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Guide To Australian Shepherd Training and Care

Halter Or Leash?

by Gail Cortese
(Port Angeles, Washington)

Jackie and Jessie

We are moving from five acres to a city lot and my two Aussies will be needing leash or halter walks a couple times a day. What kind of halter or leash works best?

We use regular leashes on our property just for training purposes but want to be super secure when off the property on unfenced areas. How can we make sure they can't back out of their walking apparatus?

Comments for Halter Or Leash?

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Halter or Leash
by: Anonymous

Try Cesar Milan's halters. They are a bit pricey but they work on our extremely active 4 year old Aussie's.

Leash or halter
by: Anonymous

They can't slip out of a halter. I would say it depends on their personalities, too.

Harness
by: Anonymous

Really like the Comfort flex harness for our Aussie. Easy on/off + she can't back out. She is not a gentle walker + this harness has proven to be well made.

halter
by: jcrply

I use the "Original SENSE-ation No-Pull Harness". The leash clip attaches at the chest. I don't like putting any pressure on a dog's neck.

Padded harness
by: Rebecca

We just moved to an apartment from a large fenced lot (acre and a quarter) . We selected a Top Paw padded front walking harness that can be used as a back connected harness as well. Our Aussie does quite well with it. Of course we give her lots of walks and there is a play area in our complex where she can run regularly off leash.

Halter or leash
by: Gail

Jackie, the black tri, is a very strong puller whereas Jessie, the blue merle, is likely to try to back out. They have had the run of five fenced acres for 8 years. Where we are moving they will have a small fenced yard with a secure dog run but will be with us most of the time. I just need something that won't hurt them yet make them very secure so they can't get away from me.

Sporn
by: Anonymous

We've used a sporn "no pull" harness successfully on our <2yo aussie. It reduced but did not remove the tendency to pull at the leash. There's no "backing out" of it and it didn't harm the dog at all. It tended to mute leash corrections so we've stopped using it and are persisting with loose leash training...

Halter or leash
by: Seye2see

I would say it depends on how your dogs are on a leash. I have three large (50+lbs) and they really pull so we have gone to prong collars on leashes. But if they see squirrels all bets are off.

Halter or Leash
by: Anonymous

I would try a cheap harness/halter first to see if they tolerate it. I would recommend harnesses/halters over collars around the neck; however, my mini aussi hates harnesses/halters & has escaped from every single one we have put him in. He walks nicely with a collar & leash though and has for the most part since he was 8 weeks old. I would recommend one of the harnesses/halters they advertise for hiking as these are a little more durable (but more expensive too). If getting a collar I would recommend one with a metal clasp as they don't snap like the plastic ones can. I would also recommend a wider leash to prevent them from nipping through the leash. It's in their herding nature that some aussies, esp. younger ones, will try & nip on the leash to heard their owners in a specific direction. This tends to make thin leashes a bad idea with aussies as they snap/break quite easily.

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