Welcome to Five Minute Talk, the mini podcast that delivers practical training advice in less than five minutes.

Hey there and welcome back. And thanks so much for being a subscriber. Your support really does keep the show going. Today I want to unpack one of the biggest marketing myths in the dog world. The so-called no pull harness. If you've ever shopped for dog gear, you've seen it. Shelves full of harnesses claiming to stop pulling instantly. And the promise is tempting. Clip it on, problem solved. But here's the reality there isn't a single product on the market that makes pulling disappear without training. You know, most harnesses have a back clip, and when you hook the leash there, you're basically setting your dog up like a sled dog. Dogs are designed to lean into that pressure at the front of the harness and use those big chest and shoulder muscles on those chest straps to move forward. So instead of stopping pulling, you've just made it more comfortable and efficient for them. And some harness designs place the clip at the front of the chest. And that can redirect the dog when they pull because the leash attachment shifts their body slightly to the side. And yes, for some dogs, this makes pulling a little less rewarding. But many dogs quickly figure out how to adjust their balance and still get forward motion. At best, a front clip harness will buy you a window of opportunity, but at worst it's just a different way of getting dragged down the street. For your dog, pulling is rewarding because every step forward reinforces it. If the dog pulls and still gets to the tree or the hydrant or the squirrel chase, pulling worked. Dogs are experts at adjusting their bodies to keep getting what they want. And if that means leaning differently or planting their feet or shifting their stride, they'll do it. This is where the myth breaks down. A no-pool harness sounds like a shortcut, but the only true no-pull method is the human. We have to stop rewarding pooling. We have to stop moving forward or giving our dogs more leash when the leash is tight, when they're pulling. Equipment can make management easier and it can give us a little more leverage, but it never replaces consistent training. If you want loose leash walking, it has to come from you. That means stopping when your dog pulls, rewarding when there's slack in the leash, turn pulling into a dead end, not a way forward, and make sure that polite walking is what gets them the good stuff. You know, aka reward, reward, reward. But just realize that harnesses are tools and they can be helpful. They can reduce frustration for a while. But there is no such thing as a harness that will fix pulling for you. The only no pull solution is training. And that's always 100% on the owner.