What a pain in the neck.

As I watched the women ahead of me, I cringed.  The little dog with them was receiving collar corrections for pulling; lots and lots of them.  "That poor dog's neck," I thought to myself.  I thought it to myself until Elsa and I caught up to them.  Then I shared my thoughts out loud.  Of course it didn't go over well, it seldom does.   The woman puffed her self up in defense of her acts, typical.  That was several months ago; but I see the same thing happening on a regular basis. 

Just yesterday at a different park, there was an adorable little miniature doodle being dragged and yanked around by his neck.  As they passed us he hopped around wanting to see Elsa which made his owner yank on him.  People just don't think about dog necks.  We humans have been dragging our dogs around by them for so long that it seems like a perfectly natural thing to do, right?

Lately I've been reading articles from trainers and Vets. saying that the easy walk type harnesses are bad.  "Dang, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't."   I throw my hands in the air when I read them; how on earth are regular dog Mom and Dads to know what to do?  Honestly.

As far as I am concerned, a harness is far safer than a collar.  A body can take much more abuse than a neck.  Have you ever given your dog hug around the neck and then your dogs coughs?  Dog necks are far more sensitive than we consider.  Humans have been yanking dogs around by their neck for so long that it is just what we do.  But now we need to stop. 

There are people who love to be right all the time; they will always find something wrong with everything.  These type people want to be the ones who saved everyone while they stand up on their pedestal.  By claiming that harnesses are now bad for our dogs, we do a disservice to our dogs.  Many may read these articles and go back to dragging their dogs around by the neck again.  Collars are for hanging ID tags on and even then they should be removed in secure areas like home or when playing with other dogs. 

I do not want to see on a dog:

A choke chain/collar
A prong/pinch collar
An extension leash
Collar of any type inflicting neck corrections

Nothing is perfect, no dogs are perfect, people, trainers, leashes or collars.  The evolution of moving away from the neck as an area to attach a yanking device to is a good one.  Of course as new harnesses come out I will have a look at them.  I love trying out new equipment.  For now I am happy with a couple of different harnesses that I use. 

Hmmm, maybe time to create my own human/canine connection system.  It's a thought. 

Leave a comment, I love to hear from you. 

What do I use?

People regularly ask me about the stuff that I use for Luke and Elsa.  Grooming equipment, food that I feed, training leashes, harnesses and collars.  I am always happy to share this information as I've been sifting through a lot of stuff over the years.  I  hate to see people waste money so when I can help out and share what I think to be useful I like to pass that onto you all.  I'm a gear junkie, I love canine stuff that makes living with dogs easier. 

I have my standard "go to" items and that can change on a daily or weekly basis depending on my mood and requirements for the day.  Even though I love gear I don't love I do not like complicated.  So my favorite things to use are simple, easy and useful.  I've picked up equipment before and just stared wondering how long it might take one to put this onto their dog.  Not all companies that make dogs stuff think before they put things out there for the public; that much is obvious.  There is a lot of stuff out there that is useless or just a plain waste of money.

Sometimes I change my mind on something if I find a new and improved item that someone has come up with.  New ideas, constant improvements to dog gear; I love when there are new things to try.   I like companies who are always improving on what they have and actually want to make good products for dogs. 

My prerequisite for being a favorite of mine is quality and usefulness.   Cost factors in, I want value; to get what I pay for not pay a ton of money for garbage.  Customer service is way up there for me; if I find out that a company does not stand behind their product or care about feedback then they slip way down on my list. 

You will notice some changes to my blog; to the right side is now a couple of lists of things that I recommend.  I have all of these products and use them.  I will keep adding to these lists as I find new things that I like.  If you have a question about any of the products please let me know.  If you'd like to see something that I don't yet have on there let me know.   I love feedback.

As far as purchasing items online, my go to is Amazon.  They have crazy fast service, even when I choose regular 5-7 day delivery I have been getting my stuff in a day or two.  Almost everything can be found on Amazon but if not I will link to where an item I like can be found.  Of course these items are just what I like to use, my opinion. 



This is the harness that Elsa is wearing in the photo above.