Whether you’re a new dog owner of are struggling with a dog that pulls the leash nonstop, picking the right leash tool can be really daunting. With so many options and so many opinions out there, knowing how to even start seems like an impossible task.
Luckily, and while we do have our favorites, we at Lugaru K9 Training have a lot of experience with all these tools. In the days before becoming a professional dog trainer, I volunteered at animal shelters several times per week, and walked dogs daily for a living. Trust me when I say I’ve tried them all, and I’ve gotten more than enough experience with each over the years to know their many pros and cons.
In this article, I’ll introduce the most common leash tools to help you make the right choice for you and your dog.
Flat Collars
Flat collars are the standard-type collars that most dogs wear to carry their tags. While they are great for emergencies and to carry your dog’s identification, flat collars are not the best primary option for walking a dog or for training purposes.
Flat collars are not ideal for pressure-and-release training, which serves to treat the leash as a communication tool rather than a physical barrier. But walking a dog on a flat collar, especially if the dog has not been trained to walk without tension on the leash, can actually be physically harmful.
This is because most flat collars are designed as a single loop, meaning that any directional pressure from the leash gets condensed into one general are of contact on the dog’s neck. In addition, flat collars will usually sit mid-to-low on the dog’s neck, against the trachea. This means that if a dog is pulling ahead on a flat collar, all of that pressure is pressing against the dog’s airway.
In general, flat collars are fine for dogs that have been previously trained to heel or otherwise walk with a slack lead, and are wonderful for carrying tags and as an overall backup/emergency tool. But for primary leash tools, there are much better options.
Slip Leads
Slip leads are a convenient all-in-one option consisting of a cord looped at the end to form a collar of sorts.
Slip leads are designed to tighten and loosen according to tension on the leash; but unlike flat collars, that tension is distributed evenly around the dog’s neck, meaning there is less pressure one each individual area.
Slip leads are also meant to be worn “high and tight” and most will include a stopper that allows you to size and set the collar portion to sit snug against right under the jaw and behind the ears. In this area there is no contact with the dog’s trachea, making it a safe tool for leash work.
Slip leads are also good for pressure-and-release, and are a great tool for dogs to learn to walk without pulling on the leash.
Even when a slip lead is not your primary tool for leash work with your dog, it’s still good to have one around, as they make a great backup all-in-one tool that can easily be taken on and off.
Choke Chains
Choke chains function similarly to slip leads. They consist of a looped chain, and tend to be chosen for very large strong dogs like bully breeds for their durability and strength.
But choke chains fall short compared to regular slip leads in a few ways. A heavy chain with no stopper will by nature sit low on the dog’s neck, putting it in contact with the dog’s airway. Because chains tend to be chosen for strong dogs that pull, this means that they often end up putting a lot of pressure on one of the more delicate parts of their anatomy.
Chains are also heavy on the lead, which makes it very difficult to treat the leash as a communication tool. In the end, the chain does nothing to make your dog stop pulling the leash, and can actually make the issue worse in the big picture.
Martingale Collars
Martingale collars are a bit of a hybrid between flat collars and slip-style leads. Martingales will look like a flat collar, and like flat collars they can double as a means to carry the dog’s tag and I.D. But a martingale collar will have a looped segment, usually made of chain or fabric, to which the leash is attached. This loop allows the collar to tighten and release around the entire circumference to redistribute pressure.
Martingales are especially popular with sighthounds, like the greyhound and afghan hound, whose narrow skull shape and wispy frame can make other collars and harnesses easy to slip out of.
While martingale collars will generally sit lower on the neck than ideal, they still make a great option for maintaining previous training or for training mild dogs sensitive to pressure training.
Harnesses
Harnesses are often marketed to dog owners as a solution to pulling and a more humane option for walking a dog that does pull. But in reality, harnesses were originally built for sled dogs; they were literally invented to allow for pulling.
Harnesses distribute pressure along the dog’s center of gravity, which allows them to sink into the leash and apply more force to it. This results in more pressure on you, on the other end of the leash.
Some harnesses are designed to clip in the front to cause a shift in posture when the dog applies pressure to the leash. While these tend to perform better than back-clip harnesses, they still lack the control over pressure that a handler has when doing leash work. Anecdotally, it’s said that harnesses, especially those that clip in the front, can harmfully alter a dog’s posture to create muscle imbalances, discomfort, and even pain.
While there’s some truth in that, the biggest issue with harnesses is that you give up control over the dog’s head. If a dog were to lunge, bite, or try to grab something they shouldn’t while on the leash, a harness does nothing to help gain control over their head and their focus.
Harnesses are great, however, for certain activities such as joring, also called urban mushing. They’re also popular to hold dogs back during activities like bite and guard training. Harnesses are certainly useful and do have their place, but we don’t recommend them as a primary leash tool.
Prong Collars
Prong collars get a bad rap because they look scary at a glance, but in reality they aren’t the torture tool they’re made out to be.
A prong collar functions similarly to a martingale collar, but the flat portion of the collar is instead made up of a series of metal links. These links come to blunted points, or “prongs” which sit on top of the skin.
Like a slip lead, a prong collar is ideally meant to sit “high and tight” right behind the ears, to keep contact away from the trachea and to have control over the dog’s head should inappropriate behavior come up while on the leash.
The dull contact points of the prong keep from forming any sort of “band” around the dog’s neck or chest, which makes prong collars one of the safest options when it comes to protecting the dog’s airway; a prong collar can never choke a dog.
Also similar to a slip lead, the prong collar is designed to contract rather than put a disproportionate amount of pressure on any one spot. This means that the pressure from the leash is distributed among the many contact points, which registers soundly with less actual pressure being applied.
Because of this unique type of pressure, prong collars are the ideal tool for teaching pressure-and-release, a huge key in teaching a dog a proper heel.
However, all prong collars are not made the same. Make sure that your prong collar has a martingale-style chain, and avoid collars with “easy” clasps like buckles and clips.
Head Haltis
Head haltis are a popular leash tool made of a high-sitting collar and a loop that sits on top of the dog’s snout.
As one could imagine, by design these are incompatible with short-faced dogs like pugs and french bulldogs.
However, haltis can work with some dogs, and have a unique-enough pressure type that many dogs will respond to it as a training tool. For these dogs, a head halti or head harness can make a perfectly good leash tool. Pressure can be applied and removed in a fairly fine-tuned manner, and it gives the handler control over the dog’s head should something happen.
Other dogs, however, will push through the head halti to pull, especially when aroused by something particularly exciting. I’ve seen dogs push through the discomfort of the head halti to the point that the looped portion actually puts pressure on their eyes (yes, sized properly).
The head harness is also unique in that it can twist a dog’s neck if they pull against it, which can cause postural discomfort from repetition, but also severe injury if a dog were to try to bolt.
At the end of the day, head harnesses can really go either way depending on the dog and how they respond to it.
Which One Is Right for You?
With so many options out there, it can be tough indeed to decide what exactly to put at the other end of the leash. But with proper knowledge about each of the tools available, we hope you’ll be able to make a decision that is right for you and your dog.
What leash tools do you use, and what is your favorite that you’ve tried? Let us know in the comments!
