One of my biggest pet peeves is when people comment that harnesses cause pulling. Nothing could be further from the truth. A harness is a tool, it is a tool that has been used for thousands of years with domesticated animals, including dogs. In fact, you can go to the Anchorage Museum and you can see some dog backpacks and harnesses that were used on dogs over a thousand years ago. Other museums around the world have similar exhibits on the use of domesticated animals. Having your dog wear a harness is nothing new.
Harnesses are a tool that distributes weight over the body of the animal. Different harness designs are used for different purposes. There are harnesses for pulling sleds, for weight pulling, ones not designed for pulling, and harnesses that are designed for everyday use. Of these everyday harnesses, there are also different shapes. The two most common are the Y-shaped harness and the H-shaped harness. It is widely recommended that Y- shaped harnesses are the best to use with your dog due to the fact that they do not inhibit natural shoulder movement. This allows the harness to be comfortable to the dog and not cause pain when wearing. Pulling harnesses commonly with sled dogs (X-back) and those used for weight pulling distribute the pulling pressure differently on the dog so that the dog is not injuring itself while pulling. Both of these types of harnesses allow for full shoulder movement as well. We also now have a harness called a no pull harness. This harness is uncomfortable for dogs to wear, which is why it works. It has a strap that goes directly across the chest from shoulder to shoulder and a strap that goes behind the shoulder blades. When used correctly, this harness puts pressure on the shoulder blades, not allowing them to move fully. Where every other harness has a leash connection point on the back somewhere, this non-pulling harness has a front connection point. Using the correct harness for the intended purpose is essential when harness training your dog.
Opposition Reflex
What is the opposition reflex? This is the canine’s natural tendency to resist being controlled by any means. Behaviorally, this is what’s going on when your dog pulls on a walk or thrashes when being picked up. There are lots of behaviors behind this reflex, which makes it a complex idea to get your head around. The short end of the story is this reflex is a survival mechanism aimed at getting a dog out of a dangerous situation by enacting the fight-or-flight response. Across the board, no matter what tool is used, all dogs have to work through this complex mechanism and overcome that instinct to walk nicely beside you. This is the reason why walking your dog is very difficult for some individuals or breeds.
Putting your dog in a harness is stressful for some people because of this reflex, but just like with any other tool that you use, there has to be a period of time for which they can get used to that tool. The same exact reflex is seen when you put a collar on a dog for the very first time whether it is a little tiny puppy or an older dog. Working around the feeling of that collar or harness being on is the first step of doing anything. Some dogs adapt very quickly and you will not see much resistance, other dogs there’s going to be a little bit more. This is a psychological issue not a physical one.
If there is no training prior to putting a harness on or during the initial use of the harness, two things can happen. The first is not as common; the dog shutting down and not wanting to move. This is part of the survival mechanism of “they have me, I’m not going to move and I need to make myself look small.” The second is a lot more common, which is that the dog learns quickly that pulling against that harness will give it more leverage in the flight response of the survival mechanism. What is going on here is there is the opposition reflex happening and the dog realizing that it now can use the leverage that you’ve given it to do something that you don’t want it to do.
Putting a harness on your dog will not cause your dog to pull. Pulling is only seen when a leash is attached to the harness and there is a lack of conditioning and training.
Conditioning to a harness
There is a way of conditioning your dog to a harness. Under most circumstances, there will be time to do conditioning. This is a simple process, but you must listen to the dog to move on to the next step. The dog has to be 100% comfortable before going forward.
Step 1: fit the harness to the dog. This involves putting the harness on, and adjusting any straps or pads that are on your particular harness. The harness should be approximately 2 inches behind the armpit. If it is closer it will produce rubbing and prohibit the shoulder blade from rotating correctly. Not all harness brands fit all breeds of dogs, even within the same style harness.
Step 2: randomly put the harness on your dog with no leashes attached and let them get used to it. Try a few minutes at first, then increase your time. play with them, feed them, do some fun stuff that you can do in a safe place with them. Let them get used to how the harness feels and how they move in it. This also gives you time to make sure the harness is fitting the dog correctly before you start walking with it.
Step 3: attach a leash to the harness in the spot you normally would and let them drag the leash around. Again, start with a few minutes at first and increase your time. Do not hold the other end of the leash. This is a good time to work on recall with a harness on and with walking beside you without a leash in a safe environment. Again, play with the dog that is dragging that leash, give him food puzzles, you just want to associate fun stuff with the whole setup.
Step 4: pick up the leash and hold it lightly while you practice walking. Just like learning to walk with a collar on, there’s going to be a lot of back and forth, a lot of praising, and a lot of redirection. No matter what method is used to teach the dog how to walk they all work with teaching the dog to walk with a harness. If the dog seems very reluctant to walk with the harness, then we’re going to play and do stuff with you holding the leash. You can even work with long line work with the harness on and a dragline.
Step 5: start your process in public. This might be only as far as your front yard or a short distance from your house, but you’re going to walk just like you walk them on a collar. If you feel like you need it, double leash. Have a light leash on their collar as well as the regular leash on their harness.
When a dog is pulling with a harness on, it feels to us like they are pulling harder due to the fact that they are able to use their whole body and they are not choking themselves in the process. After a dog is conditioned and trained to a harness, the pulling then becomes a behavior seen with excitement, anxiety, or fear. It no longer is part of the original opposition reflex. There is more going on at this point that needs to be addressed by training. If this is left unchecked, the dog will learn that it will get what it wants by using leverage that it can gain with the harness on. This is also learned when conditioning is rushed.
The harness doesn’t make the dog pull anymore than a collar does. Lack of proper conditioning and training allows the dog to pull.
If you need help fitting a harness, we do that for free. Just reach out.
If you would like to learn how to harness train your dog, we can do that too! Call and set up some one-on-one sessions and we can get you walking with your dog today!
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