Journey to Find the Freedom No-Pull Harness

As you know from yesterday's post, we're trying to get a handle on Athena's walking skills.  When we first brought her home in July, she quickly learned how to walk on a loose leash, but as the weather started to get crummy here in Portland, us humans really slacked off in the walking department.  We are totally to blame for Athena's recent pulling habit.

Athena modeling her Freedom No-Pull Harness

Easy Walk Harness:

The first day we brought Athena home from the shelter we had her fitted for an Easy Walk Harness because we had heard that it was the best for training a dog how to walk nicely on leash.  It worked well for a while, until Athena developed some pretty nasty hot spots under her arms.  After the sores healed, we tried the Easy Walk again, only for the hot spots to return with a vengeance.

As Two Pitties in the City would say, here's vintage Athena on her first day home from the shelter wearing her Easy Walk Harness!

Gentle Leader:

That's when we ditched the Easy Walk for the Gentle Leader Head Halter.  At that point we couldn't find any body harnesses on the market that would eliminate the rubbing under Athena's armpits, so we decided to try out a head halter.  Besides tricking people into believing that Athena was wearing a muzzle, the Gentle Leader actually worked some pretty good magic to help Athena in the walking department.  We continued to use the Gentle Leader through our very first Respectabulls walk, but Athena's pulling in the presence of other dogs was no match for this head harness.  She was left with deep groves on her muzzle from the rough nylon of the harness.

Another vintage Athena, this time wearing the Gentle Leader

Holt Walking Collar:

So, we invested in a more high-tech version of the Gentle Leader called the Holt Walking Collar (also known as the Head Halti).  If you're in the market for a head halter, this is definitely the best compared to the Gentle Leader in my opinion.  Although the harness is much bulkier on the face (making it appear even more like a muzzle), it is thickly padded and doesn't twist from one side of Athena's face to the other (a major flaw of the Gentle Leader).  We ordered ours for a very fair price on Pet Mountain.

Athena wearing the Holt Head Harness

Freedom No-Pull Harness:

The Freedom No-Pull Harness had been on our radar for quite some time, but it wasn't until Doodlebug's recommendation that we gave in and purchased it.  We were pretty much sold when we heard that this harness has soft velvet on the underside to eliminate chaffing.  I was positive that this would be gentle enough for Athena's sensitive skin, but I decided to first contact the Wiggles, Wags and Whiskers company to make sure.  I wrote them an e-mail explaining Athena's discomfort with body harnesses and asked if they had heard from any customers who had seen an improvement with this harness.  Here's the response they sent me:

"The velvet lining on the harness does really help prevent the rubbing and chafing sores but depending on how the harness is fitted, your dog could possibly still have some armpit irritation.  I wish I had an absolute answer for you, I am so very sorry.  I will say in 99.999% of all dogs, it eliminates the problem, but there is occasionally one that still has an issue."

With that, we took Athena into our favorite local pet shop for a fitting.  Technically she should wear a medium, but we decided to go with the large to allow for extra room in the armpit department.  We also bought the 1" training leash that has a double connection.  The great thing about the Freedom No-Pull Harness is that it has a connection point on the chest and on the back.  You can attach a double connection leash to both, or simply attach a leash to one or the other depending on the kind of puller that you're dealing with.  This leash has turned me into a 4' leash lover.  No longer do we take Athena out for a walk on a 6' lead.  I feel like I have much more control with a shorter leash, and it helps Athena to stay right by my side.

So far we've been very pleased with this harness and we're happy to report that Athena has had zero armpit irritation!  We've been using the harness on daily walks, for jogging practice, and at flyball practice.

Freedom No-Pull Harness/Holt Head Harness Combo:

One of the very popular trends on Respectabull walks is for dogs to wear multiple harnesses for added support.  The most common combo is the Freedom No-Pull Harness and the Holt Head Harness.  We gave this combo a try on our last walk and did notice a bit of an improvement in Athena's racing walking in the group.  We attach a double connection leash to the back clip of the Freedom Harness and to the front clip on the Holt Harness (leaving nothing attached to the front harness clip).

