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Front-attach Harness


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I love the sensible harness. I have had it for only a week but it has made the world of difference. So much so that I think it has helped Sasha learn to walk at heel and loose lead when she didn't have the harness on the last few days.

Don't know if that's possible but I'm still happy with it.

Also like how it makes her look at me if she tries and pull. Hard to explain but I think it's fabulous.

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Have a look at "Cantrolcord", I have sold heaps of these and everyone loves them, easy to use and great results. Also they are Australian owned and made, designed and patented by a lady in Berwick Victoria.

Edited by Austerra
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Have you tried "Look at That" with him?

Yes :) We had a game this morning, he was getting a bit too alert about a scruffy looking dude so we did some LAT work. Luckily I had 2 cocktail weenies in my pocket for extra motivation ;) The guy probably thought I was mad but whatever :laugh:

I dont like front attaching Harnesses but thats just me.

What do you use on your boys MG?

--

So many glowing recommendations! I'm going to have a big job researching tomorrow :D Thanks again guys :)

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Have you tried "Look at That" with him?

Yes :) We had a game this morning, he was getting a bit too alert about a scruffy looking dude so we did some LAT work. Luckily I had 2 cocktail weenies in my pocket for extra motivation ;) The guy probably thought I was mad but whatever :laugh:

I dont like front attaching Harnesses but thats just me.

What do you use on your boys MG?

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So many glowing recommendations! I'm going to have a big job researching tomorrow :D Thanks again guys :)

Before you buy anything, just try the method of ataching to the collar then looping the lead loosly around his neck so that it hangs loosly on his chest..you then have two loops in your hand....1/ the end of the lead & 2/ the doubled over lead. It works a miricle on both my BC's. Maybe it's because they suddenly think they have their f/a harness on again, but I don't think so, cause others have tried it & it works. Of course the dog can always back out of it but you still have a hold on them. Normally they are just content to walk nicely by your side. :thumbsup:

ETA I am another one for the LAT game...my very reactive BC girl loves it. I am starting back at Agility training next week after having a couple of months off, so it will be interesting to see just how much of the LAT she has remembered. I am thinking I will maybe have to give her a refresher course :D

Edited by sheena
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  • 2 weeks later...

It got so bad my dog could pull me over and I couldn't walk him anymore. We'd tried everything and someone put me on to the sensible harness. I put it on my dog and within 2 minutes he was walking with almost no pulling weaving in and out of crates in a drive through. I love it so much we have a back up set in case something happens to one.

Can't recommend it enough

:)

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Thanks Deghj! :) I've put off buying a harness for now since I've damaged my foot so can't jog with the dogs anymore, but I'm leaning towards the Sensible harness when I get back in action. The short amount of time they spend on-lead at the moment I'm spending doing heel work and focus work so I just use collars for that.

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since I believe his reactivity is fear-based I don't want to add any more negative association with bikes & scooters

what does your trainer think? Or is it a prey driven behavior? Considering he's going for moving object such as cats as well and doesnt respect your control a front harness will do little in curbing any of this at all. I don't see how a collar is going to create a negative association for him, that is such an old fashioned notion. He needs his drive decreased to a level where he will listen and be able to accept reinforcement for good behavior.

Loose leash walking and focus are part of decreasing reactivity and lunging behavior, they're all tied in together. If you believe the dog reacts in fear to objects he should never be off lead anyway as his reliability will be very low. Fear is an automatic reaction.

I agree. But has anyone here actually tried a front attach harness on a highly driven dog in an attempt to curb prey based behaviour - chasing, lunging, etc (not simply pulling ahead on the leash). If so what was the outcome?

I'm be curious if it would work to redirect the dog in any way or only serve to frustrate the dog more (or even do nothing)? I'm thinking the latter?

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Not sure, but in my case I wasn't thinking about the harness in terms of curbing the behaviour, I just mentioned the reactivity as something the harness would need to be able to hold up to (and a reason I don't like to use collars on longer walks or a halti).

If I do get one when I am back jogging on the road I'll let you know if I notice any difference :)

Edited by Weasels
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It would be interesting to know.

I wasn't really referring to your dog Weasels, But it was something that I was thinking about this morning when my pup flew at a bird, hit the end of the leash (self corrected I guess) then re-focussed back on me again...

A front attach harness is not going to take drive out of the dog via correction, but a dog can't chase things if it spins around everytime it hits the end of the leash either. So was wondering if it would reduce the behaviour in any way, shape or form, or whether it would do nothing at all?

Then again I have had very little sleep and the brain is a bit scrambled today. laugh.gif

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It would be interesting to know.

I wasn't really referring to your dog Weasels, But it was something that I was thinking about this morning when my pup flew at a bird, hit the end of the leash (self corrected I guess) then re-focussed back on me again...

A front attach harness is not going to take drive out of the dog via correction, but a dog can't chase things if it spins around everytime it hits the end of the leash either. So was wondering if it would reduce the behaviour in any way, shape or form, or whether it would do nothing at all?

Then again I have had very little sleep and the brain is a bit scrambled today. laugh.gif

Hi, A front connection harness will not reduce the behaviour much if at all but it will definately take the strain away from the neck and give you more control than a flat collar if the dog did lunge. Sadly there is no substitute for training with a behaviour like that.

