Jump to content
BC Boards

No pull harness


Recommended Posts

I use double ended leads and find that even loosely draping the lead around the dog's chest with one end each side of it can help some dogs reduce their desire to pull. I guess it may make them more aware of their body and balance but clearly it puts no force on them at all.

 

It may work best if a dog has already been in a harness and has been weaned off but I have found it can work with those that have never worn a harness.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I was taught in obedience class years ago is that if you are going one direction and the dog starts pulling, turn around and go the other direction. As long as the dog is pulling in one direction keep turning and going the other way. They soon learn that pulling is not getting them where they want to go, but if they walk nicely then they get where they want. That is their reward. You may look like a duck shoot going back and forth but it does work. I also use treat and praise when they are walking nicely. As long as a dog is pulling an you continue to let them pull in that direction then you are rewarding that behavior by allowing them to continue.

Luckily none of my dogs have ever had to wear a harness and at this point never will. But I have always started with pups so they learned from an early age to heel at my side with no pulling.

Jan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I was taught in obedience class years ago is that if you are going one direction and the dog starts pulling, turn around and go the other direction. As long as the dog is pulling in one direction keep turning and going the other way. They soon learn that pulling is not getting them where they want to go, but if they walk nicely then they get where they want. That is their reward. You may look like a duck shoot going back and forth but it does work. I also use treat and praise when they are walking nicely. As long as a dog is pulling an you continue to let them pull in that direction then you are rewarding that behavior by allowing them to continue.

Luckily none of my dogs have ever had to wear a harness and at this point never will. But I have always started with pups so they learned from an early age to heel at my side with no pulling.

Jan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear Doggers,

 

Agree. I can understand why a frail or disabled person might need an apparatus to prevent a dog from pulling. Otherwise I cannot see the point. My dogs are rarely on lead and some might imagine they'd be determined pullers when their freedom is suddenly restricted. Nope. My 120 pound guard dogs who are only "on leash" when they must go to the vet or are put up during sheepdog trials want to pull but desist when I tell them to.

 

One common exchange when novices bring their dog to a sheepdog clinic goes like this:

 

Instructor: "Why is that dog pulling."

 

Novice: "He always pulls. He's terrible that way (embarrassed laugh)"

 

Instructor: "How can you trust him off leash on sheep if you can't trust him when he's attached with a (chain/strong leather strap etc)?"

 

Novice: "Er."

 

Instructor: "Give him to me. I'll sort it out."

 

And moments later - not hours, not days, not after lengthy sophisticated instruction- the dog no longer pulls.

 

When your dog pulls tell him to stop pulling. Not many things in dog training are utterly simple. This is.

 

Donald McCaig

Hear, hear!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear Doggers,

 

Agree. I can understand why a frail or disabled person might need an apparatus to prevent a dog from pulling. Otherwise I cannot see the point. My dogs are rarely on lead and some might imagine they'd be determined pullers when their freedom is suddenly restricted. Nope. My 120 pound guard dogs who are only "on leash" when they must go to the vet or are put up during sheepdog trials want to pull but desist when I tell them to.

 

One common exchange when novices bring their dog to a sheepdog clinic goes like this:

 

Instructor: "Why is that dog pulling."

 

Novice: "He always pulls. He's terrible that way (embarrassed laugh)"

 

Instructor: "How can you trust him off leash on sheep if you can't trust him when he's attached with a (chain/strong leather strap etc)?"

 

Novice: "Er."

 

Instructor: "Give him to me. I'll sort it out."

 

And moments later - not hours, not days, not after lengthy sophisticated instruction- the dog no longer pulls.

 

When your dog pulls tell him to stop pulling. Not many things in dog training are utterly simple. This is.

 

Donald McCaig

And have you done a personal follow up on those dogs to be sure that they haven't relapsed when not in the presence of the person who has "cured" them of pulling or that there haven't been any detrimental behavioural effects?

 

As a matter of fact it is a common experience in training situations that a dog will behave better with a stranger than with its owner. The test is whether it lasts when handed back and in the real world.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think when your dog's excursions out into the world beyond your small property are all on leash it is a different level of excitement compared to the fortunate dogs who live on farms and are rarely leashed.

I was thinking more about this when I was out with the dogs yesterday.

 

If I lived in a house in the middle of nowhere with no delivery vans calling at the homes of neighbours or myself throughout the day, no people/dogs/horses passing a few yards from the windows, few cars, no pesky people knocking on the door trying to sell me something, no car lights making scary shadows at night, no people walking their dogs on the canal towpath at the end of the garden, no boats going by, and where my dogs were used to pottering about or working with me off lead much of the time I'm pretty sure their behaviour would be a lot less excitable on the odd occasion when a lead was necessary, they'd probably hardly notice they were wearing one.

 

The nearest my dogs get to that peaceful sort of lifestyle on a regular basis is when I'm out on the marshes. They don't bother the sheep or the horses, they aren't interested in other dogs, they don't need a lead. I'm pretty sure the behaviour they show there would transfer to other situations quite easily if it was the norm for them rather than a small part of their lives.

 

When a lead outside the house is the exception in a dog's day why would it be a big deal to have to wear one?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am not an experienced dog owner and trainer, but I do have 15 years of experience in the education field and there are many similarities to training children in dog training.

 

We are slowly learning in the education world that a one-sized-fits-all approach might work for a lot of students, but there are also many students who just don't fit into the traditional way our schools work. This is also true of dogs.

 

A heavy-handed approach might work with well-bred and resilient dogs, but I would not have let anyone within 10 feet of my dog who claimed they could train her to walk nicely on a leash in one session. She spent the first 5 months of her life in a10x20 foot kennel with 18 other dogs and hardly knew what a collar was, much less how to walk with a loose leash.

 

My dog WILL eventually be trained to walk nicely on a leash. It might take longer than other dogs, but I would not give up the trust I built with her with a quick and dirty lesson for anything.

 

Meanwhile, I don't feel badly about using the tools that are out there to help me give her the exercise, socialization, experiences she needs and deserves.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Isn't this just a variation on the Easy Walk, sans the martingale portion in the front?

 

If (and I say "if" because I really don't know if it's true) there's an issue with shoulder injury with the front clip ones, I'm not sure how this one would be any different.

 

I hadn't heard of shoulder issues. We already have the Easy Walk, but find that for many body types it doesn't work as well. None of our students have reported any problems and they have been selling them there for many years.

 

That said, we sell them to people who physically can't control their dog or who use walking as a primary form of exercise and teach loose leash walking in the classes with the goal of no longer needing the harness.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...