Mr. Moose modeling this harness combo

Do you walk your dog on a harness?  Which one (or combo) works best for your dog?

Dear Doodlebug: My Mom's More Fun Than Dirt!

Hi guys!  Athena here.  If you follow me on Facebook, then you probably saw last week that I requested the very intelligent advices of Sir Doodlebug of Love and a Six-Foot Leash to help me with a very important matter.  He responded ever so wisely to the following question:

Dearest Doodlebug, I think “going on a walk” actually means “go on a sniffing adventure.”  We live in the city, so there are lots of stop signs, mailboxes, bushes, trees, stairs, buildings, and other smelly landmarks. Once my nose is in full sniff, my mom has a really hard time to get my brain to focus on her.  I am wondering if you have any advices on how to help me to keep my nose out of the bushes and focused on my mom. Love, Athena from Pitlandia

Look at my past-self here in full sniff

Basically, I LOVE to go on walks, but only because it involves stopping every 10 seconds to sniff.  There have been many times where my mom has almost fallen right on top of me when I've ran in front of her to get my nose to some smelly stuff.  She was getting quite irritated and threatened to never take me on a walk again! I figured that I better ask the smartest dog I know what to do, and he responded ever so wisely last week on his blog.

In a nutshell, here's the training plan that Doodlebug laid out for me and my mom:

• My mom must always be "More Fun Than Dirt!"during each and every walk which means...
• She must bring all her funs!
• She must bring Athena's favoritist treats
• She must be in her BESTEST mood
• She must have her lovely petting hands ready and available
• She must show her prize winning pearly whites
• She must have her ninja-fast reflexes ready to reward!

And these are Doodlebug's very strict instructions for implementation:

• Start with mastering short distances and then move on to the hard stuff...
• Thean gives full attentions up and down the driveway
• Thean gives full attentions up and down the street
• Thean gives full attentions around the block
• Thean gives full attentions around the neighborhood
• Thean gives full attentions in new locations

So, how's the training going you ask?:

EXCELLENT!  My mom is no longer threatening to cancel my walks.  We have gone on a very fun and exciting walk every-single-day since receiving Doodlebug's brilliant advices!  Who knew my mom could be so fun!  She definitely brings all of the good stuff like chopped up beef roll, her special praising voice, and her mega fast reflexes.  I mastered the driveway in no time at all and am already taking 30 minute walks around the neighborhood.  My mom says she'd like to report that I've only had two sniffing attacks during all of our training time and they were both her fault because her ninja reflexes weren't working correctly.  I seriously think that my mom is now way more exciting than any ole' smelly pole!

Clickity, click:

My mom has also been bringing her handy dandy clicker along on all of our walks.  She usually just pulls this out for our trick training (OMG did you see that I learned how to roll over yesterday?!), but now she brings it on walks so that I know exactly what I'm doing to earn the yummy food.  I get a click for walking right beside her (no pulling), giving eye contact (not scoping out my next sniffing location),  "leaving it" (if I get tempted to check something out without permission), and for just being the bestest Thean Bean that I can be!

Ok, ok, we do some trick training on our walks too!

Presentation of my progress:

Here's a little video showing my new and improved walking skills.  Midway through the video you'll notice a very long stretch of grass and trees on my left.  This is the prime potty location for the many doggies that live in the nearby apartment complex.  There was once a time when my mom couldn't get my nose out of that grass.  Well, look at me now!  Not once did I stop for a sniff.  I'd say that makes my mom More Fun Than Dirt!

Thanks for your assistance with this matter, Doodlebug.  I advise all of my doggie friends out there to submit your pressing questions to be answered in an upcoming Dear Doodlebug column!

We're Training for a Marathon...Sort Of!

