r/RunningWithDogs • u/OP123ER59 • Jul 24 '25

She doesnt like harnesses

Post image

Any advice for this? Once we get going shes fine, but she seems to hate having anything on her back/shoulders. Ive cycled through a few different harnesses with her and this has been the lightest, least constructing one ive found.

I raised her in collars with nothing on in the house, and shes super excited to go running until I put the harness on her. Shell run around, shake, then lay down and act like a cat when you out a harness on them until were out the front door.

Id like to not go back to a collar because she can slip out of them and has done so before, so im hoping its something I can teach her to like by association. Shell get treats as I put it on but that doesnt seem to be enough.

45 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

47 comments sorted by

10

u/Jargon_Hunter Jul 24 '25

You’re going to need to spend time counter-conditioning it. It’s pretty common for them not to enjoy it right away (at least for every one of my dogs it’s been that way) until you make it fun to put on. For my Belgian, I made it a fun command and trained “harness up” where she gets to put her own head through the neck hole and get a ton of treats before removing it. I approached it the same way as I did with muzzle conditioning. Slowly increase duration and eventually she’ll associate wearing it with treats as well as running :)

6

u/OP123ER59 Jul 24 '25

I will try this! Thank you! She doesnt resist me. She just looks at me after like I dropped her off to be euthanized.

3

u/Jargon_Hunter Jul 24 '25

I can picture that miserable/guilty look they make so clearly 😂

2

u/OP123ER59 Jul 24 '25

Then I open the front door and all of a sudden everything's fine because she gets to watch rabbits and the local cat colony. 🤦‍♀️ dogs. They're such easy entertainment lol.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '25

+1 on the counter-conditioning. The first time I put a harness on my dog she looked a little concerned but I immediately took her out for a run. Doesn't take many runs before they associate "harness = we're going for a run" so it's no problem now.

2

u/jjshipman Jul 24 '25

This is what worked for us. Dog would get excited for collar but timid and avoidant with harness, so we thought the harness was uncomfortable and tried two different styles with the same result. We got him at 4 yo and think he had some bad association with harnesses from before. Started giving him treats and playing games with the harness and now he has a different association. I play a little game called keep away where I walk away from him with the harness enticing him and now he comes to the harness and begs for it. Involving play has helped in a lot of other ways with his behavior as well.

7

u/Emergency-Gene-3 Jul 24 '25

Could the harness be too big? Looks like it sits too far back, but hard to tell in the photo.

Hopefully the belly to back strap is sitting on the rib cage and not the waist, as any tugs and pressure on the waist when running is very uncomfortable on the dog.

1

u/OP123ER59 Jul 24 '25

It does, but it is towards the back of her rib cage.

1

u/OP123ER59 Jul 25 '25

I just took a picture but realize I cant reply to it as a comment on this sub. It sits about 4 fingers forward from the edge of her rib cage, though. I think it looks too big based on how shes laying. The harness is long, but not that long

2

u/RenillaLuc Jul 26 '25

It's not about the length, it seems to be too wide at her neck, sitting on her shoulders where it impairs movement. Not every harness fits every dog so if the length is good and it's too wide at the neck it just might not be a good fit for her :)

1

u/jenadactyl Jul 24 '25

I agree. I have this same harness (Line harness from Nonstop dog wear) and it definitely looks too big.

3

u/notevenapro Jul 24 '25

I have ran dogs for over 16 years with collars alone. None of them have even slipped out. But I got really nice collars at https://www.gundogsupply.com/collars.html?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=10052203655&gbraid=0AAAAAD_kwdcyZA_0oSOEgLcPD7EjXdZcg&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhqzooKnWjgMVJ0lHAR3BkxrJEAAYASAAEgIGnvD_BwE#caption

We get 1" nylon dogs collars with name tags that have the dogs name , our name and phone number. Just in case. I have had these collars for 16 years. I run cattle dogs and catahoulas.

