# To harness, or not to harness?



## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

I've got two dogs... a smallish crazy drivey female that does helicopter spins in bitework, but has a great bark that never quits and doesn't choke herself on a 2 inch flat collar... and a big beefy male that pulls hard enough to restrict his breath on a 2" flat collar and consequently his bark & stamina fade quicker, but never does charge-induced helicopter spins despite pulling like a freight train. I see potential benefits and drawbacks of using a harness on either. Both need some guidance in keeping their head high after slipping the sleeve/pillow/etc. Thoughts on whether I should use an agitation harness on one, either, neither, or both? Maybe collar (flat, pinch, otherwise) and harness w/leash on each?


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I used a harness with my current dog and I'm glad I got one so now I have one should I want it, but haven't been using it for my puppy. For the dogs that want to flip, spin, or jump and land on their back I use one of my hands farther down the line, sort of pressing it down so it restricts the dog from getting to jumpy. To me, barking and doing a LOT of work on a back-tie with no give would be the reasons I'd go to a harness. Also sometimes we do a bit of work where the handler and dog are really close (like handler is straddling the dog) and the harness is nice for that b/c it has a big handle on the back and you don't risk getting tagged by the dog's teeth if it's a dog that really tosses his head around when barking.


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

Liesje said:


> I used a harness with my current dog and I'm glad I got one so now I have one should I want it, but haven't been using it for my puppy. For the dogs that want to flip, spin, or jump and land on their back I use one of my hands farther down the line, sort of pressing it down so it restricts the dog from getting to jumpy. To me, barking and doing a LOT of work on a back-tie with no give would be the reasons I'd go to a harness. Also sometimes we do a bit of work where the handler and dog are really close (like handler is straddling the dog) and the harness is nice for that b/c it has a big handle on the back and you don't risk getting tagged by the dog's teeth if it's a dog that really tosses his head around when barking.


The idea of having a leash potentially whacking me while popping tight with me straddling the dog (I'm intact, and intend on remaining that way, no matter what you nay-sayers say ) scares me lol... but tie out is actually a reason my helper mentioned would be a good use of the harness


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I personally like a harness if the dog is loosing breath/stamina from choking. And when back-tying, it is needed, IMO.
My male is large and very hard to control with just a harness, unless he is back-tied, I'd get dragged. I used the harness along with a prong collar for more control. It worked and now we just use a prong and fursaver.
One reason to go with a hold and bark exercise, too, so the dog isn't constantly having that pressure on the neck!


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Like Jane I'm now using a prong and flat collar on the adult dog. I used to use only a prong but I'm working on some new things where using the prong too much was causing too much conflict. Now I'm back to refining line handling skills, using two lines and two collars. On my 6 month old puppy I'm using a Fursaver (dead ring). He barks a lot and doesn't choke off but I keep the collar low on his neck, and he doesn't weigh much yet. I haven't tried the harness on him yet mainly because he is still so small, I doubt it will fit right. To me the disadvantages of the harness are not as much control and just having to put on/take off all the time is annoying.


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## Jason L (Mar 20, 2009)

I had Ike in the harness for about 2-3 months when he was doing mostly backtied bites. After that it's fursaver and whatever other collars needed for the job on that occasion (prong, dominant dog, ecollar, etc.).


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

For the male that needs his head up after slipping the sleeve, I would use a harness for barking and biting; and keep a short leash on the collar that you can pick up and run with while keeping his head up.

For the female, I would see if using the collar for biting would stop the spinning.


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