Mega's Mom
Boxer Insane
I use a harness. Cornelius backed out of his collar once when he was little. That's all it took for me. Made me nervous - he can't back out of his harness! 
Collar or Harness
- Thread starter Kona Bear
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sargboxerluv
Completely Boxer Crazy
I use a harness for Harley Girl. But I have a different reason, she is terrified of men. Whenever we would see one on our walks, she would bolt the other way and either snap her neck hard or get the collar off. So to keep her from hurting herself of running away, I got a regular old harness. But oddly enough, she walks better with the harness then a regular collar.
I use a harness. Cornelius backed out of his collar once when he was little. That's all it took for me. Made me nervous - he can't back out of his harness!
I agree, Star did that also and now me and my girlfriend are looking into a harness also
mueltrain
Boxer Booster
Well regular harnesses were created to help dogs pull harder so unless they arent much of a puller an ordinary harness might not be the best bet. on the other hand the gentle leader harness is great if you want a harness that also discourages pulling. Then of course they have the collars with the muzzle loop but in my experience boxers cant stand them and just paw at them the whole walk. In my case im still working on Jay so he will walk right on a regular collar because that is what i prefer, but if you like harnesses i would get the gentle leader for sure
jboboxer
Super Boxer
I was actually going to post this exact same question, except between a head halter and a harness.
Originally I had my puppy on a nylon choke collar, but she couldn't figure it out and I felt like I was hurting her more than anything, so I've been using a regular color and leash.
I was just reading a book about dogs and there was a section about colors and it indicated that a head halter is the very best you can use on a dog, which inflicts the least amount of pain, yet it controls the dog the best. But the section said that if you have a bulldog or animal with a small mouth area that the head halter is not that great for these types of dogs and that a harness is the second best.
How many people are actually using a head halter on their boxer, because I was looking at buying a harness, until I read a few posts that there are some boxer owners who are using head halters?
I prefer not to use any type of collar that my puppy can't figure out that she's being choked, so I'm leaning towards the head halter, but would like to hear some more feed back.
Here's something I saw from boxer world
Boxers and Head Halters
Originally I had my puppy on a nylon choke collar, but she couldn't figure it out and I felt like I was hurting her more than anything, so I've been using a regular color and leash.
I was just reading a book about dogs and there was a section about colors and it indicated that a head halter is the very best you can use on a dog, which inflicts the least amount of pain, yet it controls the dog the best. But the section said that if you have a bulldog or animal with a small mouth area that the head halter is not that great for these types of dogs and that a harness is the second best.
How many people are actually using a head halter on their boxer, because I was looking at buying a harness, until I read a few posts that there are some boxer owners who are using head halters?
I prefer not to use any type of collar that my puppy can't figure out that she's being choked, so I'm leaning towards the head halter, but would like to hear some more feed back.
Here's something I saw from boxer world
Boxers and Head Halters
BxrMommieNAZ
Boxer Insane
I use the head collar on both of my Boxers, plus I've used it on all of my fosters as well (probably 8 or so) which were all Boxers. Never had a problem, I just pulled their lips through a bit to make it more comfortable for them. But never had a problem with it being a negative thing or difficult and both of my guys have short snouts.
kathysboxer
Boxer Insane
Tyson has a variety LOL. He does wear a collar all the time because of his tags, but for walking, he has a normal harness and a gentle leader. Mike uses the regular harness, Tyson doesn't pull for him. I use the gentle leader harness. Tyson doesn't like anything on his nose, so that kind was out. But I really like those better than the harness. My other dog (passed on now) was a horrible puller. I bought a halti and it was a life saver. Loved it. Still thinking of getting a gentle leader muzzle one for Tyson and trying to "bribe" him into liking it. But when we go anywhere, he always has one of the 2 harnesses on.
