The shop assistant came to greet the man. “Hello”, she said, “Can I help you with anything?”. “I’m not sure”, replied the man. “I’ve just got a puppy and I thought I’d come and look at some collars and leads to see if there is anything he might like”. After a brief discussion, the girl took the man around the shop recommending all the things that they recommend when somebody first bring home their new little furry family member.
The Extendi-Lead and Harness Package Deal
There’s got to be one, right? A Package that people get sold when they go to the pet chain store and tell them that they have just brought their puppy home. There’s got to be, surely?
I haven’t been here long, having come here from more down the South of the country, and there are two things that I noticed that hit me squarely in the face when it comes to dog owners in the area.
The first thing I noticed was that the majority of people have got a dog. Although the area where I came up from was located in the countryside, not that many people had dogs. Of course, it was a current occurrence that I would come across a dog owner each day, but in hindsight they were very few and far between. Only very rarely would there be a dog in the pub and there would only be one or two dogs running around in the park in the morning.
Upon arriving more northwards, I have noticed that there was a higher saturation of dog owners. I can’t go through one day without bumping into a dog, whether it be along the street, in the town or in the park, there is always a dog to be found pulling its owner about. This brings me on to my next point.
The second thing that I noticed was that almost every dog was wearing a harness. I find this concept absolutely fascinating, especially when the majority of owners are complaining that their dog pulls on the lead – but we’ll get to that later. Coupled with the harness that owners have fitted to their dogs is the very popular extendi-lead. You know the ones – the plastic contraptions that people hold in there hand that constantly click and let out a thin line of string that allows the dog to roam while allowing it’s owner to be attached to them at all times, just in case they try to run away. I also find this extremely fascinating, seeing as the other common complaint from owners is that their dog doesn’t heel or walk on a loose leash!
Putting these two pieces of equipment together in the hands of almost every dog owner isn’t doing us or our dog any favours, in my opinion.
A Harness to Fit Them All
I have never seen so many dogs in one catchment area wearing harnesses. From little dogs to big mastiff breeds, there seems to be a harness to fit them all – although it would appear that some owners haven’t got a clue about the right type or fit of harness for their dog.
The most popular harnesses for a lot of dogs, especially the medium to larger breeds, seem to be the Julius K-9 brand. A more substantial harness that looks the part, while some other owners choose to opt for the cheaper nylon strap style of harness that can easily cut into the dog causing them discomfort. In addition, I notice that a lot of harnesses have handles on them – so wherever you are you can grab your dog and hold it back – Wow! I truly am speechless.
I have been in conversation with new owners of dogs who have told me that they need to get a better harness for their dog and they are going to get a Julius K-9 branded one. They didn’t seem to spend any time thinking why they are opting for a harness for their dog – a concept that I find amazing to some degree but not surprising.
Extendi-Leads at the Ready!
I don’t know how were got here. From there inception years ago back in the 80’s or 90’s, the extendi-lead has had me shaking my head in disbelief.
Just like the harness, there seems to be an extendi-lead to cater for anybody’s wants. Short lightweight ones, ones that have a longer piece of string, ones that actually contain a full nylon lead rather than string and you can even get fluorescent ones so that you can clearly see the lead before it wraps around your legs, ripping off the skin and almost threatening to cut them off at the knees. They now even come with attachments that you can clip to them, such as poo bag holders!
It’s quite funny watching the operator of an extendi-lead attempting to untangle the lead when it has tangled up with another dogs lead when they have been playing, like some doggy maypole dance, with all the different coloured leads and string perfectly entwined around each other.
You can also hear an extendi-lead operator approaching behind you a hundred feet away, with the constant ‘click’, ‘click’, ‘click’ sound they make as the lead is locked and unlocked depending on where the dog is going, what it is doing and what other dogs are around. ‘Click’, ‘click’, ‘click’ disturbs the otherwise tranquil and peaceful sounds of an early morning stroll through the woods or along the river. ‘Click’, ‘click’, ‘click’ – the constant, never-ending irritating sound of the extendi-lead operator, as they are in a constant flow of letting the lead out and immediately taking up the slack as they swing their arm while they are walking. A technique that must come with the extendi-lead instructions.
How on Earth did the population ever get convinced that they were a good idea? Marketing targetted towards convenience probably, as normally is the case.
The Bandwagon Effect
One of the reason why I believe there are loads of dogs with harnesses and extendi-leads and loads of owners doing the same thing as the majority of other people, is because of a societal phenomenon referred to as The Bandwagon Effect.
“The tendency for people to adopt certain behaviours, styles, or attitudes simply because others are doing so.”
This can be described as a sort of pressure-free peer pressure concept, where people are convinced that a certain thing is ‘the right things to do’, simply because they witness other people doing it and if other people are doing it, then it must be right, right?
As we go through life we get exposed the things happening in our environment and these influence us more than we think they do. If you think that the thoughts you have and decisions you make are 100% your own, then think again. It is likely that your decision to buy something, do something, eat something, wear a specific thing or go somewhere has been influenced by something or somebody outside of you and it isn’t really your decision at all.
