17/04/2023
Harnesses don't cause pulling - please read on, especially if you engaged in the post yesterday.
We don't get taught about how behaviour works. We learn shapes and colours, what our eyes, ears and heart are for but our formal (or accurate, informal) education on behaviour is usually lacking.
When working with clients, I often ask them
1. What are your eyes for?
2. What are your ears for?
3. What is your behaviour for?
1 and 2 are readily answered. 3 is usually only partial or inaccurate. The same way we have evolved with eyes and ears, we have evolved with behaviour.
The biological function of behaviour is to affect change in the environment in order to benefit us. That's it. It's no more up for debate than the function of our ears and heart are.
Because we don't know what behaviour is for, myth, folklore, opinion and misinformation is sown into teaching and learning. This leads us to ridiculous statements like
"spare the rod, spoil the child"
"prong collars don't hurt"
"harnesses cause pulling"
The consequences of our behaviour (all beings on earth) drive our behaviour. Work for pay, the pay keeps you coming back, as long as you need the money. Thirsty, drink water if it's available. If its not available, find it, move, act until it is available to you.
We are taught that equipment is what we use to train dogs. Equipment provides consequences to the dog, usually through pain, discomfort, physical control, annoyance.
For example, a dog is on a slip lead and pulls. The human pulls back on the slip lead causing pain. The dog now stops pulling to remove, escape, relieve, avoid the pain. The slip lead directly causes pain, the pain changes behaviour. Same for prong collars, choke chains etc.
So the human learns that equipment changes behaviour without examining why. They then erroneously conclude that if harness doesn't stop pulling, then it must cause pulling. No. The harness, like the one in the photo, doesn't cause pain to the dog's neck or throat. So the dog can comfortably pull. The freedom from pain makes it easy for the dog to pull. When the dog pulls, good things happen (movement, access to smells etc). Those good things now cause more pulling in the future. It's the good things which cause it not the harness. The harness allows, not causes nor encourages. If you stand still with your dog on a harness and the dog learns pulling doesn't work (no movement, smells). You can now teach them that a loose lead means movement, treats, smells etc. Different behaviour, same result.
Next ridiculous comment I get. "Harnesses encourage pulling". No, they may make it easier to pull. If I jump into a Porsche, the car does encourage me to drive fast. That's a truly ridiculous statement. It allows me to drive fast if I want to. Would it cause or encourage me to drive at 80mph through a school zone? No. If you think it's semantics, look up the words "allow, encourage and cause" in the dictionary. They're not the same. Our words matter.
The next stupid comment was "who really knows how dogs learn". Academics. Scientists. People like me and those I've learned from who apply the knowledge researchers find and give them feedback. "But science changes all the time so you can't trust it" - this is an ignorant statement from people who don't understand how science works or what it is even on the most basic of levels.
Critical analysis, removal of black and white thinking, removal of magical thinking, proper education, learning from current text books and not your auntie who has had dogs for 40 years or the guy down the pub who was a police dog handler in the 1980s are required.
If harnesses cause pulling, every puppy would pull as soon as you put a harness on, we wouldn't need to teach sled dogs to pull a sled or horses to pull carts. We'd just slap a harness in them and away we'd go.
Learning and Behaviour by Paul Chance is a great place to start.
Posts like this may or may not provoke strong reactions. If you're inclined to tell me I'm wrong, safe tour time and energy, scroll on by and enjoy your day. This is a business page, not a discussion group or forum.
Love and peace.
