How to help a dog accept / be comfortable wearing a harness

[BellaAndSprout]

Does anyone have any tips about how they got their dog used to wearing a harness please?

We've tried a few different harnesses with Sprout and currently have a perfect fit one.

If we put the harness on her when at home she simply won't move - even to the extent of ignoring treats on the floor. Clearly she is very unhappy and stressed and we need to really break it down into little stages for her.

She used to run away when she saw the harness and refuse to look at it but now will target it with her nose when I'm holding it. I've thought about potentially getting her to target it with different parts of her body?

She also doesn't like having things above her back or on her back. For example, when she used to feel the lead on her back on walks she would try to bite it but she is now absolutely fine with that. When we've been doing different training activities she is unsure about walking through my legs, or feeling closed in, so I'm pretty sure they are all related.

We have had her checked by a physio who couldn't find any physical issues for her not liking a harness.

We currently walk her in a collar which is absolutely fine for the majority of the time but there are walks where she does need to be in a harness. Occasionally, I've put the harness on her when we've been on a walk and after perhaps a minute of uncertainty she has then done the whole walk wearing the harness without a problem (that I could see) but these are on super exciting, lots of different smells types of walks so we've clearly not addressed the problem - just distracted her.

Some people have suggested just leaving the harness on her until she gets used to it but I really don't want to flood her and think it could just save up problems for later.

We use positive reinforcement and clicker which she responds to really well.

If anyone has any ideas I'd be very grateful! Thank you

Can you explain the sort of thing that requires her to wear a harness? I can't think of a walk that requires a dog in a harness?

I am sure lots of people will disagree with me - but just because she seems okay out and about on a walk, doesn't mean she is. Honestly, I would remove the harness altogether if she won't move and disregards treats. There are some things that dogs just do not like and it's better to get them to a point where they do things like letting you touch their back etc, than pushing them too far and potentially reinforcing their terror.

FWIW, my mums cocker is like this and in the end my mum accepted that the more she tried to force the dog into something that was a 'doggy red line' the more it ingrained the fear. Yes, we must be able to put things on dogs and touch them but there comes a point where it's better to get them to an acceptable point i.e. they'll manage it for a short while, then persisting and potentially doing more harm than good. A dog not going for treats when they usually would because their so terrified/stressed is not a good sign.

If you do decide you want to fix this, I would call in a behaviourist and also speak to the vet about potential back issues - there may well be a sensitivity there your missing - than take advice off mumsnet that might make it worse.

What activities require a harness? I have to say I am always 🧐 about people who kit their dogs out with harnesses. Apart from huskies and the like needing to pull something I cannot understand why a harness is needed. If anything it allows the dog to really lean into a pull.

My parents and a couple of friends use harnesses on their dogs and when they ask me to do sit I have to admit I never put the harness on the dog and just walk it with a collar and lead. I live somewhere where the harness easily gets wet, salty and sandy and frankly it's much less faff not to use it.

I think this is quite unusual (?)

I wonder whether there is a sensitivity that was missed. My small dog lives in a perfect fit harness from morning to evening. No collar, just the harness that has a tag on it. I used a harness from very early on because he's so small that it would be easy to hurt his neck, so the harness was for his own safety/protection and the perfect fit one is well away from the front of the neck. He's 6, so it's been a long time. I can pick him up by the harness even. He happily walks up to me and bows to me in the morning before I put his harness on - it is a perfect fit one and clearly causes zero distress or discomfort, even when worn for 15 hours a day - which he has done for years.

So I would look into the problem further.

I don't think it has to be a pain issue, my younger pup generally roots herself to the spot if made to wear any sort of item indoors - harness, drying coat, surgical suit etc.

I don't have any suggestions I'm afraid as we just put it on and let her get over it. We use a harness for mantrailing and canicross and she's fine within a couple of minutes.

Thank you for everyone's comments! The vast majority of her walks are not in a harness but I would like her to wear ones when we are going round the peak district etc. So, the sort of walks where she will be on lead the whole time but where there are so many exciting smells and bits of poo to roll in she pulls a lot. I am not using the harness to stop her pulling but because I'm worried about damaging her neck!

She is actually really good on lead in just the collar and does do nice loose lead walking the vast majority of the time but is still young and very excitable.

I'm not going to try and put the harness on her again at this point - I'm just curious what steps people would take to break it down into manageable exercises. We did use a very good behaviourist to help us manage the Sprout and Bella introductions so I will talk to her too.

And I want to do mantrailing and canicross with her too!

I did get to the stage with mantrailing where i was unsure I wanted to continue as the harness seemed such a negative but she has improved since then. It's nothing to do with touch in our case, it's all about wearable items. She loves to do a sneaky middle on unsuspecting friends and family.

The wonderful Chirag Patel has a great video explaining how to help a dog get used to a harness.

It feels slow but it will work dont miss out on any steps.

She will soon be mantrailing and loving it

There are various reasons people use harnesses, but harnesses designed for dogs to pull things are very different to walking harnesses.

i use harnesses fairly often because most of my dogs have been older rescues and getting older dogs to not pull is much harder than teaching a puppy not to, so it’s kinder and I use ones with a front clip so it’s actually harder for them to pull anyway as any force they put in turns them sideways. Currently one of mine wears a harness still the other had progressed to just a collar now.

If a dog has dodgy recall and you’re using a longline then you can’t use those with collars or flexis if people use those (I know, people hate them)

if you do anything like running or cycling then you want a harness because there will be the odd jolt for the dog and it spreads it better.

There are loads of good reasons for a harness - the main one being that walking a dog on a collar and lead will hurt their necks if they pull, and can break their necks if they run on a long line (here's some evidence: www.ntu.ac.uk/about-us/news/news-articles/2020/05/collars-risk-causing-neck-injuries-in-dogs,-study-shows). I have a young gundog, he pulls, and I walk him on a long line often, so it was never a choice for me - he was in a harness from the first day we went out, also a Perfect Fit.

OP, do you ever ask her to wear anything else, like a drying coat? Do you rub her down with a towel? Do you pick her up? I'm wondering if she reacts badly to any other kind of pressure or touch, which could indicate pain. Otherwise, it just might be a matter of very slow work with her - scattering treats so you can touch the top part to her back and lifting it off, eventually clipping one shoulder and doing the same, then clipping round her neck and taking it straight off again, etc etc. Best of luck!

It does depend on the size/breed of dog though. Harnesses are never recommended for large, strong breeds. Also with some dogs a harness can restrict the shoulder movement and cause a lot of harm.
Overall, a good fitting collar can be a much better option for many dogs.

My previous dog didn't like anything on her back, even if you just put a towel over her she would be paralysed and unable to move. I never found a reason for it, she just seemed to have a very sensitive back. She was a medium sized dog but quite deep chested. Some dogs just won't wear a harness or a Halti and seem to be more comfortable with an ordinary collar.

I'm sure there are dogs that can't stand harnesses for all sorts of reasons. But that doesn't mean that harnesses wouldn't be a better choice if they could stand them. There is absolutely zero science that says that large breeds shouldn't wear them - quite the opposite, as their pulling power makes them more vulnerable, not less.

I'm not going to derail this thread into an argument over harnesses and whether dogs should wear them - if they can, they should, because collars and leads are potentially damaging, and that's what the research shows, and there simply isn't any serious argument about this. There are lots of reasons that people choose collars instead, including that the dog dislikes harnesses, or that the owner doesn't feel they can control their dog on a harness, and they're all valid reasons, but they aren't arguments about the safety of the dog.