SophieB

I have bought several types of harness in the past three years, all of which have been abandoned, so after asking a question last week about the best harness to buy, my two Sporn harnesses arrived yesterday!

After tea last night I put them on my Bassets and my OH and I took them out, and the lane we walked along, that usually takes us about 20/25 minutes to walk, took us well over an hour to go half way!!! Neither Basset was happy with the harness and kept stopping every two minutes, head down, elbows on the ground as if to say, 'if you think I'm walking any further wearing this, then you're very much mistaken'!

As I wanted to get back to watch something on the TV, I gave in and took the harnesses off and attached their leads to their collars and we got moving! Before someone asks, we can't let their leads off along this lane as we always see hares, pheasants and the farmer's ducks and hens are often along the lane, so my girls have to be on their long leads or they'd be off across the fields chasing hares etc!

I hope someone can let me know how their Bassets get on with harnesses and how I can get my girls used to them... and another thing, if my Bassets pull backwards, the harness loosens and is not safe if we are anywhere near a road (as they have zero road sense)!

Annie714

Annie uses a Sporn no-pull as well and doesn't much care for it either. When she "walks pretty" on it I give her ALOT of verbal praise and a few treats. She still would rather have her collar on and pull me along for a few miles so we don't always use the harness. I bet if we used it regularly she'd get more used to it.

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Blog about the antics of Annie and I. http://thechickandthehound.blogspot.com

CatherineM

The first few times they wear it take them some place fun. They will associate it with that.

vb3

Did you get the bacon-flavored Sporn?

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SophieB

Bacon flavoured? No, they're just black fabric!

They were a bit better tonight about the harnesses as I put them on my Bassets this afternoon while they were laying in the hall with the doors open to keep them cool, so we just slipped on the long leads tonight after it had cooled down a lot!

These harnesses definitely aren't secure at all when my Bassets don't want to go forward and dig their heels in or pull backwards and the part of the harness that is under their tummy (where the legs go through) just falls off, followed by the 'collar' that their head is inside of and I don't know how I could make it safer... if it was on a longer legged dog it would probably be OK... but useless for Bassets with little legs!

I have yet to find a safe, secure harness for Bssets, despite asking questions in numerous places and forums and we have a box full of useless harnesses bought over the past three years... and the ones with plastic clips have all been 'flimsy' and broken or they have not stayed on safely!

vb3

Sorry, was just trying to be funny. Our dogs do the digging in of the heels thing too, and if you are persistent in pulling it will yank the whole deal off them. Layla is so broad-shouldered it's like saddling a horse, and if she flexes or pulls forward long enough she will loosen it up enough that it will fall off her.

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SophieB

Haha about the bacon flavour!
Perhaps because of their little legs and long bodies, Bassets need a sepcially designed harness just for them!

Annie714

When Annie digs in and won't move forward, I simply get behind her again and give the harness a little tug. I'm sure if I tried to pull her along the harness would come undone over her head thereby defeating the entire purpose lol. I do the same when she is wearing a regular collar, just go back behind her and get her moving that way.

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Blog about the antics of Annie and I. http://thechickandthehound.blogspot.com

Mikey T

I would relook at the installation instructon if the littlle slid lock is position correctly then that can not happen you often have to tighen the slide within the frist few minute if you hadd to adjut it to take the harness on or off when the dog it settles on the dog it gener need to be tightend off.

Unless sporn make a halter based on the http://=http://www.softouchconcepts....nsible Harness where the lead cilip on the front of the chest instead of on the back. and does not have straps the fit under the legs. The front clip harness are not very secure for pullers it is recommend to use the harness in conjuction with a collar and attach the lead to both

Instructions for Use
[quote]
Our harnesses are designed to be used with and without a regular flatcollar. At first, clip your leash to the TOP of the ring on the harness and to the ring on a collar simultaneously. This offers the following benefits:

• Prevents the leash from pulling the back and girth straps against
  your dog’s front legs.
• Offers safety for unexpected behaviors.
• Prevents too much load on the chest strap.
• Prevents chewing the chest strap while walking.
• Keeps the chest strap up.

Unclip from the collar for short periods to slowly phase out the collar.
We recommend clipping to the collar for high stimulus environments.[/url]

the sporns recommend here have been the sporn no-pull halter and the sporn mesh no pull halter I would not recommend the sporn head halter because I think gentle leader and halti make a superior product and the sporn simple control harness does not look like it offers much less secure than a traditional harness an no train advantage to teaching loose leash walking




I am no fan of long lead and no device used to train loose leash walking should be used on one from a head halter to a choke chain or a sporn no-pull halter. first it is inconsistent especial with a retractable lead on where the dog is supose to be. the can build up way to much speed and do real harm to themselves when activated. The sporn harness is a tool to help train pullers to walk on with a loose leash all such train should occur an a lead of 6ft or less.


The sporn works by causing pain when the dog pull this will occur whether the dog is pulling forward backward or sideways if the harness is put on correctly. A basset reaction to pain is often to stop. If the only thing that happens when walking it occasion the harness causes pain many a dog will simply refuses to go on especial when the can not figure out how to make it stop or a criteria based on their behavior whe will happen on a long lead or a retractable leash, So while training using a devive that cause pain you must also reward the correct behavior as well if you want the dog to keep working that reward for moving forward on a loose leash. Which becomes a problem again with the dog on a long lead it becomes impossible in most instances to reward the dog in a timely fashion when it is that far away,

I don't find a long lead safe any where near a road.

SophieB

Just briefly as it's bedtime... thanks for reply Mikey will read the rest later.

We never ever walk the Bassets on long leads along any roads and if they don't go in the car to the local glen, countryside or beaches, we usually take them up a 'walking' lane, directly from our house, leading to miles of fields and open land, but if we go the opposite direction to other fields and two other lanes, we have to first cross a quiet rural road, which is what I refer to... (I mentioned it just in case they slipped the harness whilst crossing this road that is very quiet but the occasional vehicle).