BlackJaq Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 (edited) First of all, I seem to recall reading a thread about this, but I can't seem to find it despite numerous searches.. I'm just wondering what people think about dogs wearing stuff during agility practice, including harnesses, haltis and other correction gear, and even collars (flat and otherwise).. I seem to recall that in the other thread the danger of having coats (as in, dog coat against rain or cold, not the dog's own fur)and such caught on equipment was mentioned, presumably this would go for harnesses and such as well? Do you know of any such incidents? What about collars? What does your dog wear during training? I have been using a rope slip lead that I stuff in my pocket when we are on course, because I have been hugely paranoid even about a plain flat collar, not to mention the slip lead goes on and off fast, but recently I have started my second dog in beginner's agility after doing it for just over 12 months with my other dog. In this beginner's group there are two large dogs constantly wearing haltis, and even for off lead work, the owners simply let go of the lead, which is clipped to the halti...... Both dogs tend to be hesitant when the lead is dragging, presumably because they are stepping on the lead and pulling on their own haltis... Not sure if the haltis are meant to come off when the dogs advance further? For jumps and such they are unclipping the lead, but nevertheless halti stays on... Anyway, I am curious what kind of gear others are happy to leave on their dogs and if there have actually been any incidents of stuff getting caught (mostly wondering about flat collars I guess, as they seem pretty safe but I am still paranoid since my Weimaraner likes to do about 150 miles an hour on the course lol) Edited November 18, 2013 by BlackJaq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 I would never leave a halti, harness or lead of any sort on my dog while doing agility. I have no problem with a flat collar. I leave my collar on when at training but take it off for competitions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 My dogs always train and compete in agility and retrieving "naked". They learn early on that no collar equals AWESOME fun, treats, focus and play with me. I put a flat collar on them for obedience training only because it is required in the ring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pie Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 Mine are naked also but I have no problem with flat collars - though prefer them to be naked because I have seen a video of a dog catch a flat collar on a jump upright - harnesses not for me thanks, Haltis, absolutely not and no leads ever around jump uprights - I have seen someone make her dog do a jump on lead and the lead wrapped around the upright and pulled it down on the dog - why would you want to risk a negative association like that? The mind boggles A dog with a lead on a halti could easily get it caught on something and risk a neck injury or negative association - just no for me. For me personally - if the dog isn't at a stage where it can be working off lead and not running off it shouldn't be doing sequences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazhak Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 my oldest boy trains without anything on as far as leads & collars go as its just easier, leads tend to get hooked around legs ect, & in trials they are only allowed to wear a flat collar so training in a halti or harness just doesn't make sense to me.. my youngest boy is only in beginner classes so I use a martingale type collar for him more often he goes leadless too though, I get my martingale collars made in the states so they are correct size for my small dogs.. as far as trialling goes I prefer to run my boys totally naked, so no collars or anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackJaq Posted November 18, 2013 Author Share Posted November 18, 2013 Sorry, I should have specified, we are only doing single obstacles in the beginners' group at this point :) But those haltis sure make me uncomfortable watching the dogs in them... The owners seem to yank on them whilst gesturing during conversation and are generally kind of oblivious to their handling of their dogs.... Fortunately both dogs seem pretty docile.. Making me wonder why they need them in the first place :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agility Dogs Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 I would never leave a halti, harness or lead of any sort on my dog while doing agility. I have no problem with a flat collar. I leave my collar on when at training but take it off for competitions. This x 100. I don't always leave a collar on the dogs when they are training, but sometimes I do forget to take it off. They run without their collar in both ANKC and ADAA events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 Sorry, I should have specified, we are only doing single obstacles in the beginners' group at this point :) But those haltis sure make me uncomfortable watching the dogs in them... The owners seem to yank on them whilst gesturing during conversation and are generally kind of oblivious to their handling of their dogs.... Fortunately both dogs seem pretty docile.. Making me wonder why they need them in the first place :p From the very beginning, we teach pups and young dogs forward focus and obstacle independence so I would never train on leash or with any accoutrements - I would rather go away from equipment and work on engaging with me, motivation and self-control than work on leash. Dog is definitely restrained (crate, leash, etc) between exercises so they get a chance to relax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podengo Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 Elsie wears a limited slip lead/collar to agility, so when she runs she is wearing nothing. All dogs in my introductory agility class must be on either a flat collar (preferably) or on a well fitting harness (no big flappy handles or hanging bits for example). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santo66 Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 (edited) But those haltis sure make me uncomfortable watching the dogs in them The Halti was designed by someone as a money making exercise.....it's the most stupid and useless dog training tool I have ever encountered and just because someone put it in the market place for sale, shouldn't mean that it needs to be accepted as a valid training tool in any dog training facilities when no dog needs a Halti in order for it to be successfully trained. The whole concept of the thing is wrong from a training perspective exceeding the goal of easier management of an untrained dog whilst it's on the dog's head. The quicker training facilities ban those stupid things the better IMHO Edited November 20, 2013 by Santo66 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackJaq Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 Wow I never though there would ever be a post from you that I actually agree with. Wonders never cease Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Me too :) there you go!! Mine run naked but a flat collar would be acceptable. Definitely no halti's or harnesses. If a dog is very new, the person is doing one low bar jump and they are right there, then yes a lead attached to a flat collar. I would never ever drop a lead and especially not if it attached to a halti or other head control device. If the lead was to wrap around a jump with a dog going at speed then you could bring the jump down on the dog, but when it is attached to a head control device the potential for a serious neck injury is huge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chezy Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 mine run/train naked, I have seen my girl , who is a weaving lunatic, get caught on the weaves by her collar , was like someone grabbed her collar suddenly and the rest of her swung round . So now way would I put anything on them at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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