The “Gear Up!” Game: A 2-Minute Solution for Dogs Who Hate Their Harness
Dogs aren’t stupid. If you put on your shoes and grab your keys, your dog knows you’re leaving. If you grab the dog’s collar or harness and leash, they know they’re coming with you. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to make it easy for you. Does your dog wiggle around, skitter away, or back up out of reach? It doesn’t mean they don’t want to go. It means they need to play the “Gear Up!” dog training game. Like all 2-Minute Training Games, this is a 120-second spurt of training. You don’t want to overwhelm your dog.
Multi-use game
You can use the “Gear Up!” game for anything your dog needs to wear; collar, harness, sweater, coat, boots, cone of shame, even a muzzle. The steps are the same, just the gear changes.
Where you start depends on how your dog feels about the gear.
Step 1: For dogs who avoid the gear entirely.
Step 2: For dogs seeing the gear for the first time.
Step 3: For dogs who are okay with the gear but “wiggle” during the process.
Step 1: The “Vibe” Check (Changing Minds)
It’s really difficult to change anyone’s mind about anything. You can come up with all the logical arguments in the world, but their opinion won’t change. Not unless you prove it, convincingly. And without making them feel foolish.
It works the same way with dogs. Once they’ve decided the harness is evil, the burden of proof is on you.
That means you have to arm yourself with the highest-possible-value reward. If your dog is toy-obsessed, only play with their favorite toy when the harness is in the vicinity. You don’t try to put it on. Don’t wave it in their face. Just have it clearly visible whenever you take out that favorite toy, or treat. They only get to play with that particular toy if they can see (or hear) the harness. That pup cup is only lickable when the harness is around.
You should start to see the dog relax around the harness after only a couple of sessions. The sight of the harness is now associated with something the dog likes, although they may not be happy about it yet. Move on to Step 2 of the “Gear Up” dog training game.
Step 2: The “Drape and Treat” (Building Neutrality)
Say you’re introducing your dog to a muzzle. They’ve never seen it before, don’t know what it is, but are somewhat suspicious.
The easiest way to get the dog to not care about it is to just drape it over your arm while you feed them, or play with them. Get them used to the sight, smell and sound of it before you ever try to put it on. It becomes part of the environment, but no big deal. For noise sensitive dogs, try to have someone else click the buckle or rip the Velcro while you deliver treats. It changes the sound from a stressor to a treat bell.
Be sure to use the arm with the muzzle (harness, collar, coat) to reward the dog. If it happens to slide down your arm and touch them, that’s fine. Be sure there’s nothing sharp toward the dog, any buckle or loose strap should be facing you, not the dog. Also be aware of your body position. Many dogs get freaked out by a person leaning over them. If that’s your dog, either kneel, sit on the floor, or let the dog sit or stand on a higher surface, a grooming table, a couch, or a chair. Notice that Tango is sitting on a table to get the harness on.
Step 3: The “Big Ask” (The Invitation)
When the dog is really comfortable with the collar getting close to them, it’s time to put it on. Have a bowl of your dog’s walk-through-fire-to-get treats close at hand. Open the collar and invite your dog to come close and offer their neck. You’re giving them the opportunity to get the treat.
If you’ve laid the groundwork, the dog will stretch out their neck and hold still while you fasten it. (We play the “Put On Your Collar” game several times every day.) Reward heavily, one morsel at a time! (Side note: a fistful of treats offered to a dog is “One.” The same number of treats given one-at-a-time is “Many.”)
If the dog isn’t ready to offer the behavior yet, just go back a step and try again. Every dog can get there. Patience and consistency are the keys to unlock training games.
Pro tip:
If you need to put on whatever gear you’re training for before the dog is happy about it, don’t ask. Get the dog and put it on. Don’t fuss, don’t yell, and don’t feel guilty. It may result in a step back, but sometimes we just need to get stuff done.