Dog Gear

and treats. Here are some of the products that made their lists of things that they must have for their dogs. "

Few of WDJ’s contributors are shoppers; most of us have too many dogs to support for us to be in the habit of foraging through irresistibly cute items in boutique pet supply stores! But when pressed to think about it, all of us have one or two items in our dog-care arsenal that we couldn’t possibly live without – products that are so useful or so good at fulfilling every aspect of their design, that we use them with our dogs practically every day. Here are some of the products that made their “must-have” lists.

Once upon a time, a harness was the last thing you wanted to use for a dog who pulled, because they were designed to make pulling comfortable. By distributing pressure evenly across the chest they removed pressure from the throat, where damage could be done to a dog's trachea – sometimes even to the point of tracheal collapse. Harnesses are better for the dog from a health perspective, but from a training viewpoint, a standard harness actually encourages pulling. There's a reason sled dogs wear harnesses! Head halters were introduced in the late 1990s as a gentle control tool. While they did, indeed, work well to control a dog's head (and where the head goes, the body follows), some trainers noticed that a significant number of dogs found head halters to be fairly aversive, requiring, in many cases, extensive conditioning to convince the dog to accept them.

I used to live with a Frisbee-addicted dog (a Border Collie named Rupert), and a disc-addicted son, who is now off at college (and still addicted). So how is it that WDJ has never before reviewed flying disc toys for dogs? There is a wide variety of flying toys made for dogs, with different key features for different applications. The overarching concept is to create a disc that flies well enough to inspire a dog to chase it, catch it, and return with it uninjured. Most of us owners want a toy that won't be ruined within three catches between a dog's teeth, but you don't want it to be so tough that it can hurt a dog's teeth or mouth if he doesn't catch it perfectly.

Life jackets for dogs are available at most pet supply and sporting good shops, but one size definitely does not fit all. A proper fit is critical to helping ensure the safety of your pet. When you put a life jacket on your dog

Dog poop presents the environmentalist with a real problem. We would hazard a guess that most of us do the worst possible thing: use a plastic bag to pick up poo, and then throw it in a garbage can, bound for a landfill somewhere.

Every year we come across a few dog-related items that make an immediate and/or lasting impact on our dogs or our dog-care regimen, and we feature them here. This year, we also asked our readers, via the Whole Dog Journal Facebook page, for their nominations for “Gear of the Year.” Some of the items here are their selections.

In our March 2011 issue, we introduced you to a very small sampling of some of the neat “assistive equipment” options that are available to help our canine companions who have limited mobility or other physical issues. We received such a great response that we thought we’d share with you a few more finds that can help make life easier for you and your dog, particularly if he or she is aging or has orthopedic or neurologic issues. Remember: the products mentioned here are only the tip of the iceberg. There are numerous companies making innovative assistive products; what we’re hoping to do here is to get you thinking about some of the possibilities!