LWD Approved Equipment | livingwithdogs

Preferred Equipment

Our goal is to grow and improve the relationship between you and your companion dog. We teach our human students to use reinforcement and motivation to train companion dogs.

We do NOT use any type of fear, pain or intimidation in our training classes.

The three types of equipment that we PREFER are:

Collars - great for trained dogs, or dogs that do not pull their owners around.
Front Attach Harnesses - great for dogs in training or dogs that pull
Head Halters - great for large dogs or dogs that lunge, jump and pull hard.

Flat Buckle Style Collar - (regular belt style collar) easy to put on, may lead to a collapsed trachea if your dog is a heavy puller.

Martingale Collar - limited slip collar, great for dog's who might otherwise slip out of their collars.

Front Attach Harness - Great for dogs that pull. We really like front attach harnesses! They are easy to use, easy to put on, dogs get used to them easily, changes point of leverage so that you control the front of the dog. Back attach harnesses are not as good because you only control from the attachment point and every part of the dog behind that. Balance and Freedom are our favorite brands and are available online. Locally you can find the Front Range Ruff Wear Harness and other brands.

Head Halter - We've had great success with head collars for energetic dogs who pull hard, jump on people or lunge. They do require a little time and training to get the dog used to them before you take them out walking.

Let your instructor know if you have questions. Don't wait until the end of class or after you've taken most of your classes to ask! We love to help our clients!

Scroll down for video and images.

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Types of equipment we DO NOT recommend are:

1) Back Attach Harnesses (aka "Dog Sled Harness" or "Iditarod Harness") - lack of ability to control the front of the dog, hard to get the dog's orientation and focus, trains pulling

2) Choke Chains (aka "Training Collar") - can collapse the dog's trachea, trains by intimidation and pain

3) Prong Collars - trains with the threat of intimidation and pain. Read "Why Prong Collars Hurt"

4) Electric Shock Collars - trains with threat of intimidation, pain and shock

"Prong collars are actually banned in many countries." - Victoria Stillwell speaks out against the use of prong collars.

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More on Head Halters

When you start getting them used to it, first get some really high-value treats and be very generous the first 3 times when you put the collar over their nose without buckling it. Then stop for a few hours, then repeat 3 times again with generous rewarding. Randomness and variability will help the dog anticipate the head collar as a very good thing. Less repetitions is more effective in the very beginning. Repeat day one for 3 days and then go out on a short walk on day 4. Bring treats, keep moving and treat while you are walking. Each day increase your walks. Even a small child can walk a large dog. The dog must be habituated first,

If the dog is pawing or rubbing then habituation has not taken place and it will then need to be counter conditioned and that will probably take longer. (Gentle Leader, Halti or New Trix are some brands) Fitting head halters needs to be custom for each dog.

HEAD HALTER Overview Video

We suggest the following Head Halter products:

Gentle Leader

Link to Video

simpler to fit, but easier for the dog to pull off with his paws.

Halti and New Trix and Walk 'n Train have additional straps alongside

the cheeks that hold them on more securely but there are more adjustments.

New Halti Optifit

Link to Video

New Trix

Link to Video

Walk 'n Train

Link to More Info