r/RunningWithDogs • u/Mammoth-Pangolin-954 • 2d ago

Normal leash and collar

Anyone else here just run with a normal leash and collar? Is there any point in the waist leash and harness if you’re not doing canicross style running? I jog 8 miles with my dog every morning and she mainly keeps pace with me in a heel position. She doesn’t pull and I feel like in an emergency I can just drop the leash.

1 Upvotes

54% Upvoted

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20

u/0nTheRooftops 2d ago

If they're not pulling I don't see anything wrong with it. Plenty of people do. But also running without a leash in your hand is so much nicer and collars don't work very well with waist leashes.

7

u/Some_Girl_2073 2d ago

I use the harness because of where it positions the leash with their legs

If they happen to get the leash under them, the harness allows them to untangle themselves within a couple of strides without having to stop or me getting involved. That’s it, the only reason I use a harness. For walks, runs, skiing, biking, etc. Also if her pray drive gets engaged, the impact goes onto her torso vs her neck (she’s good 90% of the time, until the rabbit twitches the wrong way and the 10% husky engages)

I’ve never been a fan of hard tying the dog to me for the same reason, but also I come from the horse world where you don’t tie or wrap anything connected to the horse to your body

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u/aloneisusuallybetter 2d ago

I do. I mean, I make my own leashes but it's pretty normal. Nothing fancy over here. 

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u/gonnacutyou 1d ago

I have a waist leash but we use a regular collar. She doesn’t pull she stays beside me.

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u/ylimenut 2d ago

My dog and I don’t really canicross but he does like to be in front and will pull. I like the canicross harness and waist leash because I feel like it’s the optimal setup for his comfort and my comfort 

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u/Bright-Willow 2d ago

I also find that the harness positions the leash better. Otherwise im constantly fishing the leash out from under her. Im 5'5" maybe its height dependent.

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u/Excellent_Tea_164 2d ago edited 2d ago

I don't run with my dog anymore because she no longer enjoys it, but when I did I jused used collar - but i also used a waist lead as this is our everyday lead because i liked to be hands free whilst training. She doesn't pull, just trots along beside me so I didn't see the need to use anything else.

Edit to add - Parkrun doesn't allow waist leads, so plenty of people must do that with just a handheld lead.

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u/vexing000 22h ago

Definitely no collar leash. I’ve spent a lot of energy to teach her not to pull. I’m with you though, I don’t mind jogging with a leash in my hand so I never bothered to get a waist strap.