YvonneM Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 I have been recommended to get a Blackdog harness to help with my dog who pulls and lunges when walking. The harness that was described to me by the trainer at our kennel club mentioned the Blackdog Antipull harness .... having looked at the Blackdog website, there is no antipull harness, but there is a balance harness, which sounds like the same thing in the description. She did however mention that the harness had padding or sheepskin under the legs and the ones on the website don't. Does anyone have any experience with this particular harness and if so, where can I buy one from, apart from the Blackdog website themselves? I feel so inadequate not being able to walk my pup properly or keep him under control .... I wouldn't feel so bad if he wasn't a 9 months old, 4kg Maltese!! We go to obedience training and he has advanced 2 levels since we started back at the beginning of September, but we are using a halti at training which gives much more control. I'd really like to remove the halti and have a pup that walks nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iggy mum Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 I have been recommended to get a Blackdog harness to help with my dog who pulls and lunges when walking. The harness that was described to me by the trainer at our kennel club mentioned the Blackdog Antipull harness .... having looked at the Blackdog website, there is no antipull harness, but there is a balance harness, which sounds like the same thing in the description. She did however mention that the harness had padding or sheepskin under the legs and the ones on the website don't. Does anyone have any experience with this particular harness and if so, where can I buy one from, apart from the Blackdog website themselves? I feel so inadequate not being able to walk my pup properly or keep him under control .... I wouldn't feel so bad if he wasn't a 9 months old, 4kg Maltese!! We go to obedience training and he has advanced 2 levels since we started back at the beginning of September, but we are using a halti at training which gives much more control. I'd really like to remove the halti and have a pup that walks nicely. :rofl: :rofl: I'm sorry for laughing but my MinPin x Chi is 5yo and approx. 5kgs and does the same thing. She eventually stops dragging me along when she is either wearing out or the excitement of going 'walkies' has waned. I haven't used the BlackDog harness but I hope you find what you're seeking. Good luck with your boy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankdog Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 (edited) I used various devices on my 25kg bulldog but the best thing that worked was stopping for ten seconds every time the leash went tight. It took him about a month, and I got to know my immediate neighbors very well since I would stop every three steps but he finally got there. I've seen the underarm sheepskin harness but since it's a similar idea to a halti and she's fine on that why change? Edited December 5, 2013 by hankdog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YvonneM Posted December 5, 2013 Author Share Posted December 5, 2013 I have been recommended to get a Blackdog harness to help with my dog who pulls and lunges when walking. The harness that was described to me by the trainer at our kennel club mentioned the Blackdog Antipull harness .... having looked at the Blackdog website, there is no antipull harness, but there is a balance harness, which sounds like the same thing in the description. She did however mention that the harness had padding or sheepskin under the legs and the ones on the website don't. Does anyone have any experience with this particular harness and if so, where can I buy one from, apart from the Blackdog website themselves? I feel so inadequate not being able to walk my pup properly or keep him under control .... I wouldn't feel so bad if he wasn't a 9 months old, 4kg Maltese!! We go to obedience training and he has advanced 2 levels since we started back at the beginning of September, but we are using a halti at training which gives much more control. I'd really like to remove the halti and have a pup that walks nicely. :rofl: :rofl: I'm sorry for laughing but my MinPin x Chi is 5yo and approx. 5kgs and does the same thing. She eventually stops dragging me along when she is either wearing out or the excitement of going 'walkies' has waned. I haven't used the BlackDog harness but I hope you find what you're seeking. Good luck with your boy! Yep - Banjo stops pulling when he is tiring out too ..... I usually find a hill to walk up :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YvonneM Posted December 5, 2013 Author Share Posted December 5, 2013 I used various devices on my 25kg bulldog but the best thing that worked was stopping for ten seconds every time the leash went tight. It took him about a month, and I got to know my immediate neighbors very well since I would stop every three steps but he finally got there. I've seen the underarm sheepskin harness but since it's a similar idea to a halti and she's fine on that why change? The problem is he isn't fine on the halti now .... it worked really well at obedience training but last training night (Tuesday) he came home with a green face from spending the night dragging his face in the grass - the halti was obviously bothering/distressing him so much that we actually came out of class early that night. He will often rub his face with his paws or on the grass at the halti, but so do many other doggies at training that wear a halti, but never as much as he did this week. After some advice from the trainer - the same one who has suggested the blackdog harness - we are doing the same as you .... stopping as soon as there is any tension on the lead and actually taking a few steps backwards until his focus comes back to me and then we do a "lets go" and go forward again .... I spend 30 minutes in front of the next door neighbours house this morning taking 2 steps forward and 3 steps backwards .... neighbours must have thought I'm loopy :laugh: :laugh: I really want to get this right .... I never used to take our previous dog for a walk because he was constantly lunging on the end of the lead and it was a "tug of lead" the whole time! I'd come back frustrated and poor pooch would come back exhausted. Those were back in the days before I discovered DOL and obedience training ..... and yes, he was a 5.5kg Maltese X ... so only slightly bigger than my Maltese boy now !