Harness Shmarness

Barely's recently been showing some harness sensitivity. She generally walks away when I hold it up for her to "get dressed," a command she once loved. This all become evident to the trainers at SSD when they did her 12-month eval and they said to discontinue use of it until a later date. Well, not that I don't think they know what they're talking about because they obviously do, but I decided to instead work intensely with Barely everyday and try to get her back to where she once was.

Tonight I first started with her favorite treat in the world: cheese. She was very willing to put her head in the harness for that! We kept repeating the "get dressed" cue over and over. Then I left the harness on her and practiced having her listen to commands with it (which is also part of the problem). She did well at this so I decided to take a break for a little while.

When I started again about an hour later, she still was showing some reluctance to put her head through the harness so I decided to change tactics. It's obvious Barely will willing put her head through it if she knows she's getting a treat, but she should be able to do it anytime- treat or no treat. So, when she tentatively stuck her nose through I praised her with a very excited "Good girl!!"and lots of pets then asked for her to get dressed again. She again stuck her nose in a little but wasn't sure so I repeated my praise. The 3rd time she stuck her head through and I erupted with complete excitement and plenty of "good girls" and "you're so smart!" She quickly got excited and loved the attention. Her tail started wagging faster and faster (something it doesn't do when I first put her harness on) and she rubbed up against me for more pets. We repeated this exercise several more times and each time I asked her to "get dressed" she would exuberantly shove her head through it and get visibly happy when I praised and pet her. I think this is a step in the right direction and I want to keep working on it every day.