Harnesses Myths

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“Harnesses teach dogs to pull! Do not use them!” This argument is made because sled dogs wear harnesses while they pull.

“Harnesses teach dogs not to pull. You need to use them if your dog pulls!” The argument is harnesses change the physics of a pull therefore training dogs not to pull.

First, why do dogs pull? Three main things I see with client dogs are the dogs:

Want to go some place. I pull, human follows, I get there.

Want some thing to go away. I bark and lunge at some thing I do not like and it goes away.

Confusion. The dogs have no idea what to do and bounce all over. This may be caused by different things the human did or did not do.

Dogs that pull on walks are frustrating for humans. Frustration leads people to seek devices to stop the behavior: choke chains, prong collars, and shock collars are commonly suggested by people who do not understand the science behind training. These tools all work with various levels discomfort to pain. This can lead to other behavioral issues down the road. Dogs may stop pulling but if they always have an annoying to painful response from us when they see something, there is a good chance the dog will associate the thing they see with what happens. Though they may stop pulling, stress builds and aggressive responses (to drive the thing away) may occur.

A friend of mine who is a trainer and who has adopted many difficult dogs shared this story with me. She lived across the street from a large field where many would walk their dogs. A gentleman in her neighborhood used a prong collar to stop his dog from pulling. The dog was a large German Shepherd Dog. The dog would try to pull towards another dog and he would pop the leash. My friend saw this happen many, many times. She offered to teach the man (for free) different methods because she knew what the fallout could be. He refused. Eventually the dog stopped pulling. This is where people assume the prong (or choke or shock collar) works. He stopped using it and put the dog on a buckle collar. My friend was out and the person told her he taught the dog to stop pulling just fine with the prong collar. At that moment, the dog saw another dog. He leaned forward then flinched back waiting for pain. When did not happen, the dog lunged hard and violently attacked the other dog. The Shepherd had nothing painful to stop him and was associating other dogs with pain. Now there was nothing to stop him from attacking. Here is a wonderful blog from Eileen Anderson on this topic. Why “Red Zone Dogs’ Need Positive Reinforcement.

Prong, shock, and choke collars MAY temporarily stop pulling but do not teach better manners. There is a difference. We can stop behaviors all we want but are we truly teaching better ways? Are we addressing the emotions behind the pulling? No.

Head halters are often recommended as a more humane way to teach a dog not to pull. Head halters can be stressing for some dogs. They can cause irritation to the area near the eyes. If a dog lunges or the human pulls the head halter, neck damage can occur. Many dogs learn to pull while wearing a head halter. Head halters require acclimation to the device or they can become negative for dogs. I have watched too many people put one on a dog and then try to walk. The dog starts to pull back, paw at his face, roll, and try to get it off. Eventually the dog may stop fighting and shut down. Is this really acclimating or has the dog given up? I have watched dogs lunge against head halters. Then the head comes to a sudden stop and the body whips around. This may injure the dog. I have worked with dog that learned to pull against them because the people did not teach good walking. The people hoped the head halter would stop the pulling. Short term the device worked (I should put that it quotes, “worked” because it was an illusion) until the dog figured out how to pull to get at things.

Even regular collars cause neck damage and affect breathing when pulled against. These risks lead to the recommendation of harnesses. However, are harnesses miracle fixes for your pulling dog? The short answer is “No.” BUT I still like harnesses for dogs that pull. Why? Because I know how to teach a dog to stop pulling while wearing one and my job is to teach humans. Then humans need to do the work.

There are so many different kinds of harness on the market, how should you choose?

Choose a harness with a Y shaped front and two points of connection: front and back.

A harness should not ride under the front legs in the “arm pits.” Freedom of movement is important. Many no pull harnesses only have a front clip and ride under the front legs.

Some of the harnesses I recommend are Balance, Freedom, Kurgo, Roughwear, and Rabbitgoo. They all have front and back clips and openings that allow for normal movement.

A front clip harness may help change the dynamics of a pull but will not teach a dog not to pull. I have had many client dogs learn to pull against front clip harnesses after a short time of seemingly good walking.

Back clip harnesses do nothing to stop pulling. However, contrary to popular graphics going around, they do NOT TEACH PULLING. The picture going with the graphic is of huskies. I used to skijor with one of my dogs. He wore a sledding harness. This dog also used to pull a cart. I have a weight pull harness and would like to try to get into the sport. I have friends who are trainers who do sports like cani-cross and urban mushing.

Since painful training methods are to be avoided and harnesses are no magic leash walking fix, what can you do? You need to learn how to teach leash manners in humane ways that teach a dog staying close to the human will lead to great things.

I begin with meeting the dog’s needs without walking. What I teach a client to do to meet the dog’s needs depends on the environment. We do not even walk at this point. I teach the dog staying with me will bring good things. You can do this with a harness – even with large or leash reactive dogs.

I address the environment and teach keeping dogs below threshold. When the dog does not feel the need to pull, I can begin teaching better manners. Then as the dog is ready, we can begin working around gradually increasing distractions.

Once you know how to increase the value in staying with you and how to set up for training success, you can teach a dog to walk nicely without painful tools. Look, if I can teach a 140 lb Cane Corso who was very leash reactive how to walk in a neighborhood and use a harness, anyone can learn to teach this.

Why do more people advise against harnesses? Simple, they see out of control dogs on them and assume the harnesses are teaching the behaviors. No. What is teaching the behaviors is the human’s lack of work and the dog having various natural reinforcers in the environment. How many times do we watch people allowing dogs to pull them over to a good sniff or to greet someone? What does the dog learn? I pull and I get to see what I want. Pulling is rewarded by getting to the thing the dog wants. If a dog is fearful and leash reactive, lunging and barking often gets scary things to go away. Therefore the behavior is reinforced when the scary goes away. It is not the harness that is bad. The harness is only

Learn how to teach good walking manners. Teach desired manners from the beginning and do not let pulling become a habit. Teach that NOT pulling is what will get a dog able to go check something out. Teach waiting for a cue before the dog gets to go see something.