beautifully on leash, and Keefer does really well too - after I had success with her, I went back and worked on him!


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## OriginalWacky

I like 



 for examples on working loose leash with distractions. I also think 



 and some that follow it are great to watch as well. And you can search for the user KikoPup on YouTube and find lots of great videos that she does on teaching your dog with a clicker - I love how nice her dogs behave.

In the meantime, while you're working on the loose leash walking, some of the suggestions like putting on the EasyWalk upside down, checking into the Sensation harness, or adding fleece padding to avoid the rawness will probably help as well.


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