# Non Pull Harnesses for a Saint Bernard??



## tinkysmammy (Jan 4, 2011)

Hi,

Im new to the forum world but hope someone can help me

I have a 2year old Saint Bernard called Tinkerbell who i love dearly but walking her on a lead is a nightmare!! She weighs 87kg ( and isnt fully grown yet ) and pulls like a train! She pulls to the point of wheezing and where her eyes get red!! She has excellent recall off lead and 8/10 times she is walked in the local forest off lead and is fantastic but the times where i need to keep her on the lead she is torture. I have tried all the training in the world eg, stop and sit when pulling, turn the other direction,sharp NO!,and tap to the hing leg to "snap" her out of it but although she responds to these as soon as we start walking again shes back to charging forward.I tried a halti collar on her but she would just drop to the floor and roll around pulling at it with her paws to try and remove it.

I was wondering if anyone has tried a non pull harness on a similar sized dog? A lot of the reviews seem to view a large dog as a lab or rottweilwer which look like puppies compared to Tinky. 

Many Thanks for you help!


----------



## Fuzzbugs!x (Jan 18, 2010)

Hi there! Any pics of your monster - i love st.bernards :thumbup:. We had the same problem with our two year old Newfoundland (he's 11/12 stone lol), although slightly different. We show him and when we were getting to shows he kept pulling me over to all and any bitch in sight . We tried the halti too and he just kept lying down and having 'hissy fits'. We were then advised to try the dogmatic instead (like a halti but you have much more control i think and it's more comfortable than the halti) and it's worked wonders, he was fine from the moment we put it on him :thumbup:. If that doesn't work though, you could try the gentle leader, i think alot of people on here have used that to great results? x


----------



## sonia123 (Jan 5, 2011)

hi im new to this site i have a boxer cross husky and he,s a strong dog when out on the lead.ive tried all sorts including the halti worked fine at first but then he started getting up on his back legs to try and scratch it of so now i use a canny collar and its absoluty perfect id say they work the best for strong dogs that pull.hope this advice is useful


----------



## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

You would really be better off with a dogmatic headcollar and a double ended lead. You clip one end to the headcollar and the other to his collar, then you have control over his head. If he can't poke his nose up, he cannot pull. The dogmatic is strong and cushioned and does not ride up their eyes.

Although mine do not pull as a general rule, if Ferdie see something he wants, I have no hope without the dogmatic. You will need to desensitize it though so give him lots of treats whilst showing it to him, whilst he wears it in the house etc.

It really does work, even with a dog that size.


----------



## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

Fuzzbugs!x said:


> Hi there! Any pics of your monster - i love st.bernards :thumbup:. We had the same problem with our two year old Newfoundland (he's 11/12 stone lol), although slightly different. We show him and when we were getting to shows he kept pulling me over to all and any bitch in sight . We tried the halti too and he just kept lying down and having 'hissy fits'. We were then advised to try the dogmatic instead (like a halti but you have much more control i think and it's more comfortable than the halti) and it's worked wonders, he was fine from the moment we put it on him :thumbup:. If that doesn't work though, you could try the gentle leader, i think alot of people on here have used that to great results? x


Ferdie had the gentle leader for a long time and he really didn't like it; kept trying to get it off. He is perfectly happy in the dogmatic.


----------



## sonia123 (Jan 5, 2011)

where can you buy dogmatic and double ended dog leads from


----------



## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

Put dogmatic into google. Their own website will tell you what size you need - Ferdie wears an eight which is the biggest. You can also go to padifoot.co.uk. That is a lady on here who also sells them.

A doublt ended training lead should be available from any large pet store.


----------



## Fuzzbugs!x (Jan 18, 2010)

newfiesmum said:


> Ferdie had the gentle leader for a long time and he really didn't like it; kept trying to get it off. He is perfectly happy in the dogmatic.


Ahhh ! Yeah i've never used them, just use the dogmatics instead they're great arent they :thumbup:. The leads are really soft too lol x


----------



## sonia123 (Jan 5, 2011)

thank you for the help newfiesmum ill certainly have a look and will buy 1 anythings better than him pulling my arm off


----------



## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

sonia123 said:


> thank you for the help newfiesmum ill certainly have a look and will buy 1 anythings better than him pulling my arm off


The usual methods of teaching a dog to walk to heel are not very effective with a giant breed. For instance, the dog pulls, you stop walking. With a saint or a newfie, it is a question of the dog pulls, you stop, the dog keeps going and you end up flat on your face! Before I discovered the headcollar if Ferdie wanted to go after something, the only way to not get pulled over was to sit down on the ground (oh, you do feel stupid:lol

The thing with the headcollar is that once he gets used to walking beside you, you can control the collar end of the lead most of the time and only use the headcollar end when you need it.

Good luck.


----------



## Happy Paws2 (Sep 13, 2008)

newfiesmum said:


> You would really be better off with a dogmatic headcollar and a double ended lead. You clip one end to the headcollar and the other to his collar, then you have control over his head. If he can't poke his nose up, he cannot pull. The dogmatic is strong and cushioned and does not ride up their eyes.
> 
> Although mine do not pull as a general rule, if Ferdie see something he wants, I have no hope without the dogmatic. You will need to desensitize it though so give him lots of treats whilst showing it to him, whilst he wears it in the house etc.
> 
> It really does work, even with a dog that size.


I have a Halti (something like a dogmatic head collar) for my Briard and use a training lead so I can clip collar and halti and it does give me a lot of control over him as he is very strong, but now he is walking with all most a slack lead. Even so I think I will keep using the double lead I find it easy to use.


----------



## tinkysmammy (Jan 4, 2011)

ahhh thank you! ive never heard of a dogmatic but ill definatly try it! If you can walk 2 newfies together then i should be able to manage 1 saint (she says,fingers crossed! ) 

I really need to sort it because it makes Tink looks like a naughty dog when she really isnt,i hate it when people say " oh shes a handful". Shes perfect off the lead and so quiet in the house! its just the lead thats a nightmare...


----------



## sonia123 (Jan 5, 2011)

i,ll try a dogmatic on him when i manage to buy 1 and see how it goes.he.s had a halti on since he was a pup but since he started getting bigger he really hates them


----------



## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

tinkysmammy said:


> ahhh thank you! ive never heard of a dogmatic but ill definatly try it! If you can walk 2 newfies together then i should be able to manage 1 saint (she says,fingers crossed! )
> 
> I really need to sort it because it makes Tink looks like a naughty dog when she really isnt,i hate it when people say " oh shes a handful". Shes perfect off the lead and so quiet in the house! its just the lead thats a nightmare...


I have daft comments like "whose walking who?" even though they are walking either side of me good as gold. I also have stupid comments from people who visit the house: Do you walk them? Of course. Don't they pull you over? But don't expect miracles. Newfies in general are not pullers, and Joshua only wears his ordinary half check collar. It is Ferdie I have trouble with because he knows he is stronger than me and if he sees another dog, I've got now hope of stopping him without the dogmatic.



sonia123 said:


> i,ll try a dogmatic on him when i manage to buy 1 and see how it goes.he.s had a halti on since he was a pup but since he started getting bigger he really hates them


I have to say that I am not a fan of the halti on a large dog. The dogmatic is stronger, is cushioned, and designed to stay put.


----------