First of all, I'd like to apologize for my lack of blog posts, Facebook updates, and comments on others' blogs recently.  Life has been super busy the past few weeks with work, the Etsy shop, and keeping up with Athena.  Just a mini update-- Athena is doing wonderful and has been enjoying many trips to the park to enjoy the mild Portland weather!

Aside from the everyday life excitement, Athena and I have decided to sign up for a 2.5 mile run (you may as well call it a marathon) being held in May (well, Athena doesn't actually have a choice...I signed her up)!  I am no runner, so 2.5 miles is going to be quite the challenge.  I actually hate running and would never consider it something to do for fun, but alas, my friend somehow talked me into doing a run with her.  We decided to commit to the Oregon Humane Society's Doggie Dash being held on May 11th.

Team in training!

This means that Miss Athena is in training.  Unlike her mother, Athena is actually quite the runner.  She takes after her dad who happens to be a track champion.  Athena's goal is to learn how to jog with me rather than sprint the entire 2.5 mile race.  I have found that our new Freedom No-Pull harness helps to guide Athena to jog rather than sprint, but it's not a magic tool because she still gets a spring in her step every so often.

Wish us luck as Athena and I train for our marathon race!  Any advice on teaching a dog to run politely  on-leash would be much appreciated!

An Athena Filled Weekend

This weekend was biiiiiizzzzzyyy and filled with tons of Athena related activities.  Here's a little recap of the weekend's happenings:

1.  We went on a mini-shopping spree for Athena:

If you follow us on Facebook then you already saw that Athena got a new harness over the weekend.  After not having much luck with the Holt Head Harness, we've moved on to the ever so popular Freedom No-Pull Harness.  So far Athena hasn't come home with any bloody armpits (even after her pulling and snorting race that you will read about in #4 of this post), so I'd say that things are working out fairly well with the new harness.

I was also excited to pick up a container of The Honest Kitchen's Easy Peesy Tea which I've been wanting Athena to try for a while now.  It's an herbal tea for dogs to support urinary tract health (they also make a tea for joint function and one for alleviating anxiety).

Photo via The Honest Kitchen

2.  I went to Born Again Pit Bull Rescue's Celebration du Chien Dinner and Silent Auction:

My mom and I attended a dinner and fundraiser put on for Born Again Pit Bull Rescue (they were our January Bow of the Month featured rescue) by Sellwood Dog Supply and Lili Patisserie.  Not only did we eat some delicious food and talk to lots of pittie lovers, but we also got some loot from the amazing silent auction that was held!

Photo via Born Again Pit Bull Rescue

My mom won a basket full of tea and coffee goodies as well as gift certificates for three dozen doughnuts from Voodoo Doughnuts (and yes, we did already get two dozen of them....don't judge).  I won Athena a little basket filled with two packages of STAM grain-free dog treats and a collar from The Collar Shop.

Thean's new pink mustache collar

3.  The weather was nice, so we did some of this...

Fun at the park!

Oh, and lots of this happened too...

4.  We attended the Portland Pit Bull Parade's February Bully Walk:

This weekend also marked the third anniversary of bully walks held by the Portland Pit Bull Parade.  Over one hundred dogs were in attendance and many dressed up in Valentine's themed costumes.  Athena of course thought that the event was specially held for her pulling and snorting purposes, but other than that, it was great to be among so many pit bull supporters and to enter the costume contest!

Photo via the Portland Pit Bull Parade

Costume contest!

Posing with our costume contest prize-- a pittie valentine!

5.  Flyball practice was super good:

Last week's Flyball practice was great, and this week was no different.  Athena was off leash more than she's ever been at a practice (even with other dogs out and about) and was very focused on us and her new tug toy that I made.  She's so interested in her tug as a reward that we are no longer treating her with food for anything at practice.  Oh, and Athena is also going on a diet starting today to help shed some of her winter flab to prevent any injuries....and because she's been eating too many treats lately ;)

How was your weekend?  Did you do anything special with your dog?