Harness or Collar on a Rescue Dog?

N

NLadybug

Forums Regular
Hi, I am new to this Sheltie Forum. I have had shelties for over 20 years and I just love them!! I have an 11 year old mahogany sheltie named Duncan, who has been with us all his life. We had our little Bonnie until last year when she was run over by a car. :cry::cry:
We have just adopted a blue merle from a shelter, she is 7 years old and from a puppy mill out of state. I had a harness on her and had her outside. My husband started to chop wood, and she got out of that harness and ran! Well, we were able to get her and put her in the house.
My question is: for a rescue dog that has not had much contact with anyone, and with NO training, which type of collar or harness will be best? I REALLY don't want her getting away again!! (We have not rescued a dog like this before.)
Thank you so much for an answer!
 
Welcome to the Sheltie Nation Forum! It is great to have you on board here. Feel free to write a little blurb about you and your shelties in the Say Hello section of our forum.

As for a collar, I have the best luck with a martingale style collar. For my experience they seem to work the best with a Sheltie. Sheltie heads are small and their necks are wide, so a martingale is made to slip over the head, but tightens to a point that your dog can't slip out of it or back out of it while wearing it. Of course, it is very important to get it fitted properly. If you do not get the collar fitted properly they can slip out. My dog trainer introduced me to them years ago, and I find them very safe.

Again, welcome!
 
Welcome!!... and I agree with danisgoat. A properly fitted martingale or choke collar is best for a sheltie... especially one that has the motivation to back out of their collar.
 
danisgoat said:
Welcome to the Sheltie Nation Forum! It is great to have you on board here. Feel free to write a little blurb about you and your shelties in the Say Hello section of our forum.

As for a collar, I have the best luck with a martingale style collar. For my experience they seem to work the best with a Sheltie. Sheltie heads are small and their necks are wide, so a martingale is made to slip over the head, but tightens to a point that your dog can't slip out of it or back out of it while wearing it. Of course, it is very important to get it fitted properly. If you do not get the collar fitted properly they can slip out. My dog trainer introduced me to them years ago, and I find them very safe.

Again, welcome!
Click to expand...

Yes, a martingale collar is probably your best bet. It looks like this:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751415

It tightens when the dog pulls but the collar part can be adjusted so that when the dog pulls it is not choked. When adjusted properly, its perfect for dogs who try to back out of their collars.

For a dog that is fearful, or who pulls, gentle leaders are great too. It works a lot like a halter on a horse and rests on pressure points that are supposed to be calming. It works great for my rescue who pulls and also has anxiety issues. However, if your dog is severely anxious the gentle leader can some times make them panic more.

This is what it looks like:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751021
 
Great advise, thanks

Thank you for the advise...and the links. I had never heard of the martingale, and never considered the other one. I'll go and look for them. You are sure that they cannot be backed out of?!? Every time I have taken my dogs to Petco or Petsmart, they have backed out of their collars! So I have harnesses for them and they are fine. But Sophie, she must be an escape artist!
http://picasaweb.google.com/nwwiswell/OurShelties#5563997201864455906
hopefully, this gets to her picture, taken a couple days ago at the shelter.
Thanks!!
 
NLadybug said:
Thank you for the advise...and the links. I had never heard of the martingale, and never considered the other one. I'll go and look for them. You are sure that they cannot be backed out of?!?
Click to expand...

I have one dog that tries really hard to back out of her collars when she is scared and she cannot get out of the martingale. But I fit my martingale tight. When the martingale is at the loosest setting, I can just get it over her head. This way, when it tightens, there really is not way for her to get out of it. It was fitted by my trainer. There are people on this forum who have dogs that can get out of their martingales, but I am not sure if those martingales were fitted properly or not. That is the key to getting them to work correctly.
 
Choke or Martingales. Unless your dog is pulling something, I see no use for harnesses. My dogs all have martingales with tags, but they usually get walked in chokes. Shelties tend to have larger necks than skulls, and add the coat, they can easily back out of a buckle collar, or a poorly fitting martingale.
 
Definitely the martingale! I've posted ad nauseum on this topic (:lol: yes, probably enough to make some want to throw up..."she's at it again")

I don't like harnesses on Shelties. It's a personal bias. I don't think it does anything for training and it really does rub their fur.

I have to leave collars on my dogs 24 x 7. I have no front vestibule, so I need something to grab when the dogs rush to the front door.

The martingale sits loose on their necks when not attached. But when attached to a leash or chain, will tighten just enough - not to choke, but to avoid slipping the collar - if sized right.

Try to go with rounded, narrow collar - no more than 1/2". This will sit light in the fur, without matting.

If you need help finding a source to buy, PM me. I won't post all the sites again....but there are threads with most of them already listed.
 
I totally recommend the WebMaster Harness from Ruffwear. www.ruffwear.com

It is literally hudini proof and it looks awesome as well as the quaility cannot be beat. PM for any questions as i bought one a few months ago!
 
I would also recommend the martingale. Nike used to be extremely shy and skittish, but he never slipped his martingale. I feel very secure in that collar with him.
 
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