Episode #256 Puppy Training Equipment - Everything You Need to Know

Choosing the right equipment for your puppy can make all the difference between smooth, confidence-building training and a daily struggle with slips, stalls, or stress. In this episode, we break down how to select the best harnesses, collars, and leashes for your puppy’s size, breed, and temperament—because what works for a bold Labrador pup may be very different from what a tiny, sensitive toy breed needs.

You’ll learn how to introduce new equipment gently so your puppy associates gear with comfort and fun, not fear or frustration. We also spotlight the most common mistakes puppy owners make—like relying on poorly fitted gear or switching tools too late—and how to avoid them. Finally, we walk you through transitioning equipment as your puppy grows, ensuring safety, comfort, and continued training progress at every stage.

Whether you’re bringing home your first pup or refining your setup for a growing canine companion, this episode gives you practical, trainer-backed guidance to set you both up for success.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Episode Focus
• 1:04 Why Equipment Choice Matters
• 2:05 Flat And Breakaway Collars
• 3:18 Harness Types And Proper Fit
• 5:15 Leashes And Long Lines
• 6:44 Match Gear To Temperament And Breed
• 8:03 Gentle Introductions And Conditioning
• 9:18 Common Mistakes To Avoid
• 11:11 When And How To Upgrade Gear
• 12:39 Quick Checklist And Resources
• 14:25 Closing And Ways To Get Help

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Today, we are talking about puppy equipment. So, collars, leashes, harnesses, there are so many options out there. Which one's right for your dog? We'll talk about it today. Welcome to the puppy training podcast. I'm Amy Jensen, founder of Baxter and Fella, the online puppy school. Here, we are all about helping you create the best possible experience raising a puppy. From training tips to practical tricks, all aimed at fostering a happy, well-behaved dog who truly feels like part of the family. So if you are ready to enjoy the journey and strengthen the bond with your dog, let's get started. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the puppy training podcast. Today, as I said, we're talking about equipment. I know there are so many options out there. It's easy to feel overwhelmed. But let's dive into this topic. Let's talk about harnesses, collars, leashes, let's talk about fit, comfort, and suitability. It all matters a lot. And poor choices here can slow your puppy's training. They often create frustration and even lead to behavioral challenges later. And we don't want that. So today's episode, we are talking all about choosing the right equipment for your puppy's size, their temperament, and breed, how to introduce the equipment gently so they don't mind it, right? We want them to like it. And big mistakes people make on accident. We know you don't do it on purpose, and how to transition gear as your puppy grows. All right, here we go. Handlers often underestimate how much equipment affects behavior. For example, a poorly fitted harness can cause shafing or pull on your dog's hair. It can restrict shoulder movement or make a puppy reluctant to walk. A heavy leash can overwhelm a tiny breed dog. A slip collar can frighten somebody who's shy. Even something as small as a too tight collar can turn what should be a positive walk into a very stressful experience. Now, the goal, of course, it's easy. Equipment should never be a distraction or a discomfort to our dogs. It should support the behavior we are wanting and help our dogs feel safe. So let's start with collars because most puppies leave the shelter or a breeder wearing one, and we do want them very early on in their lives to understand what a collar is and be okay having one on. So we start all of our puppies on standard flat collars. These are great for um ID tags. So identification, that's important. Light handling, and then puppies, just getting them comfortable with pressure around the neck, just wearing something. You'll notice when you first put on a collar, they might sit and scratch and scratch and scratch at it. We just want them to get used to the fact that something is on their neck. Now, flat collars are not great for dogs who pull hard or any type of breed that has a very sensitive neck. Um, our smaller breeds mostly fit into that category, and there are others. So we want to be able to slide two fingers between the collar and our puppy's neck when we are sizing it. And it's important to check this weekly because your puppy's growing rapidly. And if you forget to check it, it can get really tight. So make sure that each week you're checking your puppy's collar that you can be able to slide, that you're able to slide those two fingers underneath it. If not, you need to adjust it and make it a little bigger. Now, breakaway collars, it's something that's a collar that's easy to come apart, if you will. They're excellent for safety, especially if your puppy plays with other dogs and tends to get their collar tugged. Uh, just a side note on this is I don't always have my dogs wearing their collars. So they have them on when we're out and about. Um, but you know, if they're running around and playing, I often just take them off because of this. We don't want our collars to get stuck together or cause any other kind of injury. So just be aware that if your dog is running around with a collar on, you want to make sure they're in a safe area and you're watching them so that they don't get stuck on something. So things to avoid with collars would be choke chains, prong collars, or any aversive equipment, especially for young puppies. These uh pieces of equipment can create fear, tension, and physical harm, and we don't want that for our dogs. All right, let's talk harnesses next. Now, with a very, very young puppy, I'm starting out. I mean, leash walk