As it often happens, my morning started with someone critiquing the tools I use when walking my dog.
Today, it was my flat collar. A person, struggling to handle their unruly puppy on a harness while my dog and I passed by, informed me that collars cause collapsed tracheas and suggested I switch to a “gentle” harness.
I have no clue where this person is coming from, but the sentiment reeked of the “force-free, positive-only, rewards-based” philosophy—the approach that inverts terms and definitions to vilify methods that differ.
I figured it wouldn’t hurt to deconstruct the terminology that the “harness-is-gentler-than-collar” crowd lives by. Maybe it will open some eyes—or maybe it will just make someone angrier.
“Force-free” disciples believe dog training should involve no pressure or stress—nothing painful or uncomfortable. They rely on rewarding correct behavior and ignoring or withholding rewards for incorrect behavior, all under the banner of “positive reinforcement.”
But rein-force-ment—with the word “force” right in it—means strengthening a skill or behavior through the intentional application of some force, whether positive (treats) or negative (withholding treats). Even a dog pulling on a harness responds first and foremost to the force holding it back.
Moreover, there’s nothing exactly “positive” about a dog constantly fighting the pressure of a harness. Withholding treats, technically a “negative punishment” in the realm of classical conditioning, isn’t exactly positive either—the dog is stressed, thinking about what it did wrong, and figuring out how to earn that reward. It’s an excellent teaching method, which I love, but calling it “positive only” stretches the definition of “positive.”
I don’t force (pun intended!) anyone to live by my beliefs. If reinforcing pulling is what you are after, go ahead and use that harness—it’s a great tool. Mushers have used it for centuries. Pulling when wearing a harness will cause no trachea issues. However, I do not want pulling in any form, so encouraging it first with the tool designed to facilitate it, and then fighting against what I just taught, does not interest me.
Likewise, if you prefer withholding treats as a way of encouraging a dog to make the correct choice, enjoy the gamble of competing with that dog's other, non-food drives. I do not like making my dog feel confused and I do not enjoy gambling; clarity is what I am after.
Live with your dog as you like—but let others live too. And may the force be with you.
P.S.: See that loose leash in the picture? Teaching your dog to walk without pulling, and not the use of harnesses, is what prevents trachea injuries. Address the cause instead of trying to manage consequences.