I run a puppy kindergarten out of a church basement in Denver, and every orientation starts the same way: an owner walks in with a tote bag full of puppy training gear and no idea which piece does anything. Four years and a few hundred puppies later, I can usually guess which items will still be in the bag at week six and which will be in a drawer by week two. This comparison is the short version of that guess, written for the owner who wants to buy three things correctly instead of twelve things badly.
Related: Crate Training Schedules For 8 Week Old Puppies
For most puppies, the first purchase should be a no-pull harness, and the PetSafe Easy Walk Harness is the one I recommend before anything else, because it redirects forward motion without putting pressure on a neck that is still developing. The rest of the list depends on what stage your puppy is in, which is why the table below includes an XS harness for the smallest puppies, a collar for identification, and a treat that pulls double duty.
PUPTECK Small Dog Harness and Leash Set No Pull for XS XXS Sized Dogs Puppy
Sized for the tiniest puppies, comes with a matching leash, and costs little enough that replacing it when your puppy outgrows it is not painful
It is a short-term tool by design. XS and XXS sizing means most puppies graduate out of it within a month or two, and the hardware is built for very small dogs only
Greenies Petite Natural Dental Dog Treats, Original Flavor, 60 Count
The petite size is small enough to break in half for a reward, and it also does dental work, which is one less thing to remember
It is a treat, not a training plan. Owners who use full-size dental chews as training rewards blow through a day's calories in one session
PetSafe Easy Walk Harness, No Pull Dog Harness, Medium, Raspberry
The best no-pull option for puppies whose necks are still developing, because the leash connection sits at the chest instead of the throat
Sizing is unforgiving. A medium is not a puppy harness, and owners who guess instead of measuring end up returning it
Blueberry Pet Essentials Florence Orange Adjustable Nylon Dog Collar for Small Dogs
A simple adjustable nylon collar that holds an ID tag, cleans up easily, and does not pretend to be a training tool
It is identification, not equipment. A collar is not how you stop pulling, and using it that way is how puppies learn to hate the leash
Prices and availability were captured from Amazon Creators API and may change.
What I actually judge puppy gear on
I have four questions, and a product has to survive all of them before I will mention it to a class.
First, does it rely on pain or fear? If the answer is yes, it is out. There is no version of a correction collar marketed to puppies that I will put on a client's dog, and no version of "vibration" that is somehow kinder because you cannot hear it.
Second, can a first-time owner use it correctly without a class? This is where most gear fails. A tool that only works in the hands of someone who already understands leash mechanics is a tool that will be used wrong at home, on a Tuesday, in the rain, when the owner is late for work.
Third, does it survive week six? Week six is when a puppy stops being a potato and starts being a teenager with opinions. Gear that worked at nine weeks often falls apart at sixteen weeks, and I care more about that second date than the first.
Fourth, would I use it in my own class? That is the whole test. If I would not hand it to a room of thirty puppies and their owners, it does not belong in this list.
The two no-pull harnesses, and when to use which
Leash pulling is the number one complaint I hear, and it is almost never a training failure. It is a physics problem. A puppy leaning into a collar gets opposition reflex: the pressure on the throat makes the dog pull harder. A harness moves that pressure off the throat and onto the chest, which gives you something to work with.
The PetSafe Easy Walk Harness is my default recommendation for puppies past the newborn stage. The leash connection sits at the chest, so when a puppy surges toward a squirrel, the front attachment turns the dog gently back toward the handler instead of letting the dog drag you down the block. For a puppy whose neck is still developing, that difference matters. I do not want any pressure on a growing throat, and I do not want an owner learning to yank.
The catch is sizing. The Easy Walk comes in a medium, and medium is not a small-puppy size. Measure your dog's chest girth before you order, and if you are between sizes, size up rather than down. A harness that is too tight rubs the armpits raw, which is one of the fastest ways to make a puppy dislike walks.
