The idea of placing your canine best friend on any leash may be abhorrent to you, but it is in the best interest of your pup. It is essential to know as much as possible about everything relating to your dog’s health.
When you think of walking your dog, the first thing that comes to mind is a collar, and there are so many options of collars or dog harness that you can find at your pet store.
Head Halter
A head halter has a loop that goes behind your pup’s head and another loop that goes around its nose and clips in place beneath the chin. It looks a bit like a muzzle but it is not, and it does restrict your dog’s breathing or put any pressure on its neck or throat. This training tool may not work on dogs with short or flat noses as the snout is not extended enough for the loop.
The purpose of the tool is to turn the dog’s head toward you whenever it tries to pull, the turning will be annoying to the dog, and eventually, it will stop pulling. If you keep your dog close enough to you, it won't bother it much and it's a handy tool for training your pet to walk obediently on the leash.
There are two popular head halters, the Halti, and the Gentle Leader, these two are alike, but the former has a loose fit. When you place the halter on your dog, stick a finger between the tool and your dog's neck or nose to check that the fit is not too tight, it is best to try it on the dog at the store, before purchasing the halter.
The halter is just a training tool to teach your dog to walk on a leash, and when you think it's ready, you may switch to a collar if you choose.
Martingale
If your pet is a Whippet or Greyhound or it belongs to the species of dogs with heads smaller than their necks, then you can use a martingale collar. It is also ideal for use with dogs that like to slip out of their regular collars. The Martingale is made up of a regular flat collar and a chain loop that tightens up when the dog pulls, the effect of this is that the dog is uncomfortable and will stop pulling eventually. Another thing the collar does is that it tightens and does not slip over the dog's head when it tries to back out of it. The collar has a ring that limits the tightness so that there is no risk of it choking the dog.
Flat Collar
This is the most popular type of collar most pet owners use; it is the regular collar that clips or buckles, and if you are lucky to have a dog that walks obediently on a leash, then you won't need any other type of collar or dog harness.
The flat collars come in a variety of sizes, colors, and designs and you can buy them anywhere, from online stores to your local pet store.
You can also attempt to train your dog with a flat collar if it does not pull and choke when you walk with it if the dog does pull and choke, your best bet is to get another training tool.
Shock Collars
type of collar is an extreme training tool; they can cause enough discomfort and pain for your dog that it stops misbehaving almost immediately. The collar is made up of prongs that pinch your dog's throat or neck whenever it tries to pull, and the shock collar actually shocks the dog so that it stops pulling.
Training your dog with this tool is not recommended as it is inhumane and it is better to exercise some patience with the dog while training it with the other types of training tools.
Harness
This is the ideal option for stronger or bigger dogs, and it is also a good choice if you are trying to teach your dog in the most humane way possible. A collar is still necessary because of the tags although some harnesses come with rings for tags.
Front Clip Harness
If you want to train your dog to walk by your side, the front-clip dog harness is a suitable option. Because the harness’ leash is attached to the chest, the dog cannot pull forward or to the side, so they turn back to you and after some time, they stop pulling.
Freedom No-Pull Harness
This dog harness clips in the back as well as the front and many dog trainers prefer to utilize this training tool as it gives more control than the front-clip thanks to the second attachment at the back. It is also versatile as you can decide to use it either as a front-clip or a back-clip if you prefer not to use both at the same time. It also gives your dog some range of mobility without irritating the dog.
Back-Clip Harness
The back-clip is the regular dog harness most pet owners use, and the leash attaches at the back. It is a bit more challenging to handle than the other two because it can cause problems if you pull back and your dog pulls forward. A good option will be to train your dog with another tool then switch to the harness later when you want to take your dog on walks or if you're going to run with the dog.
A harness is preferable to a collar as a training tool in many ways; it is more humane and gentler on the dog while still teaching the dog to walk obediently on a leash and you can choose to use a dog harness instead of a collar all the time.
With a harness, the chances of chafing, choking or hurting your dog are reduced if not non-existent.