training, honestly, is without a leash even attached. We're in my house in a quiet room, and I'm teaching my puppy to follow me as I make right turns, left turns, about turns, that kind of thing. So as I start to introduce uh more formal leash walking as we move outside into leash walking, this is when I'm starting to fit my puppy to a harness. So at that point, they're a little older, they're a little bigger, and that's when I'm starting to size my dog's first harness. So uh there's a couple different kinds. I like to look for a front clip harness. This helps reduce pulling. It offers gentle directional guidance for our dogs, and they are ideal for strong or enthusiastic puppies. It'll help you maintain better control if you have a strong dog. Uh the second would be I like to have a back clip on my harness because sometimes I'm having my dog out on a longer line, say a 15 to 30 foot line, and they're running around with that dragging behind them, maybe at a park or a larger area where they're uh somewhat off leash, but they're not, right? It seems like they are because they have this long line on them. So I like that back clip option so that I can attach, I have multiple points to attach a leash. Uh the back clip is uh great for tiny breeds. It's good for a dog who just is a confident walker and already has the walking skills that you might not need to put it in the front. You can just clip it on the back. But for brand new puppies, oftentimes we're using that front clip and then we can transition to the back clip. But the back clip also provides comfortable forward movement. Now, the next thing I'm looking for is a Y front or what we call a V-neck harness. These allow full shoulder movement, so it's not going to impact my dog's forward movement. They do make harnesses that slip over your dog's head and they're higher up, so they're above their shoulders, and that's also fine. Um, but in general, if you're concerned, you can look for that Y. That'll help you know that it's not restricting their shoulder movement. Now, a harness should not rub under your dog's arms. We don't want it to sag or twist. And if you find a good one, there um it would be like a very adjustable one. So look for multiple points of adjustment. And then we want it to allow, like I mentioned, natural shoulder extension, and we want it to stay snug but not tight. Okay. Now, a common sign of a poor fit harness would be our puppies freezing or they're trying to like bunny hop while they're walking. They just look awkward, they're not wanting to walk normally. That almost always points to discomfort, and it's something about that harness that's causing it. Okay, next let's talk leashes. So I start off with just a standard six-foot leash. Now, I like the lupine pet brand, they're very lightweight. You can get um just like a quarter inch thick leash with a small, tiny clip on it. Uh, with young puppies, I don't want something that's heavy or bulky. I just want it super lightweight. Um, long lines are another thing that I start with when it comes to leashes. So this is really good for recall training or exploring a larger area safely. Do make sure your puppy's fully vaccinated before taking them to public parks. But in general, having a long line is really useful for training, especially as you head into the adolescent months. And it allows uh for more independence, right? But you still have a way to get control of your dog as needed. So we want to make sure that long lines are dragged gently and they're never jerked, and we want to make sure we are clipping them to that back clip of a harness. I'm avoiding things like retractable leashes, especially when it comes to puppies. It's hard to teach a puppy not to pull if that tension is constantly on them. So retractable leashes, the way they're designed is that it keeps that tension. And I can't teach my puppy to let go of that tension if it doesn't ever let go. So I don't really uh love retractable leashes. There's other reasons why I don't use them. Uh, they're inconsistent and sometimes they can be dangerous depending on uh the situation that you're in. So I just like a regular leash. All right, now matching equipment to your puppy's temperament and breed. Let's talk about that a little bit. Here's where we get kind of strategic. For shy or sensitive puppies, we want to start with the lightest, softest equipment, okay? And we can use that back clip or soft flat collars. We want to introduce these very slowly, use food rewards, encouragement. If you notice your puppy has an aversion to it, you might just want to leave it out in the middle of the floor. Anytime they look at it, toss a little food reward in their direction just for interacting with it. So we can go slowly. We don't have to rush right into putting it on them. Now, for confident or energetic puppies, we want to make sure that they're wearing that front clip harness, that they have a sturdy but lightweight leash, and consider that long line for safe energy release if they need to get out and run. If you have a small or toy breed, we want to again prioritize that really light equipment, avoid anything bulky around their neck. Make sure that if you are attaching a leash to them, that it's a harness, not a collar. Um, generally they'll like that better. Now, for large breed puppies, we can choose equipment with room to adjust. Make sure that you have multiple points of adjusting, like we talked about. And front clip harnesses again are going to help you manage any early pulling habits that come from strong puppies. And we want to also introduce those long lines early just so that they get used to the fact that it's dragging around behind them. We can help you with all of this if you have any questions on equipment and how to fit it to your dog. So, how do we introduce equipment gently? This part is really important. I would start indoors in a, you know, your basic training room, wherever that is in your