Collar or Harness?

Posted on by TheBorkingGabby

Squeaky toys, kongs, coats, blankets, brushes: nowadays there are so many accessories for our pets. It’s so hard to decide! Most of us will start researching for the best and safest ones and will find a lot of confusion; somebody’s favourite accessory can be declared cruel, unsafe and harmful by somebody else.

One of the latest disputes is whether the collar or the harness is the best tool for your dog.

Let’s make something clear! They are both equally good for a healty dog.

If you were worried about the damage that your dog will experience by pulling , all you have to know is that collars and harnesses can damage different parts of the body. So if your dog is a puller, you might want to invest some time into training instead of relying on a tool.

A collar can damage your dog’s neck, throat, ears, eyes and spine. They are absolutely to avoid if you have a short nosed dog. Since they already have trouble breathing, a collar might further limit the amount of air that the dog will be able to breathe. The harness instead can damage armpits, front legs, back and neck (if the harness doesn’t sits on his shoulders). They are to avoid in dogs with long bodies and short legs since their spine is more fragile.

Hence you shoud make your decision based on your dog’s breed and health. And once you find the right tool, make sure that it fits perfectly since an illfitted collar or harness can do more damage.

Now a list of the various typologies of the two.

COLLARS:

FLAT COLLARS:

Usually fastened with a buckle or a plastic clip, these collars are generally okay. They are the safest ones among the collars, in terms of health but some dogs can easily slip off them and get free.

MARTINGALE COLLARS:

They are similar to the flat collars but can tighten a bit when the dog pulls. They can be adjusted so that the collar won’t slip over nor strangle the dog.

CHOKE COLLARS:

The choke collars are usually  used to apply a positive punishment (a deterrent is associated to an unwanted behaviour so that the dog won’t repeat it) since the collar provokes pain when it gets tight. Given that I prefere to use negative reinforcment (a reinforce is withhold until the wanted behaviour occurs), I also don’t recomend choke collars because they can cause a lot of health issues such as worsening a collapsing trachea, they can damage eyes, ears and neck, or they can even cause the Horner’s Syndrome.

PINCH COLLARS:

These collars use the same principle as the choke collars (to cause discomfort to change the dog’s behaviour) but the spikes on the inside of the collar cause more pain and, with that, a quicker response. These collars can cause the same health issues as the choke collars.

HARNESSES:

BACK CLIP HARNESSES:

These harnesses have the ring where the leash is attatched onto the back. They are safe for dogs with neck and throat issues but not so good with dogs that have long bodies and short legs, or back problems in general. Another con is that if you have a puller, these harnesses will actually encourage him in this behaviour.

FRONT CLIP HARNESSES:

Front clip harnesses have the ring where the leash is attatched onto the dog’s chest. These harnesses are generally used with pullers because they help guiding the dog and might even turn him around so that he faces the owner when needed. They are safe for pretty much every dog but if the hasness sits on the shoulders, it might cause discomfort when the dog pulls and it can even alter his gait.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or if you need help with one of our services don’t hesitate to contact us in the following ways. We are available for all Chelmsford (UK) area.

As always I apologise if my english is not perfect. Still work in progress!

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