Hi all,

There were some recent questions about starting a dog in harness.  As I was hooking up my "puppy team" of 3 nine-month olds and two of their grandparents, I thought how easy it seemed; that led me to question what I did that made it flow easily.  So, here goes....one person's way of training a pup/dog to harness.

First I will say that this jumps in well down the road of training a pup.  From early on they have been trained to focus on me, to respond to voice commands and hand cues, to the concept of response and reward, to the idea of learning being fun. But, even if it is a pup/dog that is new to me, the methods are the same.  Also, I am a word person; I do not house "break", leash "break" or harness "break" a dog.....I TRAIN.  I start my pups in harness sometime between 6 to 7 months of age, depending on conditions and the physical maturity level I see in that litter.  No hurry, we're going to be doing this a long time!

I put each beginner on a drop chain on the truck by itself; I want everything I do to be focused on that pup, not on another one bouncing in my face.  Bending the chestplate of the harness in half to make a tidy hole of the neck and underarms, I put my arm through the neck hole with a treat (piece of hot dog, Rollover, dog biscuit) in my hand.  The harness is positioned with the breastplate toward the top and the body hanging to the ground; this makes a tidy and less threatening presentation from the pup's view.  I gradually let the pup nibble on the treat while I slide the harness down my arm and over its head; as the harness goes over the head, I draw my treat hand slightly toward me saying "Get dressed".  The pup is focused on the treat rather than the new "thing" going over her head; by inducing her to move slightly toward me, I am training her to put her head in the neckhole ON COMMAND.  I rotate the harness 180 degrees, so that the body and breastplate are in proper position.  As I work the harness back on the pup's neck and move the collar forward of the harness, I do so gently and keeping contact with the dog; at this point, I have them positioned with their side touching my legs; this gives me control of their movement in every direction.  I slide my hands down the leg to the far side of the pup and bring it up in a natural tuck to put the leg through the underarm strap; keeping the pup against my body and my arm around their far side at the chest, I lift the closer leg in a tuck and put it through the near strap.  Keeping my hands on both side straps of the harness, I "release" the pup; usually it will move forward at which point I say "tighten up" and give praise.  Then I release the harness and we are done.  In the first couple of runs, I may choose to put a belly band on also, to prevent the pup from accidentally popping out of the harness.

Having secured the front of the gangline, either with an experienced leader or to something stationary, I take the pup forward.  I have a leash on the collar.  I walk the pup with both the leash AND holding the withers-strap of the harness, keeping the pup touching my side and in control.  Keeping this positioning, I attach the tugline to the harness, gently move the pup forward into the harness and give them BOTH the command to "tighten up" AND a treat at the same time they feel the harness tighten.  (This sequence eventually teaches the dog to present its rear for me to attach the tugline, then move itself forward into position.)  Placing myself slightly forward of the pup, I continue to give the command and to give praise and treats.  I attach the neckline while keeping the pup in control and in position using the leash.  (Tugline first, move into it, then the neckline....always focusing on moving forward into the harness.)  Then we pet and praise FROM A POSITION FORWARD OF THE DOG'S SHOULDER, to keep her "into" her harness.  If she tries to back up, spin, nip at another dog next to her, I give a gentle tug on the leash in the direction I want her to be.  That's ONE!  Leave the leash on her, laying on the ground in a forward direction and go for the next one.

Always keeping an eye on the pups already in line, continue until they are all hooked up.  If you have one or more helpers, they can continue to give gentle guidance to the pups already hooked up.  If not, know that this is not meant to be fast; it is meant to be slow so that the pups get used to the feel of the harness and so that you can use this to TEACH them proper behavior.  Each time you return to the gangline, put yourself forward of each pup, smile and say "tighten up" while inducing them into their harness with another small treat.  Your position forward of the pup brings them into their harness rather than them turning around to get to you; a simple thing, but very deliberate.

Now, it's time to make sure your leader lines are attached to DOGS rather than an immovable object..... I release the snubline and with pressure still on the brake, I give the adults their command, "are you ready..." they surge forward and the pups bounce against their harness without a clue...."let's go"...the leaders move forward and I KEEP THE BRAKE ON.....letting them move out ONLY at a crawl until I see that the pups are not bothered by the feel of the harness, moving in harness or the noise of the cart/sled.  Gradually I let them speed up to a SLOW lope, still using my brake to keep the speed very controlled.  All tuglines are tight; if a pup has a loose line, I slow them down but keep moving....I don't care if we are walking!  This is to TRAIN the pups to pull against the feel of the harness, it is not a conditioning run.  It is all about contol.  Several times during this first "run", I stop the team and set the brake (in whatever way you KNOW that the cart will not leave without you; that's not the lesson you want them to learn!), go forward and praise each pup, petting them FROM JUST FORWARD OF THEIR SHOULDER (remember that everything is designed to teach them to lean into their harness).

Complete your TRAINING run keeping the pups moving consistently in their harness and NEVER letting them move to their top speed; you want those lines tight and you don't want to hurt a young, unconditioned body.  Back at the truck, leave the dogs/pups hooked in the line; training continues!  As you move up the team, pet each pup FROM FORWARD OF HIS SHOULDERS and give praise.  Then get your "really good treats" (mine is half of a hot-dog) and start back down the team, leaders first.  Give each pup their treat from in front of them, getting them to lean into their harness firmly to get it; again give the command "tighten up" then praise.  Give them water in line using the same method; the pan is just forward enough that they have to be "in" their harness to drink, but not so much they have to strain for it.

Finish your training run by undoing the TUGLINE first, then the neckline and walking the pup on their leash back to the truck.  Again, they always move forward into the line rather than spinning around or you pulling them backward.

Tempest, Thistle and Topaz started their training at 7 months of age with their grandparents Tucker and Katie in lead; at 9 1/2 months old and over a dozen training sessions in harness, the girls push their heads through the harness to "get dressed", walk on their leash (pulling) to the gangline and position themselves at my side where I can reach their tugloops, surge forward as soon as they are attached and swing close in to the center to have their necklines attached.  They bounce and surge forward but in control until I am ready.  When I say "Are you ready", all tugs are tight....at "let's go" their heads are down and their hind legs driving into the dirt to get going!  The "easy lope" that I will allow them is faster than when we started, but never top end.  Sometimes we stop and take a break during the run, sometimes not.  They come in happy and tired, but not exhausted.  And they will be ready for next year's race season when it comes around; both in conditioning and BEHAVIORS. (Written March ’03)