Sporn Harness?

[KeeperBoy]

Anyone use one? I swear I've tried everything out there for Keepers.

Buckle collar - Came over his head
Prong - Helped for pulling and correction, made his fear issues worse
Martengail - Didn't come over his head but didn't normally stop his pulling
Halti - Came off several times
AKC head harness - Something about the size of the loop for the buckle could allow my leash to unhook.

We bought a sporn harness and so far so good. Keepers normally doesn't pull much with me, but he will yank my dad around the neighborhood when my parents dog sit. I've been trying to train loose leash walking and he is getting better, but he still has a hard time with distractions. So far I think I like the sporn, but it's kind of a pain to put on.

[Ron]

I have the same issues with the halti, my brothers old boxer once escaped from me on a busy street and nearly got hit by a car.

Even with the buckle collar, Tie "can" escape from if he wants. He has the move down packed too, quick back step and a drop of his head and he's gone lol.

But to answer your original question, no i haven't tried the sporn harness

[Neal]

I use Ezydog harness' for mine, i know its not good practice to use harness' as it just gives them something to pull at. But if you are going on a field which can sometimes be busy and just need to grab hold of something to get the dog in a quick situation they can come in handy.. they also double up as a car safety belt and come with an attachment.

[KidsDogCrafts]

I love the gentle leader headcollar. It is such a great saving grace! My dog was such a puller. I have not had problems about him getting out of the collar and mine comes with a safety hookup so if it did come off his face its still connected to his collar.

[KeeperBoy]

Thankfully I've finally trained him to walk loose leash! We just ordered a collar with a nylon loop and it is working great.

[maggiemae]

My Maggie is 8 months old and walks pretty well on the leash (chain choke); however, whenever she sees another person, dog, bird, whatever, she pulls. I have to move the chain collar to behind her ears at the top of her head in order for her not to pull, but then she sounds like she can't breath if she puts pressure on it. WHEN WILL THIS END and she behave without these problems. I know she is a puppy, will she at some time walk without getting distracted? She is my first Boxer and I love her dearly, just real stubborn when it comes to pulling & jumping up.

[KeeperBoy]

I personally think a choke chain is inhumane. A pinch or prong collar is actually a better and more fair form of correct, a choke chain could just choke them forever and do harm to the dog's wind pipe. I would invest in some training classes and see what type of a collar they would suggest for her. She would also work on any behavior issues she has with the dog trainer to give you some new techniques. IMO most dogs don't out grow bad behavior, it will only get worse without training.

After all the gadgets and gizmos we tried with Keepers, the only thing that worked was dedicated training and positive reinforcement.

[Ron]

if used incorrectly, choke chain is inhumane. But when used as a training collar it can be very effective.

When we used a chain on our dogs, it was the "sound" of the correction, not the actual physical part that got the dogs attention.

[KeeperBoy]

Originally Posted by Magtie

if used incorrectly, choke chain is inhumane. But when used as a training collar it can be very effective.

When we used a chain on our dogs, it was the "sound" of the correction, not the actual physical part that got the dogs attention.

True. Both dog training clubs we belong to only use chokes for confirmation. They've seen too many people use them incorrectly and cause damage, or simply use the collar alone, in place of real training.

We still use Keepers chain link martingale collar for training. The sound of the chain helps him focus in group classes and at agility. I find having only a small metal loop helps me get many of the benefits of a choke chain without worrying to much about causing damage to him.