That is where the PUPTECK Small Dog Harness and Leash Set No Pull for XS XXS Sized Dogs Puppy earns its place. For a tiny breed puppy, or any puppy in the first weeks home before the chest has filled out, this set gives you a harness and a leash that actually fit a very small dog. The price makes it easy to treat as a starter kit rather than a lifetime purchase. Use it while your puppy is small, then move up to the Easy Walk once the chest measurement is real.
Here is the honest trade-off: the PUPTECK set is not the harness your dog will wear at one year old. It is the harness you use to get through the first month without a collar slipping over a tiny head on a busy sidewalk. Buying both, one for now and one for later, is still cheaper than a vet visit.
The collar question
A collar is for identification. That is the whole job. The Blueberry Pet Essentials Florence Orange Adjustable Nylon Dog Collar for Small Dogs does that job well: adjustable nylon, a solid color that is easy to spot in the grass, and a price low enough that replacing it as your puppy grows is a non-event.
What it is not is a training tool. I have watched owners snap a leash onto a flat collar and correct a puppy for pulling, and I have watched those puppies start avoiding the front door. If your puppy pulls, the collar is not the problem and tightening it is not the solution. Put the collar on for tags, clip the leash to the harness, and leave the collar out of the walking conversation entirely.
One practical note: check the fit weekly. Puppies grow in bursts, and a collar that fit on Sunday can be snug by Friday. Two fingers should slide under it comfortably, no more, no less.
Treats: where the Greenies Petite earns its keep
Training runs on payment. The problem is not that people use treats, it is that they use treats the size of golf balls and then wonder why their puppy is full, distracted, and no longer interested by session three.
Greenies Petite Natural Dental Dog Treats, Original Flavor, 60 Count solve a sizing problem. The petite format is small enough to snap in half for a reward, which means you can pay a puppy for a sit without ending the session early. The dental side is a bonus: it is one of the few items on this list that does two jobs, reward and teeth, and teeth are the thing owners forget until the vet brings it up.
The caveat is that a dental treat is not a high-value training reward. For a puppy learning loose-leash walking past a busy park, you want something soft and stinky that disappears in a second. For the ten thousand repetitions of "sit" and "name game" you will do in the kitchen, a petite dental treat is perfect, and it keeps the calorie budget sane. Do not confuse the two jobs.
What I would skip
Anything that claims to fix pulling with a correction. Anything sized "one size fits all," because it fits nothing. Any harness with straps that cross directly through the armpit, which is the fastest route to a dog who sits down mid-walk and refuses to move.
And pee pads, if your goal is outdoor potty training. They teach a puppy that indoors is a bathroom. That is a habit you then have to un-teach, and un-teaching is slower than teaching.
Quick answers
What should I buy first? A harness that fits, plus a collar for tags. The PetSafe Easy Walk for puppies with a real chest measurement, the PUPTECK set for the tiny ones.
Do I need a collar and a harness? Yes, and they do different jobs. Collar for identification, harness for walking.
Are dental treats enough for training? No. They are a low-value reward for easy repetitions. Keep something soft and smelly on hand for distractions.
How often should I check fit? Weekly for the first six months. Puppies outgrow gear faster than owners expect.
Will a harness stop pulling on its own? No. A harness removes the pressure that makes pulling worse. The training is still yours to do, with timing and repetition, and a harness just makes those repetitions possible.
The bottom line
If I had to send a new owner home with three items, it would be the PetSafe Easy Walk Harness for walks, the Blueberry Pet collar for tags, and the Greenies Petite treats for kitchen repetitions, with the PUPTECK set as the starter option for puppies too small for a medium harness. That is a complete kit for under the cost of one private training session, and every piece of it will still be useful at week six.
The gear is maybe ten percent of the outcome. The other ninety percent is showing up, marking the right behavior, and paying the puppy on time. Buy less than you think you need, practice more than you planned to, and let the tools do the small job they were built for.
Visit on Amazon → to check the current price and sizing on the harness I recommend first.