I have been using sense-ible harnesses for a few years on various dogs big and small including some that have originally been reactive and couldnt recommend them highly enough. :thumbsup:

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I agree. But has anyone here actually tried a front attach harness on a highly driven dog in an attempt to curb prey based behaviour - chasing, lunging, etc (not simply pulling ahead on the leash). If so what was the outcome?

I'm be curious if it would work to redirect the dog in any way or only serve to frustrate the dog more (or even do nothing)? I'm thinking the latter?

It's response prevention, stop the unwanted behaviour then teach them what you want them to do instead. If they get frustrated then I suppose it's just something they need to get used to, but I'd be looking to give them more appropriate means to achieve drive satisfaction instead.

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I agree. But has anyone here actually tried a front attach harness on a highly driven dog in an attempt to curb prey based behaviour - chasing, lunging, etc (not simply pulling ahead on the leash). If so what was the outcome?

I'm be curious if it would work to redirect the dog in any way or only serve to frustrate the dog more (or even do nothing)? I'm thinking the latter?

It's response prevention, stop the unwanted behaviour then teach them what you want them to do instead. If they get frustrated then I suppose it's just something they need to get used to, but I'd be looking to give them more appropriate means to achieve drive satisfaction instead.

Do you use them for behaviour modification Aidan?

Just to clarify, I'm not looking to use one on my dog, just curious.smile.gif Plenty of pet owners rave over them and I can see how it would stop a dog who simply pulls ahead out of excitement, but it was Nekhbets comment that got me wondering if they would have any effect what-so-ever on prey driven behaviour, and if anyone had tested the theory out.

Of course the dog needs an appropriate outlet, or you'll have your hands full lol. By 'frustrated' I meant would it create opposition reflex, ending up with backwards pulling rather than forwards? Hope that makes some form of sense? I have too much time to think about crap like this on my morning walks. laugh.gif

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Do you use them for behaviour modification Aidan?

Just to clarify, I'm not looking to use one on my dog, just curious.smile.gif Plenty of pet owners rave over them and I can see how it would stop a dog who simply pulls ahead out of excitement, but it was Nekhbets comment that got me wondering if they would have any effect what-so-ever on prey driven behaviour, and if anyone had tested the theory out.

Yes, I use them for behaviour modification. They are an excellent response prevention tool, being effective and relatively neutral. Where the handler isn't strong enough to handle a dog who is not under control, they are great, and the handler can relax and pay attention to what they need to do.

Some dogs will try to back out of a harness, but it's the same as dogs who will try to back out of a collar. If you get them moving in a different direction or get their attention onto something else, problem solved. I usually recommend a double-ended leash attached also to a collar.

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something i forgot to say in my previous post with a sense-ible you can attach the lead to the harness and also to the collar to give you extra security. I do this quite a lot with extra bouncy dogs as it doesnt effect how the harness works at all. :)

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I wish I had had my Sensible harness on my BC girl last night at training. She normally is quite well behaved..she used to be the biggest fruitcake & quite the Tasmanian Devil at training & trials until I trained her with the LAT game. But for some reason last night, there was a new dog there & she just was so hard to control in a flat collar. Eventually the new BC lunged at her & caught me daydreaming, she lunged back & I almost lost my finger which got caught in the lead. From now on, I will have her in her harness. Apart from my injury, I am sure that when a dog, out of the blue, spins & lunges, the harness would be a lot kinder on her body than a flat collar. I will give it a try next weekend (trial) & see how she goes. I will just take it off for her runs.

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  • 2 months later...

MrStompy's thread reminded me I've been meaning to update this one :)

I ended up getting a Sense-ation harness, since a friend was buying one too so we split the shipping cost. And now I'm working with a podiatrist so I am back to jogging on the streets for the last few weeks so I have been giving it a good work-out.

As far as pulling goes, it's gold. It works as well on my boy as the Sporn harness works on my girl. I even got him walking on a loose lead toward sheeps with it once! :eek: For his reactivity it's also a good little tool. I took him out on his sporn harness one morning and when he decided to bark at something he just leaned into the harness and I had a lot more trouble turning him around. With the Senseation I can quickly turn him around to get his focus so we can play LAT or just feed treats to stop him practicing the behaviour.

It's also proved easier to put on than the Sporn for my leggy fella, but it can be a little awkward to use. I should add the disclaimer that I do need to adjust it because he's lost a bit of weight so it's currenly loose under his chest, but I did have a bit of trouble with the leash position; I prefer my dogs to walk in front of me so they can get in quick sniffs without me having to stop and so I am less likely to trip over them if one of us changes direction suddenly. But if I have the leash hanging normally from the front-attachment it bounces off his shoulder every time he takes a step which is annoying for both of us. If I have it going under his chest and back out behind his front leg he runs kind of diagonally which doesn't look like a healthy gait. It seems like it is designed specifically for a heel position.

In the end I've settled on looping it over the shoulder furthest from me and resting across his back, which works well as long as he doesn't change sides on me :p On the plus side he's gotten better at lifting his paw on cue if the leash falls under him :) So those are my thoughts after a few weeks of use anyway, hope they are helpful to somebody out there. Thanks everyone for your help in this thread! :thanks:

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