Harness Struggles

Recently we have begun training Milo to walk on a harness rather than his collar. He hates the harness and it really freaks him out. We tried to get him used to it a few months ago as well, but it has not been going well. Last time we've tried leaving it on him so that he can get used to it, but he will not move an inch and just lays on the floor looking miserable. Milo loves to go outside so we've been trying to associate it with going out, but still he hates it and freaks out when it's on him. He especially hates when we attach the leash to the harness and becomes extremely uncomfortable. Today he bit at my hand when I tried to put the leash on him. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips on how to make this process easier. We are trying to be really consistent with him and giving him lots of praise and treats when he does a good job with it, but we are really struggling with getting him used to it. Just looking for a few tips or helpful ideas with how to show him that the harness is a good thing! Thanks!

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Comment by Bev Levy on June 12, 2010 at 8:41pm: The martingale collar is a great design if your worried about him pulling out of a regular collar.Why do you want a harness? They are not very good for walks and also not great for training.

Comment by Sam Tsang on June 10, 2010 at 12:04am: Run your fingers around his arm pit, can you feel scab, swollen spot? If so you may want to invest in another harness. we had a cheap one when Vienna was a pup, poor thing was afraid of it because it was rubbing her the wrong way, she was bleeding and we had no clue, you can imagine how bad we felt. We have since invested in a good design / quality harness and only use it on long car trips, we find harness in general useless and encourage Vienna to pull even more (years ago), regular martingale have worked best for us.

Comment by Rebecca Marie O'Bryan on June 9, 2010 at 11:08pm: are dachshund was the same way and we did everything that u did. with time he will begin to accept it, it took snoopy almost 8 months to get use to it. what kind of harness is it? he might find it uncomfortable and weird on him. the make mesh harness's that are comfy. i do prefer a harness that way i dont have to worry about him slipping out of it, i know that there are some who suggest it makes them pull, i can agree but my corgi doesn't pull so its not an issue with me lol:) but what we did was i would sit on the floor and every time he looked at it i gave him a treat and praised him( did this through out the day for about 3days) next i took the harness out and put in on the floor, when ever he approached it i told him good boy and gave a treat. he then wasn't nervous when he saw it. next we would bring it closer to him and when he was calm we would praise and reward, we wouldn't put it on him but act as we were(so he would get use to it being close to him). then when he is use to that try putting it on him and if he is calm reward. now with putting on the leash i would distract him by putting his favorite treat in your hand but keep it closed so he sniffs and licks, pet his back so he gets know that your hand is there slowly put the leach on, when u get it on him successfully give him the treat. this worked for both are dogs and patience is a must, this will take days. i hope it works for u! :)