This is known in social psychology and is nicely captured in a book entitled Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion discusses the concept of social proof and how it can influence our decisions and behaviour.
Enough with the psychology already, what about the harnesses?
Back at the Pet Shop…
A few months down the line, maybe a year, the man walks back into the pet shop.
“May I help you?”, the female shop assistant asks
“I’ve got a problem with my dog, it won’t stop pulling all the time when we go out for a walk. All it does is pull and it’s getting worse”.
“Ah!”, the girl exclaims, “I know exactly what you need. A head harness will stop your dog pulling almost instantly. I would recommend one of those as a lot of people say that they have helped them and stopped their dog pulling on the leash.”
And so the man buys another contraption and his dog is subjected to wearing a head harness for the rest of its life, as it prevents the dog from pulling and makes the owner feel better.
So Why a Harness?
My guess is that is has become less acceptable to use collars on dogs as it is now somehow seen as less humane having something around the neck of our pets. A harness is better as we perceive it to be better for the dog as we wouldn’t like a collar around our neck – unless you’re a punk from the 70’s and chose to wear a spiked bulldog collar at all times! Those were the days!
It’s all about our perception of what we are led to believe is best for our dogs and although we can easily be convinced by that this is the case, by engineered societal norms, the facts may be entirely different and our dogs don’t benefit at all. When it’s all about perception rather than fact, then you can bet that we are being led to believe something in order to produce a certain outcome that is wanted by somebody else.
A Use for Harnesses
There are of course a few instances wear a well-fitted harness has its place and is a practical solution to a problem.
Tracking
One of the many uses for a companion dog owner, or professional, to look at getting a well fitted harness tailored to the dog, is for tracking purposes. A harness is designed to allow and encourage a dog to pull in order to track a scent, leading its handler to discover a specific object or to find people.
For the pet and companion dog owner, tracking is a great sport that your dog gets to adore, because one of the dogs best things to do is sniff and track naturally. By putting on the harness, the dog learns that it’s time to work and that pulling is allowed!
Water Sports, Boats, Security & Military
If you partake in water sports, regularly go sailing or just want to have a little more security if you regularly hang around deep or rapid-flowing water with your dog, then having a harness with a handle can be a benefit in a case of “Dog Overboard”, especially if it has a suitable handle attached that you can easily and quickly grab in an emergency.
Similarly, security personnel may choose a harness to identify the dog as a security dog (but still use a collar) and military dogs will have tactical harnesses on all the time they are working.
The Downside to Harnesses
If you are working with an untrained, or minimally trained dog, then using a harness can be a pain in the butt. How can you correct a dog that wears a harness? How do you stop a dog wearing a harness pulling when a harness is designed to encourage that exact behaviour?
The Answer is: With great difficulty!
A harness fits around the strongest part of the dog – it’s core. While wearing a harness, if a dog wants to pull it will pull and it will pull with full power! If you own a big dog such as a Cane Corso or Presa Canario, then look out – you will be at the mercy of your dog and if it wants to get somewhere quickly, then you will be following whether you like it or not!
To quickly stop a dog wearing a harness can be a task and the larger the breed the more difficult it can be – that’s why some harnesses have handles, right? Like that will make a difference!
To control a dog, just like a horse, you must control the head. Where the head goes the dog goes and their butt goes in the opposite direction – generally. This is where head harnesses can be beneficial short-term. With a harness fitted firmly to your dog, you have little or no control whatsoever and coupled with an extendi-lead, all bets are off!
Extendi-Lead Mania
I have never liked extendable leads and never will. There are too many things that are wrong with them and like anything else in the pet dog world, they are used for the convenience of the owner and offer no benefit for the dog.
The Dangers of Extendable Leads
In the same way that the cord of the cord-style extendable leads can easily and very quickly become entangled around your legs, it can very easily become entangled around a dog or a child’s neck and with an excited untrained dog on the other end, it can be a recipe for disaster.
Along the street owner after owner allow there dog to walk ahead while allowing the extendable lead to reach its maximum length. The owner has no control over the dog and it can readily run into the traffic and cause all manner of accidents and of course, put itself in danger of death. All that is needed is the right sequence of events, another dog or cat or rabbit on the other side of the road and the disastrous outcome is all set up for execution.
These two points alone are the reason I will never recommend, advocate for or use an extendable lead.
No Physical Control
When using an extendi-lead the only physical control you have over your dog is to pull it back a few inches at a time – that’s it. You have zero control on where the dogs decides to go and you are at the mercy of the dogs wants, rather than the other way around.
There’s No Feedback
Because the extendable lead is contained in a plastic container which you hold the in-built handle to, it stop you feeling what is happening on the leash.
When you are using a proper leash and you dog is walking close to you, you are in direct communication with your dog. There is no need to constantly look to see what your dog is doing as you can feel where your dog is, what it’s doing, if it’s going to pull, if it’s dragging slightly or walking a little further away from your side that you want and that communication goes both ways and your dog is also aware of what you’re doing.