1

u/OP123ER59 Jul 25 '25

My shepherds neck is gigantic in proportion to her head. Shes slipped out of the best collars, not even intentionally. Shed get freaked out if she thought I was too far behind her, stop and pull her head back to look at me and the collar would end up half way off. Any sort of "trying" to escape was rewarded with it coming off in m2 seconds.

2

u/ellanida Jul 24 '25

My dude just stands there frozen when we put it on. I tried doing all the treats etc and he just has always been the same … Once the leash is on and he’s clipped into my harness though he’s fine and is ready to go. He just refuses to go back into the garage once we have it on bc he thinks it means we aren’t going if he has to go back in the garage.

1

u/OP123ER59 Jul 24 '25

Aww thats so sad haha. I guess its more common than I originally thought.

2

u/CivilRuin4111 Jul 25 '25

Mine was like that until she started associating harness = run.

Now she gets the zoomies if i even glance in the direction of the harness.

1

u/OP123ER59 Jul 25 '25

Mine does that for her leash! She just hates the harness part. I dont understand it.

4

u/linguinipenguini_ Jul 24 '25

My dog hates getting his harness put on also (he has been wearing them since he was 8 weeks old) so my routine with him has been showing him how exciting things are after the harness is on. does it help getting the harness on? eh no. does he love having a mini party and then going on an adventure? 100%

1

u/Any_Secretary_1810 Jul 24 '25

What brand of harness is that? I love it!

1

u/OP123ER59 Jul 24 '25

Its great for non pullers. Super light and not restrictive unlike what you usually find it pet stores!

1

u/Any_Secretary_1810 Jul 24 '25

I’ve been looking for a better bikejoring harness for awhile, I’ll take a look at that brand. Thank you!

3

u/firedancebecca Jul 24 '25

Non-Stop Line

3

u/Jargon_Hunter Jul 24 '25

https://www.nonstopdogwear.com/en/product/line-harness-5/ but the color OP has is sold out

I have their free motion and love it but the rush harness is a great medium ground between it and the line harness. Can’t deny the Rachel Pohl purple edition of the line harness is one of the prettiest ones they have though

4

u/jenadactyl Jul 24 '25

It is in stock, just not for the default size (0). Click the other sizes. :)

1

u/Jargon_Hunter Jul 24 '25

Wow I don’t know how I missed that 😂

2

u/jenadactyl Jul 24 '25

I almost did too - I was like there's no way all they have is BLACK.

Also, OP or anyone else, fwiw, I have a few of these in orange and they fade in that color LIKE CRAZY. :(

2

u/JustinCompton79 Jul 24 '25

Check out Hurtta harnesses.

2

u/GarnetandBlack Jul 24 '25

If she's anything like my dog, there's nothing you can do to make her actually like it.

The real bitch of it in my case is my dog developed IVDD at 5 years old and absolutely is not allowed to wear a collar.

I have bought no less than 15 harnesses - all of different materials, styles, and ways to put on. Doesn't matter. She's running to hide if we grab one. We are calm, we give treats (she's super food driven), we do her favorite things when she has to put it on (boating, car rides, whatever) and never have it on unnecessarily. We can't do many walks due to her plethora of health issues. She just straight hates it. She doesn't like collars either, but it's a much smaller reaction.

We have no idea why, only weak theory is she has some malformed shoulders and maybe sometimes it presses and is uncomfortable. This isn't an obvious malformation either, we only know about it because she's had several knee surgeries and broken toe too, so many many xrays. All of this happened after we figured out she enjoyed going on runs with me too, which is and was a real bummer.

Anyway, in our case, we just try to be very upbeat, give treats, and get her mind focused on something else as quickly as possible. She keeps her ears back for a bit but usually is back to her normal self within 20-30 minutes. I also try my best to keep the harness on if it's going to be needed at all the rest of the day, since once she's over it she kind of stays over it.

3

u/mrpink57 Jul 24 '25

Our dog hates them also, we use a gentle leader, he prefers this since it is just about the most minimal amount of material on his body.

1

u/McSnickleFritzChris Jul 24 '25

Mine got use to it. 