home that's quiet, few distractions. Just let your puppy sniff the harness or collar and reward them. And you might repeat that five, 10, 15 times, right? We like to pair the equipment with the food rewards. So we might clip, unclip, hold it near them, and then food reward after each of those steps. We want to keep uh these sessions short. So I might put the harness on for just a minute. See if you can get your puppy to play. Play often helps them forget what's happening and not focus on the harness itself, but they're now focused on the fun they're having and they start to feel good while wearing the harness. We're pairing that association of the harness and fun together. We want to avoid forcing or chasing. So if you chase the puppy with the harness, they're going to associate it with fear. And we don't want to start any of those behaviors. Finally, we want to normalize wearing equipment. So let your puppy wear the equipment inside to build comfort before we go outside on some kind of adventure. So they just get used to wearing it. They recognize the colour is a collar and this is what we wear, and it's no big deal. And they'll stop scratching at it, they'll stop trying to get it off the more they wear it. So again, that play, you guys, is super powerful. Pull out a little tug toy, get out a toy that they can chase down the hall, and you're getting them to play and interact and have some fun without, you know, them focusing on, oh, I'm wearing this thing. All right, now here are a few common mistakes I see people make, and you don't really realize you're making it. So just be aware of these. First would be using equipment that's too big or too small. We want to make sure that it's sized appropriately for our particular dog and remember that they grow. So that next mistake is forgetting to adjust it. And you'll notice the collar gets tighter and tighter and tighter, and we don't want our dogs to be uncomfortable or unsafe. So make sure that each week you're checking that collar, making sure you can fit those two fingers under the collar as your puppy grows. Another mistake would be choosing style over function. Oh, but I think this one's so cute. But it doesn't necessarily fit what we're trying to accomplish with training. And then putting a leash on only outdoors. We want to make sure that we introduce the equipment indoors first because it's just easier. We're setting our dogs up for success by introducing this equipment in a non-distracting environment or a less distracting environment, I should say. And then we're setting them up for success to then go outdoors with it. I often see people going towards those retractable leashes. I know that they seem like a good idea, but again, it's hard to teach your puppy not to pull if there's always tension on that leash. And they can get really far out in front of you, and that can be dangerous too. So be careful with those. And then lastly, switching equipment too frequently, which leads to confusion. So pick something that works, it's quality, it'll be uh good for the training, and then your puppy gets used to wearing that, and we can stick with that. So remember that consistency builds confidence. Now, puppies grow fast, faster than we expect. That means equipment must evolve and change. Now, how do we know when to upgrade or adjust? Again, those two fingers underneath the collar. If you notice the harness is leaving rub marks or it's getting uncomfortable, it's pulling on their fur, it's probably too tight. Your puppy's pulling improves and a back clip becomes appropriate. Um, you start new training goals like a recall or off-leash skills, we want to make sure that we're now changing that point of contact. So we're putting the clip on or the leash on the back. And then if your puppy outgrows tiny puppy equipment and needs sturdier gear. So if you have a little puppy and you're using like a really light, thin leash as they grow and get bigger, if you're getting, you know, into the 50 plus pounds, you can get um upgrade to a bigger, more sturdy leash. But we want to make sure that we do that appropriately. Don't start with the big sturdy leash on your really young puppy. So um, a pro tip would be to just take a monthly equipment check day, right? Do a little review of okay, our leashes, our harnesses, and our collars, are they fitting? Are they appropriate for our level of training? Do I need to make any changes? Okay, so before we wrap up, here's just a quick checklist. We want to make sure that we have a properly fitted flat collar, that we have a breed appropriate harness. Look for that Y again, that we have a lightweight six-foot leash. We have an optional long line for training. I like this to be 15 to 30 feet long. Again, super lightweight, comfortable material, so there's no sharp edges or heavy clips on any of the equipment, that we're doing adjustments frequently and we're introducing the equipment slowly and positively. If you've got these pieces covered, you are well on your way to better walks and faster training progress. If you guys have any questions, please reach out to us. My team and I would love to coach you on what is best and appropriate for your particular puppy because they're all different and we love that. You can also visit our website. We have a products tab in our menu bar that shows you our favorite products. You're welcome to see that there. And we are happy to help you. So reach out if you have questions. Thanks you guys for listening. Happy training. Have a great week. Thanks for tuning in to the Puppy Training Podcast. I hope today's tips help you feel more confident and excited about raising your dog. Remember, with a little patience and consistency, you can create a loving bond and a well-behaved pup who's a joy to have in your family. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with fellow puppy parents. For more resources, visit Baxter and Bella online. Until next time, happy training.