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The Easy Walk harness and Gentle Leader Headcollar can help train against unwanted behavior. If your dog has issues with pulling on the leash, excessive barking, lunging, jumping or even anxiety and aggression, you may find these helpful. In writing this head-to-head comparison we decided to point out what each does because these are not identical products. This review should help you to choose the best fit for your dog. You may even decide that your dog could benefit from both, which we will discuss as well.
| PetSafe Easy Walk Harness | PetSafe Gentle Leader |
 |  |
| View Easy Walk on Amazon | View Gentle Leader on Amazon |
What Is Each Item Useful For?
To help you see which one you should pick, take a look at the table below.
| Easy Walk Harness | Gentle Leader Head Collar | |
|---|---|---|
| Discourages pulling on the leash |  | |
| Helps train against excessive barking, lunging, jumping and even anxiety and aggression in some cases | | |
| Perfect for training dogs to heel | | |
| Easier to fit because it goes on the body, not the head | | |
| Recommended for brachycephalic breeds or short-nosed dogs (pugs, boxers, etc.) | | |
| Can be used on most breeds older than 6 weeks | | |
| Does not damage the trachea | | |
| Prevents gagging, choking and coughing | | |
| Requires little acclimation time or special technique | | |
| Great for every day walks | | |
| Popular among trainers and vets because you can walk your dog more comfortably on a leash | |
Some pet parents struggle with physically putting the Gentle Leader on their dog. Watch this one minute video to see how this head collar should be properly worn.
Sizing Options & Pricing
The table below shows the different sizing options for each harness. You’ll notice the Gentle Leader head collar is sized by weight, whereas chest and girth measurements inform the appropriate size for the Easy Walk dog harness. The Gentle Leader harness applies gentle pressure on the nose when the dog pulls. The collar sits high on your dog’s neck without putting any pressure on the throat. The Easy Walk harness has four adjustment points, so your dog is comfortable and has a reliable fit. There is a martingale loop in the chest piece to prevent twisting and the quick snap buckles on the shoulder and belly straps make it easy to put on and take off.
The Easy Walk harness costs $19.95 and the Gentle Leader for dogs is $14.95.
| Gentle Leader Head Collar | Easy Walk Harness |
|---|---|
| Petite weight under 5 lbs | Petite chest width 6"-7" girth measurement 12"-16" |
| Small weight up to 25 lbs | Petite/Small chest width 8"-9" girth measurement 13"-18" |
| Medium weight 25-60 lbs | Small chest width 8.5"-11" girth measurement 15"-21" |
| Large weight 60-130 lbs | Small/Medium chest width 11"-13" girth measurement 19"-26" |
| Extra Large weight over 130 lbs | Medium chest width 12"-15" girth measurement 21"-32" |
| Medium/Large chest width 14"-18" girth measurement 24.5"-34" | |
| Large chest width 16"-21" girth measurement 27"-40" | |
| Extra Large chest width 17.5"-23.5" girth measurement 32"-50" |
What If Your Dog Needs Both?
Both of these tools are fairly inexpensive. So, if your dog has issues with pulling on the leash and lunging, you may want to purchase both. You can then use the training tool that makes sense in the situation. For example, you may use the Easy Walk at the park but the Gentle Leader for dogs at the vet’s office.
These Aren’t a Guaranteed Fix
View Easy Walk on Amazon | View Gentle Leader on Amazon
We’d like to remind you that although these harnesses can be immensely helpful, they are still just training tools. If your dog’s issue is that he pulls on the leash, it’s important that you are consistent with your training and don’t forget to reward him when he isn’t pulling. These harnesses will only work if used correctly. To maximize your dog’s training success be sure to select the proper harness for his training needs, choose the correct fit and use it consistently. Read our article for other dog training collar options.
Have you used these products? Share your Easy Walk harness review and/or Gentle Leader reviews below.
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12 Comments on "Gentle Leader vs Easy Walk Harness: Which Should You Pick?"
I bought easy walk harnesses for all 3 of my dogs & am sorry I did. I have GSPs which have very deep chests but narrow shoulders. The easy walk is supposed to be adjustable but I could never adjust them properly for my 2 bigger dogs (both got sores); I can sort of use it for the younger one but it doesn’t stay adjusted. I’m disappointed.
