Wearing Harness but Coughing While Leash Walking

[AllDogBoots]

Max wears a Buddy Belt when we are walking so there is nothing touching his neck. However if he tends to pull he starts coughing. It's just 1 heavy cough. As soon as he stops pulling he's fine. He can run for miles without coughing but as soon as the leash tightens up he lets out his 1 big cough and then another and another until the leash is loose.

Why?

[Fancy_Pants]

I will be interested in hearing what others have to say regarding this. Fancy does the same thing! I have never once put a collar on her, only harnesses. When she pulls on the harness she will cough sometimes too.

[AllDogBoots]

Originally Posted by Fancy_Pants

I will be interested in hearing what others have to say regarding this. Fancy does the same thing! I have never once put a collar on her, only harnesses. When she pulls on the harness she will cough sometimes too.

In an odd way, I'm glad to hear this. I really have no idea why he's doing it but since i'm such a neurotic doggy mom it worries me a little.

[ArmaniMan]

Are you sure the harness fits nowhere near his neck?

When mine used to wear puppia harnesses they did this too, I realized that the puppia harness actually does go near their throat even though it is a harness and while the weight is more evenly distributed it was actually still putting pressure on their throat area. Since I switched to a step in they are fine.

If its not near his neck, he may just be pulling too hard and putting pressure on his chest.

[AllDogBoots]

Originally Posted by ArmaniMan

Are you sure the harness fits nowhere near his neck?

When mine used to wear puppia harnesses they did this too, I realized that the puppia harness actually does go near their throat even though it is a harness and while the weight is more evenly distributed it was actually still putting pressure on their throat area. Since I switched to a step in they are fine.

If its not near his neck, he may just be pulling too hard and putting pressure on his chest.

Here is a picture of where it sits. It's a little dark but I think you can see the red part. max buddy belt.jpg

The Buddy Belt IS a step in harness. It's right on his chest and nowhere near his throat.

[Maximo]

Karen, as you know, my boys wear BBs too and I agree with Elissa that the coughing is partially from straining and putting pressure on the chest. The chest cannot fully expand when taking in air. In addition, I believe the coughing is caused by straining against the leash in general. My boys still have their moments when they see something they want to get to and they will pull so hard and sometimes cough.

My only concern relative to this coughing is can it irritate/stress and cause damage to my boys' throats -- even when there is no external pressure on the throat?

[stovesj]

Gracie coughs occasionally too when she is wearing her harness but not nearly as much as she would if we used a collar. Hope to see some more input on this subject.

[AllDogBoots]

Thanks everyone. He seems very healthy and I certainly don't want to cause any damage. It looks like a call to a trainer is the right thing to do to prevent or at least control the pulling.

[bobbill]

Bobbi and Billi both wear harnesses when out walking but only Billi coughs and it's when she's pulling.

I think it's the straining, she's very excitable.

[ArmaniMan]

Originally Posted by AllDogBoots

Thanks everyone. He seems very healthy and I certainly don't want to cause any damage. It looks like a call to a trainer is the right thing to do to prevent or at least control the pulling.

Yeah- probably the best thing is to prevent the pulling.

This is how we stopped pulling here- every time Armani pulled I stopped completely, just stand totally still and let him pull to his hearts content, eventually he would get frustrated that he wasn't going anyway and he would stop pulling, the second he stopped pulling we move again and repeat the whole process if he pulls. It is frustrating at first because you may go for an hour walk and make it across the street. But pretty quickly they learn that if they want to go anywhere they can't pull.

I had originally tried the turning and walking in the other direction thing but I just ended up dizzy and I didn't feel like we were accomplishing anything.

[AllDogBoots]

Originally Posted by ArmaniMan

Yeah- probably the best thing is to prevent the pulling.

This is how we stopped pulling here- every time Armani pulled I stopped completely, just stand totally still and let him pull to his hearts content, eventually he would get frustrated that he wasn't going anyway and he would stop pulling, the second he stopped pulling we move again and repeat the whole process if he pulls. It is frustrating at first because you may go for an hour walk and make it across the street. But pretty quickly they learn that if they want to go anywhere they can't pull.

I had originally tried the turning and walking in the other direction thing but I just ended up dizzy and I didn't feel like we were accomplishing anything.

Max walks perfectly on his own. But if I walk him and Cooper together they are both wild. I thought Max would be ready to walk nicely with Cooper, but Cooper doesn't ever walk nicely. I'll have to get them under better control separately before putting them together.

I feel like I've done everything to prevent Coop Dog from pulling. Figure 8s, changing directions, standing like a tree, etc. I'll keep trying.

[Vinniedoggy]

So bizarre -- I just posted about this, but as it relates to a collapsed trachea. Your Max may have a collapsed trachea to some degree. I just learned (like in the last 24 hours) that using a gentle leader harness is a HUGE help to prevent the choking. Alex will even choke/goose honk with a regular harness, including the really nice ones that have chest padding. Because they still go around his neck to some degree, he ends up choking with even the slightest pressure on his neck.

I just bought this today (Easy Walk Harness Product Description - Premier Pet). I got the Premier Eco Easy Walk Harness and leash set. Works awesome!! We just got back from a long walk and not once did he honk/choke. Now, most people use it with the leash hook in the front, but I just turned it around so that the leash loop is on his back. Still works great and puts absolutely NO pressure on his neck (all the pressure is on his rib cage).

[AllDogBoots]

Originally Posted by bobbill

Bobbi and Billi both wear harnesses when out walking but only Billi coughs and it's when she's pulling.

I think it's the straining, she's very excitable.

I love your dogs' names.

[AllDogBoots]

Originally Posted by Vinniedoggy

So bizarre -- I just posted about this, but as it relates to a collapsed trachea. Your Max may have a collapsed trachea to some degree. I just learned (like in the last 24 hours) that using a gentle leader harness is a HUGE help to prevent the choking. Alex will even choke/goose honk with a regular harness, including the really nice ones that have chest padding. Because they still go around his neck to some degree, he ends up choking with even the slightest pressure on his neck.

I just bought this today (Easy Walk Harness Product Description - Premier Pet). I got the Premier Eco Easy Walk Harness and leash set. Works awesome!! We just got back from a long walk and not once did he honk/choke. Now, most people use it with the leash hook in the front, but I just turned it around so that the leash loop is on his back. Still works great and puts absolutely NO pressure on his neck (all the pressure is on his rib cage).

I have the Easy Walk Harness and find that it sits higher on his chest than the Buddy Belt. Max doesn't make any honking noises whatsoever.

[bobbill]

Thanks AllDogBoots, people often think my dogs are boys because they have boys names. I usually tell them it's Bobbi with an i, it's more girlie. Haha.