Nobody wants to have to chase their dog around or do battle before walks or a car journey.

Least of all your dog!

People often ask me about what they should be using to walk their dogs. And what equipment they use is one of my top questions to pet parents.

My preference for using harnesses comes mainly from the avoidance of pressure on a very sensitive part of the body. For dogs who pull on lead, or use long lines, avoid sudden or prolonged pulling on the throat is important.

For lungy, barky dogs it can be handy to have a second point of attachment. It’s an easier way of maneuvering them to safety in an emergency. – Check out the video on types of harness and using them with reactive dogs here –

Now don’t get me wrong I know that there are valid reasons for using head collars, or collars. I also understand there are scenarios where slip leads can be convenient ways of getting from A to B.

However we are going to assume we are already interested in, or are using, a harness for your dog.

But for now we are focusing on how to go about putting a harness on a dog who doesn’t agree! For those who back away or do a disappearing act when they see the harness. Those who look like something terrible is about to happen as soon as you start to prep for a walk. If your dog hates their harness, or you’d like to just learn more, read on!

And so many more reasons!

If your dog is feeling anxious or otherwise overwhelmed with whatever they are facing when they get out of the door then the harness could become a predictor of this.

See also: sitting in the garden and refusing to come in if walks are predicted.

If this is the case then simply reintroducing the harness isn’t going to do the job for long. Your dog will soon re-learn that the harness still means going for scary walks. So this needs addressing too.

If the issue is bigger than just the harness (or you’d like some support either way!) then get in touch and lets get everything on a better track for you and your dog.

Choose your harness carefully depending on your dogs preferences.

Harnesses like the Perfect Fit can be great since they don’t require your dog to be “put into” the harness, or even need to put it over their head. It can just be done up around them.

A Y shaped harness, that is one that looks like it forms a Y at the front of your dog tends to be the most comfortable.

Be sure that the harness doesn’t come across the shoulder and impede movement.

Or sit too close to the armpit.

Or pull on fur or rub skin, particularly on dogs without much fur.

If your dog hates their harness, it might well be because it is causing discomfort.

Also make sure you are in a nice open space and crouched or sitting rather than leaning over your dog. This helps to put them at ease and not feel forced or trapped. This can help them to feel more in control and therefore more comfortable.

If there is a lot of negative baggage surrounding the current harness then starting again with a new harness can be helpful.

There may be such a strong negative feeling towards their current harness that working back through it might be very challenging.

You could also try washing your current harness to reduce previous scent cues of negative feelings (it is the emotional association, not necessarily the smell of an original incident which is important here).

You could also then spray it with a new scent, such as lavender or pet remedy. This can help to make your dog notice the harness in a different way to normal to help to promote new learning.

Bear in mind that ideally when going through this introduction process you aren’t still using it to walk them with since this would require you going back to the anxiety/stress response between positive sessions.

You could end up doing some great work and then undoing it by “making” them wear it for a walk before they are truly ready.

If you’re using a new harness for training a new response, use the old harness until the new one is “ready”.

Use a lead attached to the collar, or take them to a secure field where they don’t need equipment, or avoid walks and replace with other enrichment during the training phase.

When initially introducing/reintroducing the harness try allowing your dog to investigate it without you holding it. If your dog may try to chew or run off with the harness you could clip it to something so they can’t disappear with it.

You could hang it from a chair or the radiator so it’s seen regularly. You could pick it up and carry it from place to place every now and again through the day. No pressure, just seeing the harness around, and seeing you move the harness, without any intention to put the harness on your dog.

A good option is to set it out as part of a Free Work session so it isn’t the only focus but is part of a familiar and positive set up. The calming effects of Free Work can also be really helpful to get your dog into a positive state of mind when they encounter it again.

Simply lay it on the ground as one of the items they investigate, with treats dotted around by/on it. Low pressure, and you can see how comfortable they are with seeing the harness. Is it the harness itself that starts the response, or you holding it (the anticipation of having it put on?).

You can then move on to having the harness set out near to you when you are doing some other fun training with your dog.

Doing their favourite tricks for treats, for example, with the harness next to you.

If your dog can target things with their nose you could do some nose target training with other objects and then hold up the harness to see if they will do the same thing.

You can try making it look different by holding it in a different way to how you would hold it out when putting it on. Making it look different slightly can change the context enough to reduce the negative associations when in the early stages. Fr example, hold it upside down, or folded up in your hand.

Your dog might then come and sniff it to see what it is, and you can reward them for approaching it. You can use a clicker or verbal marker if your dog is trained for this.

You can use luring, carefully.

But if your dog is really nervous about putting their head through the hole, practice with other types of holes first!

Cut a big hole in an old tea towel and practice with that, or a piece of cardboard. Teach them the trick of putting their head through things. Cut it much bigger than needed so your dog doesn’t need to touch the sides.

Then when they are comfortable, reduce the size of the holes you cut until you reach the harness hole size.

Make it a game!

They have control, they can approach, or they can move away.

Always let them move away if they want to.  Don’t keep moving the harness towards them. Knowing they can make it stop is more likely to encourage them to give it a go.

For example:

Over as many sessions as needed, practice one step multiple times until your dog is comfortable and you can move on to the next one. Reward for each step to increase positive associations.

For noise related steps like the clip being done up, you could do this with your dog not in it to start with. Just sitting in the same room, clip = treat, repeat!

If you have a hairy dog, or one that finds standing still tricky, you’ll also need to build in some faffing time! Reward for fiddling around for a second, two seconds, three seconds, five seconds.

Practising in an area you wouldn’t normally put on their harness can also help

And at a time you wouldn’t normally walk them.

Once they are more comfortable, you can start to move back to real life set ups if you need to.

Remember that if you have a particularly sensitive dog, or a dog that has disliked the harness for a long time, it many take many weeks or more of careful training.

Be mindful of their body language and try not to push them. Too much too soon and you may go backwards and end up taking longer due to building suspicion that you’re just luring them into a situation and ready to pounce and quickly do it up when they aren’t ready!

If your dog is super sensitive or may respond aggressively then seek appropriate help from a professional to help you with these steps.

Is your dog a sensitive soul?

Do they generally have some issues around touch sensitivity?

Do you want to learn more about co-operative care and how best to introduce handling and equipment at home?

Maybe your dog doesn’t love going to the vet or groomer either?

Then I have the course for you and your dog!

Get in touch to tell me more about your dog and what you’d like to get some support with and let’s figure it out together!

Email: hello@weteachpets.com

Phone: 07834 604 549