What Are You Trying To Buy When Looking At Certain Accessories For Your Dog?
There's a lot of questionable advertisements with pet products.
One of my favorite examples of this: no-pull harnesses.
Such a device offers a humane solution to a challenge many dog guardians have.
Their dogs pulling on their leashes.
Dogs pulling on leashes can be dangerous for people. Humans, from children to seniors, get injured from mishaps involving dog leashes (1-5).
Because I am disabled, dog leash injuries causing falls means the first thing I need is something the dog can wear so that I can stop leash pulling humanely.
Enter the no-pull harness. I do love these tools and recommend them.
Chances are, you’re reading this because your dog has probably pulled on his/her leash for a long time. You feel frustrated and believe you have no time to teach your dog to walk on a loose leash.
You love your dog dearly and you don’t want to hurt him by using aversive tools like a prong or e-collar to stop the pulling.
On behalf of your dog, thank you for choosing the humane solution.
If you want your dog to stop pulling on the leash, a well-fitting no-pull harness will get that for you.
However, the only thing a no-pull harness is good for is stopping pulling.
Stopping pulling or any undesired behaviors can happen immediately by the design of the harness.
Getting your ideal outcome behavior involves much more than simply stopping the undesired one.
The outcome that you’re seeking when looking at no-pull harnesses is for your dog to walk on a loose leash, right?
A dog walking on a loose leash is performing multiple behaviors.
That dog has received reinforcement for choosing to be next to the handler. Usually within a foot if you want your dog that close to you.
The dog’s focus is on the handler. Other things in the environment are of no interest to the dog.
The leash remains slack during movement.
The no-pull harness could never teach this.
A harness is a management tool. Management tools stop undesired behaviors.
The no-pull harness you’re looking at will never teach loose leash walking.
Thanks for reading!
Sources cited
Rosa, R., & Buckley, R. E. (2024). Leash-related injuries associated with dog walking: an understudied risk for dog owners?. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 1(aop), 1-6.
Forrester, M. B. (2020). Dog leash-related injuries treated at emergency departments. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 38(9), 1782-1786.
Plusch, K., Givner, D., Wiafe, B., Lutsky, K., & Beredjiklian, P. (2024). Hand and Wrist Dog-Leash Injuries in the Outpatient Setting: A Review of 443 Cases. HAND, 15589447241299128.
Maxson, R., Leland, C. R., McFarland, E. G., Lu, J., Meshram, P., & Jones, V. C. (2023). Epidemiology of Dog Walking-Related Injuries among Adults Presenting to US Emergency Departments, 2001-2020. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 55(9), 1577-1583.
Maxson, R., Leland, C. R., Meshram, P., Goldfarb, S. I., Okeke, L., & McFarland, E. G. (2024). Epidemiology of pediatric dog walking-related injuries among children presenting to US emergency departments, 2001 to 2020. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics, 44(7), e574-e579.
Nanette… Our dog is used to pulling at his lead / leash when he’s working & on duty as my wife’s work partner (she’s a police K-9 officer). He’s a 90-pound German Shepherd & when he’s getting worked up to go after a suspect, my wife has a “quick release” mechanism so he can take them down. Fortunately, my wife possesses incredible upper body strength & can hold him until she knows it’s time to set him loose. The strain on a dog’s neck can be a concern, especially if its collar may be a little tighter than it should be. The last thing I’d want is for the dog to be harmed in any way.