• I can understand the frustration over loose dogs but I am not sure that any tool used to help with loose leash walking is going to really help when a loose dog comes up to your dog.

    Having just had my dogs charged and attacked by a lab last night when we walked out the door to walk them. In those situations it may be much more helpful to carry something like Direct Stop.


  • Someone (maybe WBL) recommended the mesh halter by Sporn and so we got them for Cory and Jayden and we really like them. They have reduced the pulling a lot. They both still pull when they see something really interesting (like a squirrel!) but they don't pull nearly as much. Cory is a small Basenji and she took a size small. Jayden is a fairly big Basenji and he wears a medium. (He could have gotten away with wearing a small if he HAD to but a medium is clearly better for him.) Neither seems to mind the halter. We keep their martingales on when we walk just in case they try to get funny with the halters but neither dog has ever tried to back out of its halter.
    We ordered the halters from the Sporn webite because we couldn't find the mesh style locally. We had no trouble and we had the halters about a week after we ordered them

    Pat


  • I tried the Halti halter….what a joke. Jack was able to get right out of that. Luckily I was trying it inside the house first.

    That easy walk harness looks interesting, I might try that next...


  • @JazzysMom:

    I recently bought a "halti" halter for Keoki to work on behavior on-leash.
    ha! What a joke. 😃 We didn't even get off the front porch before he had the face part off and hanging down under his chin 😉

    There needs to be a strap of some sort that goes from the muzzle piece to the top of the head or something.

    Does anyone else use this brand of halter? I think it's similar to the gentle leader idea, but I couldn't find a gentle leader, so…..... :rolleyes:

    Funny! Mya did the EXACT thing. She's getting much better at walking with us if we just keep her on a short lead. 🆒


  • First of all, I think the Gentle Leader fits FAR better than the Halti. You should aboslutely be able to tighten a GL so that it is impossible for the dog to get out of it.

    Secondly, I now prefer the Sensible/Sensation harness (google it), or the Premier Easy Walk harness over the head collars. I think it gives you almost as much control, and the dogs tolerate it much better.


  • @Quercus:

    First of all, I think the Gentle Leader fits FAR better than the Halti. You should aboslutely be able to tighten a GL so that it is impossible for the dog to get out of it.

    Secondly, I now prefer the Sensible/Sensation harness (google it), or the Premier Easy Walk harness over the head collars. I think it gives you almost as much control, and the dogs tolerate it much better.

    What size would you recommend for basenjis? I am debating between a small & medium. I fear the med may be too big for him right now though since he's only 5 mos.


  • @Ninabeana26:

    What size would you recommend for basenjis? I am debating between a small & medium. I fear the med may be too big for him right now though since he's only 5 mos.

    You probably have to get it online, but Premier has an in-between small/medium, 19"-25" that worked perfect for us.

    Dan


  • We tried a harness that fit around Cyrus's body. Cyrus almost cackled out loud with glee before using his extra leverage to drag us around the neighborhood. He was like a sled dog! We now walk Cyrus with his regular collar and a choke collar. The choke collar doesn't pull tight because we do not want to hurt his neck, but he pulls so hard that we are afraid his leather collar will snap and he will get hit by a car. He still pulls, but we are hoping he will mellow out as he gets out of puppyhood.


  • It is true that a harness with the leash attached at the back only gives the dog better leverage for pulling. An Easy Walk Harness or Sensation/Sensible harness has the leash attached to the front and will decrease pulling.

    If you are getting an Easy Walk Harness the small/medium tweener size is the correct size for most basenjis.


  • I bought it today. Thanks you guys so very much! I would hate to get the wrong size & have to go through the hassle of sending it back for a different one 🙂


  • I got my easy walk harness at PetCo, so if you have one near you it may help relieve any "sending it back" fears. The one near me had a whole display of easy walk harnesses apart from their regular harnesses.

    I only had to use my EasyWalk harness for a few weeks before mine learned to not pull so much. I still use it on hikes since he gets so excited about making "new friends"

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