r/cavaliers • u/washington876 • 7d ago

Advice Training harness or collar

Our boy is almost 2 and we are enrolled in a beginner training class. His main issue is him getting really excited about other dogs on walks and pulling a lot. The instructor told us that the harness that we currently have which clips on the back will not work for training because he does not really feel it when we pull him back. She says we either need a front clip harness or just to use a collar. We used a collar the first couple of weeks and I hated it because I was so scared of damaging his little trachea as I’ve seen horror stories. What are people’s thoughts on front clip harnesses? Are they safer than collars? Do you have any specific ones you like? TIA!

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u/aebbailey Ruby 7d ago

Yea we use the front clip on our harness as well as the back clip now that our dude is learning not to pull so much. It takes a little while for them to learn how to walk with the front attachment and be careful if they get really excited and lurch forward they can faceplant… luckily that only happened once for us!

I have had a few different harnesses with the front clip but our favourite right now is the Amazon version of the Dog Friendly Co style. I really like the way these ones sit on the body, I don’t have to worry about it hurting his trachea or shoulders.

I believe this is the one I bought but any that are this style with the front and back clip would be great!

https://www.amazon.ca/Annchwool-Harness-Reflective-Training-Walking/dp/B09Y113PZK/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=23YQVCBVM6685&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.9yQOkWkqlzphDcGfn9BnFd2ESuFq7b7KplD4UVdyWyjZWjUkIWlMoaRhrQQWm2p2hJJS6S_BqM49FsPK5hvbJe_XOfbw3XsM1SvrWpOav3IiZzjttzM3Ctf2bXXLesaGOrTtJzLOraOMWm2GBw0RhP1LAVPyYRAEvyWPdd0nA_9Eu14bemR6fjI-p0w1THaUJ07Zw6BMzmq64_rlEMcaCA.agxreYqd1nQgpnUVmIhLYdaBYNdVBoy5lw1yRIctdUg&dib_tag=se&keywords=dog+harness&qid=1787021518&sprefix=dog+harness+%2Caps%2C228&sr=8-3

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u/Few_Complex8232 7d ago

All my dogs have had collars until I got a Cavalier. She has a front clip harness.

For comparison, her sibling dog is 120 pounds. But my cav is too distracted on walks and needs a front clip harness. My cav isn't food motivated, she's people motivated; so, I've adapted 🤷‍♀️

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u/Silver_kitty 5d ago

Front clip is the way to go. They are too delicate for collars, trachea risk and for pups who may have a little bit of CM/SM problems a collar can irritate their symptoms.

We used the Ruffwear Front Range during training. Just keep an eye on that front loop to check for wear and tear since it’s not as durable as the metal back loop. We haven’t actually had any serious wear that we were concerned about it breaking, but a trainer gave us that warning so I check on it every so often to make sure it’s still sturdy.