Collar recommendation

[Milopup]

I currently use a harness for walking my cairn, and use a small collar for his tags. Unfortunately the harness causes irritations on his skin since he is a puller on the walks (hard to move him when he plants his four little paws into the ground). Does anyone have a recommendation for a good collar? The one I use for his tags seems a bit thin to be used as a primary leash attachment, especially since he does pull.

Thanks.

[Eliz222]

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_det...D=1113345824664

I have this collar on both of my Cairns. I like it because it is thicker than alot of them. We have this same design.(Finch tends to pull too)

[kayharley]

I've always liked the rolled leather collars for a permanent collar...just in case any one of them escaped, their ID's and license #'s are on them and they seem to be a comfortable collar overall.

Checking out a referral on this forum about the Sporn harness's, I found them to be incredible for walking purposes. Whenever I would take Maddy and Elliott out and about the neighborhood, they were constantly pulling with their regular collars and choking....not to mention they looked like untrained idiots!!

Now that both have the Sporn, it's so much easier and safer to walk those two terrors together and it seems to be comfortable for them. I'm going to use it for Elliotts obedience class this week too.

I just never liked the feel of the nylon...to0 stiff and tough.

[Milopup]

Do the rolled collars have two rings on them, one for the tags and one for the leash attachment? I would love to find a collar that has that but alas no luck yet.

[kayharley]

Ours just has one ring...the tags are all on a separate metal hoop that attatches to the ring. There's more than enough room for a leash to clip on.

[Toto times 2]

Both my guys are pullers so I use harnesses for better, more comfortable (for them) control. I only put them on for walks and have a plain collar with tags that they wear all the time.

I am really concerned with the pulling on the neck. Pullers can damage their necks and throats with just a collar and one of my boys is already at risk from that after major surgery to his trachea.

There are several different types on harness available some even with padding on the front straps. When I first joined the board I wasn't too sure whether to use a collar or harness. I remember there was a good discussion about it. If you go to cairn health and use the search feature and put trachea in the keywords you will find that discussion.

kayharley mentioned the Sporn harness. That is going to be my next choice. They look amazing.

[kayharley]

Toto times 2....the Sporns really are nice. I only learned about them from this forum. They have these fleece inserts that go around their upper legs as not to cause chafing.

At first I looked at it and said...UGH, how am I going to get this tangled mess on squirming Elliott or my hyperactive Madison but once I had it adjusted and they knew that device meant outside, walks, Petco, fun...it was a piece of cake. I love it.

[AllAboutPetey]

The Sporn harness is a miracle! We worked on leash training quite a bit at obedience classes over the past month, and I was getting so discouraged. We tried a Gentle Leader, but Petey could get it off no matter what. I tried acclimating him over a week's time using treats, but he still hated it and would rub his face on the ground until he got it off his nose. When we put the Sporn harness on him (after we finally figured out how it all works - the instructions on the box are terrible!), he can not pull at all. He went from a "maniac dog" on the leash, to a nice little gentleman. I will continue to work on "heel" while he's wearing it and hopefully we'll have a nice little walker in no time.

[kayharley]

You know what else is nice? While I used the Sporn on Elliott at class, I did find the fleece part was bunching up and the buckle part was moving around. I kept trying to fix it but it was an impossible task...I probably didn't have it adjusted right.

Yesterday I had Elliott in Petco with his regular rolled collar on. He was acting like a dork pulling and jerking around and I remembered our instructor showing us all the different types of collars that were acceptable. One of them was a limited nylon training collar. They work wonderfully on pulling dogs but don't cause choking or tightening around the neck.

I found one and right there in the aisle, put it on him. It worked like a dream...no gagging and he stopped pulling after 5 minutes and it took a minute to put on.

Different collars for different situations, I guess.

[fancypants]

http://www.sporn.com/index2.cfm

I had never heard of the "Sporn Harness" so I went and had a look and darned if I didn't see a dear little Cairn wearing one?!? Could it be because they particularly *need* such a device???

[Milopup]

What size Sporn harness are y'all buying? I measured my pups neck and he is about an 11-inch. This means now with his very short hair he is 11-inch, and when his hair grows it is 12-inch. This puts him right in the middle between the small and medium sizes. Help please.

[Greg]

Petey has a small....we tied a medium on him right there in Petsmart but it was too big. We put the small on him and walked him around the store....I was truly amazed at how well it worked .

[Milopup]

Thanks Greg - could you list how much Petey weighs and how big his neck measures so I could get an idea? Bosco is about 13 pounds (feels lighter after his haircut) and an 11-inch neck.

[Greg]

Thanks Greg - could you list how much Petey weighs and how big his neck measures so I could get an idea?  Bosco is about 13 pounds (feels lighter after his haircut) and an 11-inch neck.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Petey is 15lb+ .....never measured his neck. Just try the harness on befor you buy it. Besides its really fun trying to figure out how the dang thing works in the pet supply store

[Eliz222]

Our Petsmart does not have any Sporn products...I'll ask them the next time I go in. I bought the Gentle Leader for Finch and it worked like a charm for our walks. She doens't like it at first, but then forgets that it's on.

[Milopup]

try www.petsmart.com - they have the Sporn Halter on the website, and you can usually find discounts with minimum purchase to offset the shipping costs.

[Anna_525]

Just to add to the positive Sporn reviews - we bought one last week and it works like a charm. Alfie does not pull anymore, and I thought he was a hopeless case. The sleeves do loosen up once in a while but readjusting it takes seconds. Also, Alfie has become very patient with us when we put it on him before walks. It's like something he wants to wear!

[hallswel]

I like the sporn halter also it work great with Rebel. We have the rounded leather collar for the tags.

[Eliz222]

This may seem like a dumb question, but how exactly does this halter stop pulling?

[Anna_525]

Why the pulling stops....

My only guess is that with the Sporn, your pull on the leash is distributed across the chest and front legs as opposed to just the neck if you just have his leash on his collar. Maybe the other harnesses do it too, but I got the Sporn because of all the positive reviews it got.

[Milopup]

how is the Sporn different than the regular simple nylon harnesses? :/

[PeppersMom]

I use a rolled leather collar for everyday wear...they don't break the coat. For obedience work I use a micro prong collar aka power steering for dogs! Right now because Pepper is you guessed it a forger I am using 2 leashes. One is goes behind my legs so he self corrects if he forges to far out..the other is at the regular position.

[MzLed]

I use this harness on my lil guy. I luv it, and he's not hacking anymore. i have it in black, but i just noticed they added the color Caramel . . . whoop

BuddyBelt

[grillywarren]

Hi Gang!

Boy did I need this thread! Is this the one you all have?

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_det...D=1121164389962

I will order it today if it is the right one. Does the collar come with the harness?

thanks

ellie mom of Grilly the PULLER

[toomanypaws]

I'll have to find the website I bought my harnesses from. I love them because they connect around the neck AND around the chest. If, for any reason, one part comes undone, I still have a cairn at the end of my leash.