When we first adopted Edie, her only interaction with a leash was in her foster home, and that was December and January in Wisconsin. You just go out long enough to do your business and then back in. Her foster mom did a great job getting her used to it, but came spring and we were out more, she was afraid of everything. I started her out on the Gentle Leader head harness, and it worked well for pulling. But I found it was not sturdy enough when she would lung at cars driving by, people walking and other dogs. She broke through it after about 4 months. We did have time in that 4 months to condition her to walking by distractions, but I still had problems with other dogs. I now use the Illusion Collar, as used by Ceaser on the Dog Whisperer. It is a nice collar, and rest high on the back of her head. By the way, Edie's nickname is Houdini, she got out of just about any collar. The Illusion collar has two thick straps and a fail safe one at the top of her head. It is really easly to make corrections. It has worked out for us. I still stop her if she pulls, and if she reacts to another dog, it is easy to get her to stop and calm down before continuing. Check it out on the Dog Whisperer web site.
jboboxer
Super Boxer
I purchased the easy gental harness for Roxy with a size that's slightly big for her. It's adjustable and I have it on the tightest/smallest fitting and it fits her barely, but I bought it so she will grow into it and I can adjust it as she grows into it.
I only had experience walking her with a regular collar and a choke collar and the easy walk harness is really amazing.
I have so much more control over her. Since the hook is in the front, he really can't pull or her whole body will turn around and face me, so shes' forced to really walk about the same speed as I do right next to me with a little bit of slack. If she walks too much ahead it will start to make her turn around and face me, so she walks a lot better.
If she's taking too long sniffing around and I'm ready to go and pull on the lead, it pulls her entire body, so the only way she can really pull in the opposite direction is with her back legs. It just seemed like I had much more control over her entire body compared to just her neck.
After working her a few times I will never go back to using just a collar/choke collar. The easy walk harness's clip in the front is what makes it so easy. I've heard that the harness with the clip/hook in the back you have less control and it actually provokes dogs to pull more instead of less.
If I had a dog with a longer face/jaw I would try out the head halter. I've been seeing them more and more on dogs and people seem to love them. The first reaction from people who aren't familiar does seem to be that they think the dog is wearing a muzzle and that it's a mean dog.
Seems like the head halter you have more control over their entire face, while the harness you have control over their front body, so I'd imagine the harness would be better, but most people seem to think the head halter has better control.
I'm just really glad I purchased it and it seems to be making walking my dog a lot easier. It seemed when I was using even a regular collar that Roxy couldn't figure out that the more she pulled the more it would hurt her neck, so I really started to see her turn red and keep pulling. Now she knows if she pulls more that her whole body is going to turn around, so it's common sense for her to know not to pull too much
I only had experience walking her with a regular collar and a choke collar and the easy walk harness is really amazing.
I have so much more control over her. Since the hook is in the front, he really can't pull or her whole body will turn around and face me, so shes' forced to really walk about the same speed as I do right next to me with a little bit of slack. If she walks too much ahead it will start to make her turn around and face me, so she walks a lot better.
If she's taking too long sniffing around and I'm ready to go and pull on the lead, it pulls her entire body, so the only way she can really pull in the opposite direction is with her back legs. It just seemed like I had much more control over her entire body compared to just her neck.
After working her a few times I will never go back to using just a collar/choke collar. The easy walk harness's clip in the front is what makes it so easy. I've heard that the harness with the clip/hook in the back you have less control and it actually provokes dogs to pull more instead of less.
If I had a dog with a longer face/jaw I would try out the head halter. I've been seeing them more and more on dogs and people seem to love them. The first reaction from people who aren't familiar does seem to be that they think the dog is wearing a muzzle and that it's a mean dog.
Seems like the head halter you have more control over their entire face, while the harness you have control over their front body, so I'd imagine the harness would be better, but most people seem to think the head halter has better control.
I'm just really glad I purchased it and it seems to be making walking my dog a lot easier. It seemed when I was using even a regular collar that Roxy couldn't figure out that the more she pulled the more it would hurt her neck, so I really started to see her turn red and keep pulling. Now she knows if she pulls more that her whole body is going to turn around, so it's common sense for her to know not to pull too much
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