A Better Way To Walk Your Dog
The other day as Vinnie and I waited to cross the street, an out-of-breath woman caught up to us. She had an exasperated look on her face and no wonder. She’d been hauled to the corner by Mindy, her medium-sized doe-eyed retriever mix.
“She’s so strong and I just haven’t had time to teach her to heel,” the woman said. She was thinking of outfitting Mindy in a prong collar, hoping that would curb the leash-pulling.
I’m not in the habit of offering unsolicited advice but I couldn’t bear the thought of metal prongs digging into Mindy’s soft neck. Actually, I don’t like the idea of prong, choke or pinch collars on any dog. Those devices use pain and force to control dogs, can cause serious injuries to doggy tracheas, can create on-leash behavior problems, and aren’t necessary, as I’ll explain shortly.
I understand what a pain it is when a dog drags you down the street. Many an untrained dog has done the same to me. And no doubt about it, teaching a dog to walk politely on leash can take lots of time, consistent practice and patience. This is especially so if the dog has a long history of maniacal pulling.
Fortunately, there’s a far better, safer and kinder way to walk your dog without him behaving like an Iditarod contestant. As I told Mindy’s person that day on the sidewalk, an anti-pull front-clip harness stops most dogs from pulling on leash.
Traditional harnesses are designed so that the leash attaches to a ring on the dog’s back. Anti-pull harnesses are different. They’re designed for the leash to clip to a ring positioned in the middle of the dog’s chest, hence the name, “front-clip” harness.
Like many other species dogs have a built-in opposition reflex. Very simply, this means that dogs naturally and automatically pull/push in the opposite direction of anything that’s pulling/pushing them. Pulling back on a dog’s leash or walking him on a traditional harness activates the opposition reflex and causes the dog to pull or forge ahead sled-dgo style. Front-clip harnesses use the opposition reflex to everyone’s advantage. Leash pressure if any, comes from the dog’s front and so rather than pulling ahead, the dog automatically pulls/leans slightly backwards.
Front-clip harnesses are my favorite piece of doggy gear. I always suggest using them to students in dog training classes and to private clients. Even when people do have the time and interest in training their dogs to walk on a loose-leash, walking the dogs on front-clip harnesses is the wisest choice in the interim to prevent sled-dog style walking. When fitted properly front-clip (and other) harnesses are safer walking gear than a leash and collar. There’s little to no chance the dog can wriggle out of the harness, and if you accidentally yank on a leash attached to a harness, you don’t have to worry about hurting the dog or injuring her trachea.
I can’t tell you how many people have told me that front-clip harnesses solved their dogs’ pulling problems almost immediately. Walking their dogs ceased to be a pavement-pounding wrestling match and became fun and easy again. In fact, lots of folks decide not to bother training their dogs to heel or walk on a loose leash, and opt to walk them always in front-clip harnesses instead.
Anti-pull front-clip harnesses that I’ve used and like are listed below. Many local pet stores carry these brands and both are widely available on-line.
Happy Walking!
• SENSE-ible Harness and SENSE-ation Harness, both made by Softtouch Concepts.
• Easy Walk Harness, made by Premier Pet Products.
Nice, informative post. I have been using a halti on my dogs. I hear that gentle leaders are better, but can’t get those where I live.
I agree. I’ve seen dogs go from sled-dog to fancy-prancer with the front-clip harness.
Thanks for reading and commenting Debbie. I have also used haltis and gentle leaders. I think that in some cases those are better than front-clip harnesses, but it depends on the dog. I typically start with the harness, because in most cases it does reduce pulling dramatically.
Thanks Katrin!
Great blog, Lisa! No pull harnesses are definitely my favorite as well – I like them better than a buckle collar, a martingale, or a head halter (and certainly better than prongs, chokes, or shock collars).
Also, click! You may just have saved one dog from a life on a prong collar!
Thanks Casey for the feedback, for reading and for the click!