The No-Pull Harness You Bought For Your Dog Doesn't Work.
Clever marketing though.
“No-pull harness.” Genius copywriting to market a product offering to solve a problem that millions of dog guardians report.
The term itself implies a dog wearing the device will not pull. Which is not completely correct. A dog wearing a properly fitted no-pull harness doesn’t stop pulling; at least not in the way most guardians would like. The harness has been designed so that if a dog wearing the device pulls on the leash to lunge at something, the harness will redirect his forward movement.
What this looks like: the dog cannot continue to lunge forward at some stimulus. Rather than stop the forward movement, the dog’s body gets redirected towards the handler. I’ve been looking at other advertisements for those devices. One claim states “No-pull front D-ring to guide your dog back to your side.
More clever writing. The words imply the product might teach a dog to do a series of desired behaviors: the dog at the side of the handler with a slack leash.
Harnesses do not teach a dog to walk in heel position or on a loose leash.
The video below shows exactly what a dog wearing a no-pull harness does.
I totally could have sold this to some harness manufacturer.
Instead, I am writing to debunk the myths.
No-pull harnesses are certainly humane tools for preventing a dog from pulling hard on their leash. That alone minimizes handler injury. By altering a dog’s forward movement.
Newtonian Laws. I don’t want to bore you with physics.
A dog wearing a fitted no-pull harness certainly is in a better position to learn how to walk on a loose leash. For one thing, the handler isn’t busy being worried about the dog pulling on the leash to chase a squirrel or lunge at a bike. That handler can successfully maintain a stable position and reinforce the desired behaviors.
There are so many nuances involved in teaching a dog to walk on a loose leash, harness, or no harness.
A dog walking on a loose leash, focused on the handler reflects the bond that the dog has with the handler.
The dog-handler bond is built through positive interactions between a canine and a human.
No leash is needed.