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverStar-Aura Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 The harness you were told about was probably a Sporn harness -- they have the fleece stuff under the armpits. Sporn Halter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimax Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 The harness you were told about was probably a Sporn harness -- they have the fleece stuff under the armpits. Sporn Halter I use a sporn on my freight train pug, but it's the one with mesh on the chest instead of the collar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YvonneM Posted December 5, 2013 Author Share Posted December 5, 2013 The harness you were told about was probably a Sporn harness -- they have the fleece stuff under the armpits. Sporn Halter I use a sporn on my freight train pug, but it's the one with mesh on the chest instead of the collar. Love your description of the Pug!!! Sounds like my Maltese at the moment!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YvonneM Posted December 5, 2013 Author Share Posted December 5, 2013 The harness you were told about was probably a Sporn harness -- they have the fleece stuff under the armpits. Sporn Halter Hmmm - restricted website at work .... will have to wait until I get home to have a look - thank you :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 I find the Blackdog balance harnesses to work very well. It's best to use them with a double ended lead (you can buy it as a package from them). The instructions for fitting are comprehensive and you can email them if you have trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzy82 Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 There is no piece of equipment that is going to teach your dog to walk nicely. The only way to teach nice leash walking, is to put the time and effort in to teach it. The no-pull tools is just a way to stop the dog from rehearsing bad habits, and aren't really needed for toy dogs as they can't drag you along anyway. Look into silky leash on youtube, and also teach her that walking next to you is really awesome. Start with dog next to you, feed loads in position. This is all you do for several days. When the dog knows this, you take one step forward, dog will come up next to you because being next to you is awesome. Then you gradually add more steps and start adding distractions. Any time the dog moves ahead, you stop as soon as the dog's head crosses the plane of your body, so by the time he reaches the end of the leash, you are stationary. Bring him back next to you, and keep walking. Repeat as needed. I don't like how even in positive training circles, leash walking is about punishment. Walk the other way if they pull, be a tree etc. Just reward the dog for being in correct position until the dog knows this, THEN you can introduce a consequence for being out of position. Also, teach "go sniff" and "go see" cues. There's no treat that can compete with a dog's desire to sniff stuff and say hello to other people (if they are friendly), so by putting these on cue, you can use them as motivation for leash walking. If you walk nicely, I might give you a cue to go and sniff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackJaq Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 There is no piece of equipment that is going to teach your dog to walk nicely. The only way to teach nice leash walking, is to put the time and effort in to teach it. The no-pull tools is just a way to stop the dog from rehearsing bad habits, and aren't really needed for toy dogs as they can't drag you along anyway. Look into silky leash on youtube, and also teach her that walking next to you is really awesome. Start with dog next to you, feed loads in position. This is all you do for several days. When the dog knows this, you take one step forward, dog will come up next to you because being next to you is awesome. Then you gradually add more steps and start adding distractions. Any time the dog moves ahead, you stop as soon as the dog's head crosses the plane of your body, so by the time he reaches the end of the leash, you are stationary. Bring him back next to you, and keep walking. Repeat as needed. I don't like how even in positive training circles, leash walking is about punishment. Walk the other way if they pull, be a tree etc. Just reward the dog for being in correct position until the dog knows this, THEN you can introduce a consequence for being out of position. Also, teach "go sniff" and "go see" cues. There's no treat that can compete with a dog's desire to sniff stuff and say hello to other people (if they are friendly), so by putting these on cue, you can use them as motivation for leash walking. If you walk nicely, I might give you a cue to go and sniff. This is what I was thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarope Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Yes I'd have trouble walking one too...they do look mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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