So I have been walking Aspen on a back clasping harness since he was a puppy when he isn't off-leash. I have noticed that the bigger he gets, the more he pulls. I have heard that back clasping harnesses can actually trigger the reflex that dogs have to pull, like how huskies pull sleds. I know that I just have to teach Aspen how to not pull, but will a front clasping harness help with pulling? I bought a new harness that has a handle, a back clasp, and a front clasp by the chest area. It arrives tomorrow so I am waiting to see how it works the first time we put it on. I am working on finding a really, really tasty treat that Aspen wants to follow me with so we can work on the pulling. I guess I am just asking if the front clasping harness will help at least a little, next to the training.
This just isn't true. It makes it less uncomfortable to pull than pulling on a collar because their throat isn't being crushed. That's all. The front-fastening harnesses work in one of two ways. They either tighten and make it uncomfortable/painful for the dog to pull forwards, or they work by turning the dog towards you, making it hard for them to continue their forward-pulling motion. The first sort is obviously not recommended on here - using aversives never is. The second sort is up for debate. If you have a persistent puller, then, long-term it's likely to be putting a lot of pressure on his joints, as he's walking in an unbalanced, unnatural way. If you are only using the front fastener on very rare occasions, though, then it's probably better than reinforcing pulling when you just have to get from A to B. My own experience is limited; I have Perfect Fit harnesses for my two older dogs, which I bought after a horrible walk through the woods when they were adolescents, where I had to have them on lead because they had seen a weasel and wanted to run off after it, were pulling like mad things, so I was having to stop, start and about-turn every few paces, and it was getting dark. I thought the front-fastener would be great for such emergencies. It wasn't - it was rubbish. I used it once, I think, and the whole harness twisted on the dog, looking really uncomfortable, so I never used it again, always using the back fastener and ramping up my training. I like the PF harness, just not for the front attachment. I don't think this is the answer, really. I mean, sure, find something he enjoys for a reward, but the key to loose leash walking is making him want to be with you. Make yourself fun and engaging and LLW will follow.
Dogs pull because it gets rhem from A to B quicker - it is as simple as that. Only training stops pulling - hours of it!! Harnesses are beneficial for pulling dogs as they prevent pressure on the throat they will not stop pulling all by itself. A treat on the nose, which is more a bribe than a reward, doesn't stop the dog pulling, it just keeps them near you while the treat is there. Remove the treat and you remove the incentive. Treating is good but should be as a reward for one step, then two, then three steps etc for walking with a loose lead beside you.
Can I just add a question in here? My puppy is similar age to Alicia's ☺ My puppy has began to do alot of stopping and lies down. I've got out the article f Pippa's about dogs pulling. Would this work for my situation? I don't think she's tired in all situations..
Sorry, how old is that? I'm afraid I don't keep up with the ages of all the forum dogs A front-fastening harness is designed to prevent pulling forwards, not to prevent your puppy stopping. This is quite common in puppies, and she will grow out of it. Until then, I found that turning 180 degrees often unstuck Luna's bum from the ground if she did this.
You might find this article helpful: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/top-three-harnesses-for-labrador-retrievers/
Same as @snowbunny's experience, I found a front-fastening harness would twist around uncomfortably and didn't stop pulling - just made him walk/crab along awkwardly out in front of me. So I switched to a back-fastening one and resigned to do lots of training. At 28 months old, we're only *finally* cracking loose-lead walking. Killah was never a pull-my-shoulder-out-of-the-socket puller but always had to be out in front following his nose. I took it as a judgement on the quality of our connection - Why didn't he want to walk along *with* me? In the beginning, I fell prey to the mindset that "you must be the most important and exciting thing in your pup's universe" and felt a failure. It was exhausting and it seemed that nothing I could offer was as interesting to him as forging ahead and sniffing. What's working for us is a two-pronged approach: 1. making engagement with me more rewarding - instead of begging and cajoling him into playing/training with me I reward his attention whenever he offers it. In the house, in the garden, wherever we are, whatever I'm doing, if he initiates any interaction I will take the time to just click and treat for eye contact or proximity (if we're just mooching around) or play with him if he comes to me with a toy. I think of it like someone you always invite to the pub who always says no; after a while you just stop inviting them - I'm hoping that the more I "say yes" the more he'll invite me to engage and eventually even engage when I ask him to. Recently, we were out in the yard - him to sniff and pee and me to rake up leaves - and when he started following me around in heel position, I put down the rake and did some heeling games and position changes with him (I always have a clicker in one pocket and a handful of kibble in the other) and then told him "all done, go sniff". Which he did for a few minutes and then came back for more and it turned into a pretty good bit of retrieving training in the end (and I certainly didn't mind not finishing raking up leaves!) And 2. using pulling and sniffing as a reward for a bit of LLW when we're out. On our typical 30 min. on-lead walk around the neighbourhood, the first ten minutes is still a bust - he pulls less and less these days, but he's still out front and not interested in anything I can offer him. The middle ten minutes, he'll respond to my cues to "come in" to my side and pay attention to me until I tell him to "go sniff" and I treat him when he comes back to my side of his own accord. I always try to send him away to go sniff before he becomes bored of being next to me. By the end of the walk, when I tell him to go sniff, he'll do a token nose poke at a bush and immediately turn back to me. And then I know he'll be up for playing walking games like Stop and Go and quick-quick-slow and hand touches to move him from walking on one side to the other, or I'll send him to put "paws up" on a rock or fire hydrant or to "hup-up" and walk along a low wall, getting him interacting with whatever landscaping features are nearby. I'm hoping that this sort of engagement will eventually become more rewarding and more quickly offered in new locations. At least it always ends our walks on a good note which is a definite contrast to the escalating frustration that a walk would be when I used to try to "insist" on his engagement and loose-lead walking when he was younger. OK - I know you weren't soliciting that sort of advice, but it might be helpful if you find the front-fastening harness doesn't work for you. I know people who've had near-miraculous results with one so I guess it depends on the dog and why they pull.
