Has Anyone Tried The Walkinsync?

[RuralGSPs]

Hi,

I have two GSP's and looking to get a harness for them for walking. Has anyone tried or know of anyone that has tried the Walkinsync?

http://www.dogwalkinsync.com/

A trainer i am having lessons with come across them. She absolutely loves them and recommends them to her clients now. But i just wanted to do some research on them.

I had a little go with hers at class the other day and I liked it. I like the fact it has a front clip and one on the back. They are very adjustable as well. But just wanted to know other thoughts on them.

Thanks

[teekay]

Hi,

I have two GSP's and looking to get a harness for them for walking. Has anyone tried or know of anyone that has tried the Walkinsync?

http://www.dogwalkinsync.com/

A trainer i am having lessons with come across them. She absolutely loves them and recommends them to her clients now. But i just wanted to do some research on them.

I had a little go with hers at class the other day and I liked it. I like the fact it has a front clip and one on the back. They are very adjustable as well. But just wanted to know other thoughts on them.

Thanks

I use a Sensible front attach harness which I am happy with but looking at the video of this one it does look comfier. I like the fact it is a way from the shoulders, but at nearly $80 to order for Australia I think, for now, I will stick with the Sensible. MIne don't pull anymore but I still like the security it gives me in case of any unforeseen cats darting out or whatever may make them suddenly lunge.

Do you know if anywhere in Oz sells them?

[RuralGSPs]

Cats, possums, shadows...hahaha.

The lady who im going to for training is currently waiting to hear from them about being a retailer in Australia. I will let you know how she goes if you would like? Otherwise there are a few people that want them so we can split the shipping between all of us.

[sheena]

I got this one from Clean Run for my young BC guy. I had him in a Sensible front attached but he grew out of it & thought I would try the Freedom No Pull Harness You can attach it at the front & the back or just one or the other. Since getting it, he is quite happy walking in it with the lead attached at the back, because if he pulls, it tightens around his girth. It is strong & the part that goes around the girth/back of legs is made from a velvet type material. It is also a lot cheaper than the one you are looking at, even with postage, which CR are usually happy to negotiate with. :)

[Chequeredblackdog]

Lady I walk with ( and dogwalk for) has 2 for her BCs. They still pull her around like freight trains and don't seem to work well at all. I think alot of her problems might come from not using them properly though.

I walk them on flat collars and they walk reasonably well for me, so I can't comment on the harnesses from first hand experience.

[Working Dog Lover]

I have one of those harnesses, and I put it on my kelpie when we go running - I like how it doesn't have a horizontal strap across the front of the shoulders potentially affecting forward movement of his front legs. Sophia Yin, an American vet behaviourist who runs with her dog, recommends them.

I don't think it's a magic wand, it's just another tool, you still need to teach your dog to walk nicely beside you. If you look at the video, you'll see that the handler stops, waits for the dog to come back beside them, then rewards them. You can do that with a flat collar, head halter or whatever; you don't need this specific harness to do it. My kelpie will still occasionally pull when he's wearing it if I'm not running fast enough.

I like it for running because if he sees a kangaroo and decides to take me for a couple of fast kilometres, he's not pulling on his face like a halter, or on his neck like a flat collar would.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Working Dog Lover

[kelpiecuddles]

It looks good for most dogs but I find it a little weird that they use a basset in the pic, it's pretty clear that it's doing exactly what it would do on my basset(due to their pronounced chest) and slipping to the side. Doesn't give me much confidence in the company that they can't see that it's not really suited to the dog and still use it in their ad.

I like how it doesn't have a horizontal strap across the front of the shoulders

That style is the only style that will suit a dog with a strong prosternum like a basset, no way could we use this style

Edited February 10, 2014 by kelpiecuddles

[Erny]

Looking at the videos, what I'm not keen on is the angle that the strap from behind the front legs comes up to meet the collar. It does inhibit shoulder movement and I can only imagine some degree of discomfort on the dog's part.

I notice with the videos that I watched that none of the handlers actually handled the leash at all, but having said that, if there's something that is not uncomfortable to the dog on a continuum basis, does not rub and does not cause the dog to habitually walk unnaturally yet achieves a loose lead walk for those who don't/won't learn there's more to a leash than just as something to hold on to your dog with (and I'm not aiming this last comment to the OP or anyone specifically), then at least it is a tool that will have dogs walked more rather than languishing at home in the back yard. And that blood hound in the first video could certainly do with more exercise and less food!

I have used a front attaching harness (sensible harness) with my boy when he was going through the teaching phases of loose lead walking and self-control when in the presence of other dogs. It was ONE of the tools I used to assist and eventually fade off from. I found this harness very good, although I double-leaded him so I could work from martingale with the harness being there as an extra back-up should I have needed it.

[Amax-1]

The best tool for teaching a loose lease walk is foundation training in handler focus........that beats any tool and the second best tool is a prong collar and worse tool of all is a harness or anything that the dog easily becomes wise to wearing as the idea is to train the dog to attain handler control, then you don't need a restraining device (leash/collar) at all, save for regulative requirements. Anything bulky the dog is easily aware of creates a condition where the dog learns behaviour whilst wearing the equipment which is a bad habit for a dog because when the equipment is not on the dog, the behaviour changes for the worse.

I think someone gets up one morning and decides that manufacturing a tricky harness or head collar will return and income for them as there is no dog alive that needs any this tricky equipment to teach a loose leash walk and more to the point......if you can master the loose leash walk by handler focus techniques on a simple flat collar, you be a much much much much better trainer and dog handler guaranteed :)

[kelpiecuddles]

I don't think I'd be recommending a prong collar without a bit more information about the dog first. I don't necessarily have a problem with them but they only suit some dogs and some owners, just like any tool. Also the owner needs to be trained properly in their correct use just like any aversive. If you put a prong collar on either of my dogs it would make a total mess of them as they are very 'soft' dogs to work but I would have willingly used one on my old dog who had a much stronger personality. From my understanding you train high drive working animals and I really do feel that the methods use to train animals like that aren't always going to suit many other breeds. GSPs generally aren't shrinking violets but I'd still want to be sure that the owner understood how to use one properly and that they were being guided properly by a trainer who knew what they were doing.