My puppy pulls on the leash. Is it hurting his neck or dangerous?

I generally recommend using harnesses rather than collars for walking. If a dog pulls excessively on a collar, they can cause irritation to the trachea (windpipe) or develop neck pain or injury. Some harnesses, such as an EasyWalk harness or Gentle Leader, are designed to minimize pulling and can be quite helpful for training. Teaching Jasper a "look" command where he learns to watch you closely while on a leash is quite helpful. All of that said, I still like dogs to wear collars so that their identification tags are readily accessible in the off chance that they would run off. I hope this helps and that all goes well!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is rare that this can actually affect her longterm. This is just typical behavior for a dog that is wanting to pull on the leash. I would encourage you to try to avoid this behavior as much as possible. You can try to use a dog trainer who can help you with this. Best of luck!

If Mylo is pulling hard enough to cause that kind of reaction, he should definitely be walked with a harness or gentle leader. Persistent trauma to the neck can cause permanent damage to the trachea and the associated bony structures of the neck. From a behavioral standpoint, Mylo may respond better to a harness or gentle leader as well, as many dogs simply follow the commands of their owners better under these conditions. Hope this helps.

3. WalkingtheOtherWay In order to reinforce a dog’s natural tendency to follow, once your dog pulls out in front, you should turn quickly and walk the other way. Reward once you feel slack on the collar. This can cause a walk to go no more than a few feet at the beginning, so be patient. The pull back should only be strong enough to get your dog’s attention. Excessive force, especially when using choke chains, may cause neck trauma. For more information, please contact your veterinarian or a trainer who uses humane training methods.

Damon is still a puppy so I do not recommend not leaving him off of a leash. You can always get Damon a gentle leader to help with the pulling of the leash. Here is a gentle leader you can get from PetSmart https://www.petsmart.com/dog/collars-harnesses-and-leashes/collars/petsafe-gentle-leader-training-dog-collar-5010512.html?utm_id=500%7Cpg115630%7C4580359283606212&utm_term=5010512&utm_campaign=PLA-BPA%20-%20High%20-%20Online%20Pricing%20Initiative%20-%20Hardgoods%20-%20PLA&lsft=utm_source%3Agoogle%2Cutm_term%3A5010512%2Cutm_medium%3Acpc%2Cutm_content%3AGSC%20-%20High%20-%20Online%20Pricing%20Initiative%20-%20Hardgoods%20-%20PLA%20%7C%20Petsafe%2Cutm_campaign%3AGSC%20-%20High%20-%20Online%20Pricing%20Initiative%20-%20Hardgoods%20-%20PLA&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=bing&utm_content=GSC%20-%20High%20-%20Online%20Pricing%20Initiative%20-%20Hardgoods%20-%20PLA%20%7C%20Petsafe I never recommend having a dog off leash unless in a fenced in area. The reason for this is because if they see an animal or someone they can run off and either scare someone, get hurt or always can get hit by a car. I would talk to a trainer to get help with training Damon to not pull on a leash if the gentle leader does not help. Thank you for using PetCoach.

I appreciate your concern and thoughtfulness regarding pulling on the leash, but this would have contributed to the seizures. Head trauma could, however damage to the spine would not. Since he is a "puller," it is wise to switch to a harness to protect his neck/spine/trachea moving forward, however its not going to affect his seizures. If he had symptoms related to spinal cord damage, I'd expect him to show pain, ataxia (walking drunk), or occasionally lifting up one front leg. If he shows any of those symptoms please have him evaluated. As for the seizures, follow your vet's instructions regarding any medications. thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

That's the first thing to try, a harness is usually solving this type of problem in dogs that are pulling to hard, the collar presses on the trachea and it causes breathing problems and coughing. if this is not the reason for this symptom then the harness will not help and you can see it pretty much immediately, in that case my advise would be to take her to the vet in order to get that checked ASAP.