With an extendable lead you lose that communication and you can’t feel movement in the same way as a traditional leash. Therefore your reactions will be much slower.
Zero Holding Options
Extendable leads come with only one way to hold them – using the handle built onto them. That’s it. You can’t hold it differently, in a different place, it’s not designed to drop on the floor for the dog to drag when starting to work with off-leash heeling and it’s not easy to attach it elsewhere – like around your middle, to your belt or even use as a tether around a tree or a post.
An what about when you pluck up the courage to let your dog off the leash – (Let’s face it, this is why you have one isn’t it, because you haven’t trained your dog and you have zero control over it?) – where do you put the bulky plastic extendi-lead? Well, you have to carry it or put it in a back-pack, as there is no way that you can just put it over your shoulder and strap it to your body so that you can interact with your dog in hands-free mode.
Despite its popularity, the extendi-lead is one of the most lacking piece of equipment when it comes to options.
Lack of Correction Finese
If you are training your dog with a traditional lead, then you will have no doubt noticed the little intricate movements that you perform almost constantly while walking your dog. Your fingers will do certain things lightly on the lead that communicates a whole host of different things for your dog to follow. You can feel the slightest movement of your dog and decide to use a quick and light correction as you need to.
Do you get this type of control finesse with an extendable lead? What do you think?
One Use Only
It is my opinion that extendi-leads have only one use and that use is when starting to train your dog for distance recall. If you are using a leash while training for recall, then it is common to use a long leash so that distances can be increased. This is where the extendi-lead excels. Rather than mess around with 10 metres of leash as the dog comes in towards you, it’s easier to press a button and let the leash coil in on it’s own as the dog gets closer.
This is the ONLY practical use for an extendable lead that I can see and a temporary one at that.
The Answer to All of Your Problems
The answer is simple – train your dog!
The common reasons that people are tempted to use and extendable lead are:
- They don’t want to spend time training their dog
- They don’t trust their dog not to run away
- They don’t trust their dog to come back if they let it off the lead
That’s it!
All three of these things are easily trained and some of the basic things that we focus on at our Obedience Classes.
At Beginner Level you will train your dog to:
- Walk without pulling on leash
- Stay with you when off-leash
- Come when called
These things are so easily trained in puppies and younger dogs that they can be instilled within the dogs first few months in life. Older dogs that haven’t been trained may take a while to change in ground behaviours, but love, consistency and dedication will soon have new behaviours created and a dog that will behave in a way you expect.
They Are Only Tools
As we leave off one thing that I would like to install in people’s minds is that a lot of these tools have been created for convenience for the people that don’t want to spend the time investing in training their dog and would rather just restrict it or allow it to do certain things that are convenient for us.
There are times when we need to use equipment such as Head Collars, Martingale Collars or Slip Leashes in order to correct the behaviours of some older dogs that haven’t been appropriately trained.
It must always be remembered though that these things are the tools we need to communicate in a certain way to our dogs in order to correct certain issues, after which they can stop being used ans quickly as possible, once the new behaviour has taken effect.
A Man Walks Into a Pet Shop
“Hello Sir, can I help you?”
“Yes, I’m after a 3-metre 1-inch wide traditional leather training leash”, he replies.
“We don’t stock those Sir”, the assistant responds.
“What about a police dog handler style leather leash then for my German Shepherd?”
“No, sorry Sir, you’ll have to look online”.
“A large strong leather collar?”.
“No Sir, these are our range of leads and collars”, she explains as she guides the mans view to the small and lightweight collars that his dog would more use as ankle bracelets and leashes that would snap at the slightest pull of Max.
“What would you recommend then?”, he asks.
“Well….”, the girl replies, “..we have a good range of harnesses and extendable leads that are very popular……..”
I think that some main stream pet shops are lacking in the more traditional style leads, collars, training aids and tools that used to be the norm years ago. Gone are the days where you could nip in the shop and readily buy a decent collar and lead for your dog, or a ball or toy that would last at least a year.
Now all you have are s small range of lightweight leads and collars – often colour coordinated, a range of cuddly toys and squeaking objects and an even larger range of scented shampoos and other pointless things that are designed to appeal to dog owners who prefer to treat their dogs like children.
They’re dogs! Treating dogs like children can cause a variety of other issues including resource guarding, protection issues and promote snapping. Treating dogs like dogs respects them more and get them to respect you more, which can improve training responsiveness and life for both of you.
My advice, if you are using an extendable lead, is to ditch it. If you are using a harness, take it off and save it for tracking, mountaineering or white-water rafting. Feel your dog, interact with your dog and let it do the same with you. If you need some form of correction, then get a cheap slip leash and learn to use it properly as you will be able to correct a whole host of unwanted behaviours and install new ones quickly, using this one simplistic tool alone.
More importantly, interact with your dog, speak to you dog, love your dog and build a strong relationship with your dog and them with you. Once you have this, training will come more natural, quicker and easier.
Until next time, Happy training!