Maya's magic, pink fleece anti-pull dog harness
Here we detail how our fleece dog harnesses work as an anti-pull harness which can stop your dog pulling, combined with some patient training from you.
Our fleece dog harnesses are eDog fleece dog harnesses, and Cosydogs high vis fleece dog harnesses
You can read one of our customer’s review of the eDog fleece dog harness to get a detailed overview of this fleece harness, which also doubles up as a regular walking harness.
Dog collar V dog harness for walking?
Stop your dog pulling! Sephi walking nicely on a loose lead
Two out of every three dogs pull whilst walking on the lead, some worse than others and we know it’s no fun at all being pulled around whilst your dog dashes off in all directions. Dogs pulling whilst on a lead attached to a dog collar can cause damage to the dog’s trachea, even resulting in a collapsed trachea and/or spinal damage and in severe cases blindness. The answer is to switch to a harness with the lead attached, as a dog harness does not fit near the neck and therefore cannot cause the damage a collar and lead can and works by spreading the pressure from pulling evenly throughout the dog’s chest area, which cannot cause any harm to your dog. Our harnesses never cause coughing, gagging, or choking because the chest straps rest on the breastbone.
Fiki the Standard Poodle in her deep chested custom eDog fleece harness by kind permission of her Mum
Dogs pull simply because they have not learned how to walk, they naturally want to walk faster than us, they therefore have to learn to slow down to be able to walk on a loose lead by your side. Also there are many distractions on a walk, wildlife, new smells and other dogs, all great temptations for your dog to dash after!
Almost any puppy or dog can be trained to walk properly, it however takes effort, time and patience from you to achieve this, and bear in mind, some dogs learn quicker than others!
Pups can start training as soon as they are able to go out in public places after all their injections, say from 5 months of age upwards. Dogs are never too old to learn a new trick, so training your dog not to pull is something that whilst is best done early on from a puppy, can be started at any time in a bid to cure the problem. If training a puppy, don’t expect quick progress as they can’t concentrate for more than say 10 minutes training per session.
Anti-pull dog harness review
Our fleece dog harnesses have a front ring for lead attachment which can be used in two ways if you are using the harness as an anti-pull harness. Its front chest lead attachment stops pulling by steering your dog to the side and redirecting his attention towards you.
Method 1 for using our best fleece anti-pull dog harness
Simple 8 step daily plan to train your dog to walk on a loose lead with no pulling, developed by a professional dog trainer and personally used by ourselves for many years with puppies and older rescue dogs alike.
1. Fill your pocket with your dog’s favourite treats!
2. Teach your dog to sit nicely, whilst you put the harness onto your dog. At this point many dogs start getting over excited and can’t listen to you, so keep calm and your voice even and firm, when teaching your dog to calm down. Don’t shout or lose your patience, sometimes this can be the hardest part! Reward sitting with a treat, then quickly and deftly fit the harness, then get your dog to sit and stay. Repeat this step, until your dog can do this every time he sets eyes on the harness and lead, instead of going beserk with excitement.
3. With your dog told to stay, move towards the door and tell or motion your dog to follow, having him sit again (reward again) about 1 metre away from the door you are using. It’s vital that you exit the door first, with your dog waiting until called to come, as you are going to lead this walk, not your best friend! When you are outside, call your dog, immediately attach the lead to the front ring of the harness.
4. Use a strong lead (not too long 1 metre is ideal). Our fleece dog lead is ideal and matches our best fleece non-pull dog harness, attaching to the front ring of the anti-pull fleece harness (you can use the back ring for your lead when your dog is able to walk without pulling).
5. Direct your dog to your left side. If he tries to cross over to the other side, immediately stop still, re-directing him again to your left side, reward and praise your dog verbally, then proceed walking.
6. Ensure you are the pack leader on this walk, and to reinforce this point to your dog, don’t let your dog walk very far ahead of you (even if the lead is still loose). Bear in mind that if you aren’t leading, you can’t be in control. Your dog’s shoulder should not pass too far in front of your own feet. If your dog does walk too far in front of you, just stop in your tracks, making a verbal signal such as ‘oh, no’ and giving a gentle tug on the lead just once but at the same time as halting to get your dog’s attention and then make your dog come back beside you, start off again and repeat as necessary, not forgetting praise and reward for not pulling. As dogs respond to body language before verbal commands, stopping abruptly or shaking a finger will grab your dog’s attention ahead of any verbal command. Dogs look first and hear second. Maintain consistency, so your dog doesn’t become confused.
7. For dogs who aren’t responsive to the above, try touching your dog – dogs do respond to touch. Touch him on his shoulder or back to get him to look at you. Sometimes putting your hand down in front of your dog’s face if he starts to pull ahead may also prevent him.
8. Learn to know when your dog or you have had enough on a training session, as going on when you are exasperated, angry or tired will be picked up by your dog and have a negative effect. Try to end on a positive note, as even just a little progress every day is enough and then let your dog off somewhere safe, where he can sniff and play. Following this daily will give quicker results than less frequently and best if only one person does the training and therefore all the walks during this training period, so that your dog has continuity.
When your dog has learnt not to pull, these fleece non-pull dog harnesses can be used as a regular walking harness by simply transferring the lead to the back ring if you like, as in the picture of Maya at the top.
See all fleece anti-pull/walking harnesses in our own shop, where we offer you the best prices with no VAT at present
Method 2 for using our best fleece anti-pull dog harnesses
Stop your dog pulling with our eDog fleece harness with front ring and training lead to rebalance your dog
This other method of using our fleece anti-pull dog harness, to train your dog not to pull, uses the Tellington TTouch techniques and relies on the proven principle that some dogs respond better to 2 points of contact with the fleece dog harness with front ring for lead attachment being used as well as the lead being attached to the back harness ring too at the same time, using a double-ended fleece dog training lead which again matches the fleece anti-pull dog harnesses.
Marie Miller, who is one of the UK’s top dog trainers has done some work with fleece dog harnesses with a front ring using Tellington TTouch and the double-ended dog training lead to stop dogs pulling.
Many of the steps in this training are the same as above, including the praise and reward steps, so follow steps 1-3 of method 1, but instead attach the lead in 2 places, both the front ring and back ring which is designed to balance a dogs posture and correct pulling behaviour. Secondly use the fleece dog training lead fully extended to 2 metres (giving half that overall length) and the idea behind this method is that the lead forms a containing barrier across the dog’s chest which has been proven to help a dog walk in balance and curb any sudden excitement and the urge to pull. For this method, you can have your dog on whichever side is easier for you.
If your dog tends to lean into the lead and pull, simply meet the pressure briefly, but then immediately relax the pressure and melt away – the reason behind this is because if you keep up the pressure, i.e. you pull too, your dog will just carry on pulling! Repeat this process until your dog knows you are not going to play pull. Ensure your own movements are smooth and you maintain balance whilst walking, your dog will mirror your body language.
Our fleece dog harnesses come with a ‘How to stop your dog pulling’ guide. Training your dog is the best way to bond with your dog and it should be enjoyable and fun for both of you.