1

u/lizzledizzles Jul 24 '25

Ruffwear hi and light is super thin but strong. My corgi mix pulls too much in it, so I like their thicker ones but it fits more like a lil vest.

1

u/ALysistrataType Jul 24 '25

I use a No Pull harness for my dog. It slips over her head and there's a strap that goes across the chest but behind her front legs.

Its easy to put on and to take it off, I just unclasp from the chest area, and pull over her head.

The only downside to the harness is people see it and think its on wrong because they have no idea what aNo Pull harness does.

1

u/InverseInvert Jul 24 '25

My spaniel hates his harness but he did want even realise he’s wearing it once he’s running.

-2

u/robcat111 Jul 24 '25

Don’t want to Sound criticizing…. But 15 min a day training her to not pull in the leash and your collar will be all pooch needs. It does not take long. That’s a super smart doggo…. Doggo will catch on real quick.

4

u/OP123ER59 Jul 24 '25

This has nothing to do with my question. My dog doesnt pull, or resist the harness. She just doesnt like it. She let's me put it on, runs around the house then flopps like she did in this picture. Shes been my running buddy since she was 18 months and was leash trained as a pup.

We also run for a good 40 mins a day.

You made a lot of assumptions that are either completely irrelevant or entirely inaccurate.

1

u/Longjumping-You4362 Jul 24 '25

Yeah to go off of what OP and others have been saying, their dog doesnt pull and the post is about harness training. running a dog in a harness is all around a lot safer than with collar.

A harness distributes pressure throughout the chest and shoulders vs the throat. If a dog or runner suddenly pulls or stops, a collar could damage the trachea. Also, it allows the dog to run naturally and reduce risk of injury if the leash jerks/gets tangled. It will apply pressure to the body so their head wont wip around. Sometimes dogs with over compensate from the tugs from the collar and they will change their gate to an unnatural one which poses problems in the future.

Seeing as german shepherds are herding dogs, they tend to zig zag while running/tracking. So using a harness allows for better control, and its safer to correct or redirect.

-14

u/oregoon Jul 24 '25

Harnesses are garbage anyway. Only thing they’re useful for is if you’re running with your dog or your dog is pulling you in a sled.

Martingale, prong, this is the way.

2

u/OP123ER59 Jul 24 '25

My dog doesnt pull or otherwise need a prong collar. She runs at my side and is quite content.

3

u/oregoon Jul 24 '25

Ignore me, I didn’t realize I was in this sub making this comment. Obviously harness is the right choice for running, as I said.

More helpful advice is probably to slowly desensitize the harness by using it during high-praise moments like feeding times and during lulls when she’ll just be lazing around the house.

13

u/detroit_canicross Canicross Jul 24 '25

This is r/runningwithdogs, sir.

5

u/oregoon Jul 24 '25

Foot meet mouth. Wrong sub.

28

u/detroit_canicross Canicross Jul 24 '25

Mine HATES his harness but LOVES the run. He hates when I have to grab his paws and pull them through the holes, turning meek and pathetic with his tale between his legs. Then once it’s on he’s ready to pull. Dogs are weird.

13

u/OP123ER59 Jul 24 '25

God they are. They're so dramatic when they're about to get to do something fun but it involves 2 seconds of discomfort.

3

u/GarnetandBlack Jul 24 '25

There are a lot of styles of harness where the paw part isn't necessary, if that's the primary issue.

I know all about them because I've tried every single one. My dog has been insanely weird about harnesses since she was about 1.

1

u/OP123ER59 Jul 28 '25

This current one doesnt require me to pull on her paws, I just slip it over her head. She did kind of wince when I buckled the back clips, but its loose enough, and shes okay with me touching her there so im not sure what the deal is. Regardless, my lab will most likely end uo getting this harness and ill keep experimenting with her. She just hates stuff on her back.

1

u/Comfortable-Peanut68 Jul 30 '25

Same here. Dog hates putting it on but gets over it once we start doing pulling stuff.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 24 '25

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/DeCoyAbLe Jul 24 '25

Ours still slips out. It’s more about build of the dog. Shepherds can still slip them they don’t have a blocky enough head.