Trainer Jacob Morgan explains why flat collars and front-clip harnesses actually encourage pulling by giving dogs mechanical advantage. He advocates for prong or slip collars instead, which create novel pressure the dog hasn't learned to resist, allowing owners to control powerful dogs like Buddy, a Boxer who injured his young owner while pulling.
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Let me tell you about the worst case of pulling I've ever dealt with. It was a boxer named Buddy. Buddy's owner is a young mum and her struggle was very real. Buddy was a big, powerful dog and he pulled her over on multiple occasions, causing actual physical injuries. He was reactive and he was hard to deal with. She'd reached a point where she couldn't even walk him while taking her daughter to the park with the pram. It was just too dangerous. She'd seen multiple trainers before and they'd tried all the usual tricks. Throwing cheese in front of the face, turning around, using a stupid front clip harness that, just letting you know, doesn't work. And she had absolutely zero success. When you touch the lead and your dog turns into a coiled spring, they're addicted to the anticipation of the walk. They drag you out the front door like a freight train. And if you're using a harness, you're just making it so much worse. Let me be very clear about this. Harnesses are designed for huskies to pull sleds. They're designed to distribute weight across the strongest part of the dog's body so they can pull more efficiently. If you put a harness on a pulling dog like Buddy, you're literally giving them the mechanical advantage to drag you down the street. When clients come to me with a dog like Buddy, they're usually using a flat collar or a harness, and those pieces of equipment have usually been poisoned. What I mean by that is the dog has learned to ignore the pressure. They just lean into it. The flat collar or the harness has become a cue to pull. If your dog is a chronic puller on a flat collar or a harness, they might hit the end of that leash 30 times in a 10-minute session. Over time, that constant compounding pressure on a dog's throat or their chest and shoulders is incredibly damaging. I actually consider that more cruel than using a different tool. I like to bring them onto something that I describe as having power steering, a prong collar or a slip collar. Think of it like horse reins. You wouldn't see a horse in a harness. You're gonna see them in reins. The reins allow the rider to turn the horse left and right and tell them to slow down with very subtle movements. Where the head goes, the body follows. A prong collar or a slip collar works the same way. It introduces a novel sensation. The dog doesn't have a history of pulling against it, so they quickly learn to yield to the pressure rather than fight it.