Absolutely the same same problem! Glad to here I’m not the only one! My dog is very slim except for her BARREL chest, and it always rubbed on her too. Try the Gentle Leader, it worked better for me.
I bought the Easy Walk Harness for my 63-pound Border Collie/Black Lab Cross because walks had become so uncomfortable for me from her pulling that I finally stopped walking her. I was led to believe that the harness would help control the pulling and jerking, but it not only didn’t help, she was even less controllable than when we used a ‘choke-chain’ training collar. I felt that she could have easily pulled me over if I had been less steady on my feet. I’m sure it has been fitted to her correctly according to the instructions, and I believe the purchase was a waste of time and money. I’d still like to have walks with my wonderful (in every other way) pet. So I’m on this site to consider buying a gentle leader head collar. A good idea? or wasting more money and time?
The Gentle Leader worked for my dog, and I used to use an Easy-Walk Harness, but stopped because it didn’t work and was rubbing.
Hi CJ, we had a similar issue with using it on our dog. I think we’ve adjusted it properly but since she pulls so much it moves quite a bit on her. We actually just started taking her to a trainer this past weekend and I think it was more “user error”. Basically, we were walking our dog incorrectly (didn’t know you could do that!). A dog should walk beside you and follow your lead. Your dog shouldn’t be walking ahead and leading you because that gives her the impression that she is the alpha. Because our dog was walking ahead of us, she was pulling and moving every direction and the harness moved with it. I think once we get her walking correctly the harness will work better for us.
For the time being, the trainer gave us a pinch collar to help teach her to walk next to us. She’s caught on rather quickly to it. If you decide to try it, be careful using it because you don’t want to have constant tension on the leash. Pinch collars are used incorrectly and result in ruptured tracheas and result in euthanasia. It’s important to use short, quick, soft tugs of the collar to help direct your dog. Be sure to read all instructions before purchasing/using this type of collar. Some people think pinch collars can be cruel, but it’s comparable to flicking your trachea with your finger. (That’s what we were told by the trainer.) Let me know if I can help you with anything else. It seems like we’re experiencing the same thing with our dogs. 🙂
My husband and I purchased the Easy Walk Harness for our dog in late February after I wrote this article. The harness tends to move on her some. We are unsure if we have it fit properly. We’ve read the instructions and watched videos but the harness seems to move on her during our walks. She still seems to pull too, but it’s manageable. Anyone have any tips?
It seems like you may have a size too big but perhaps she will grow into it? Or try adjusting it smaller. Our dog Bella uses the Easy Walk too and it is the ONLY thing that allows me to keep ahold of her when we walk by other dogs she wants to meet!
Yeah I was wondering if the sizing was off. We purchased the medium/large for her. She weighs 50 pounds but I haven’t measured her with a tape measurer. Maybe I will do that when my husband gets home. Last night she was a little more rambunctious on our walk and she was a little more difficult to manage. Hopefully we figure out a solution! Thank you!
Well what size did you get, and what size is your dog?
I got my dog a medium/large. She’s about 55 pounds. I don’t remember what her measurements were but they were within the suggested range.
I’ve been worried about my dog’s neck when I tug on her collar when she’s sniffing around or picking up something on the ground that she’s not supposed to eat while out on a walk. So I’m going to give one of these a try and hope it helps!
If your dog sniffs a lot, DON’T get the easy walk harness, or any harness for that matter! Here, I’ll explain it. My dog is very barrel-chested, so that even though we got a medium easy-walk harness, the chest strap was out ALL the way. That was also because my dog sniffs a LOT (she’ll walk around the block without taking her nose off the ground) and when she sniffs her chest would push forward more so that her nose could reach the ground. If I didn’t want the whole harness pulled off whenever her chest and nose went down to the ground, then I had to loosen the chest strap to give her room for the sniffing; however, whenever my dog wasn’t sniffing the now loose chest strap would begin to rub. (Actually, she got a lot of places all over that were raw, from the harness.) My dog is also a very strong puller and though this decreased the force, she still would kind of run pulled sideways, and could also pull her way out of the harness. SO, if your dog is a hard puller or has a barrel chest or likes to sniff or all three, don’t get this! (My dog has a gentle leader now, and it works fine.)