My mini goldendoodle was traumatized (mishandled and injured) by a bad groomer, now he runs, hides, and flinches when we need to harness him to go out. Very very early on we switched from collar to harness to minimize discomfort.
We've been trying to desensitize and use positive reinforcement for over a year, but it's been hard. He almost always flees whenever my partner or I grab a harness. Between outings, I try to stay below his fear threshold, but at some point he does need to go out, so I need to get the harness on him. I'm worried this is setting us back, every day.
He is now sometimes willing to approach and touch the harness with his nose, in exchange for small pieces of steak, but flinches if I so much as twitch while holding the harness. He's otherwise very well-trained and well-adjusted; not really any other anger/fear behaviors, very loving with unfamiliar humans, children, dogs, he trusts us. It's just the harness.
Really need some advice; he's our first dog, and it's hard to find good advice for this specific situation.
Should I stop bringing him on walks until this is resolved? Leave the harness on 24/7, but use a second harness for training purposes?
We have a small patio with doggie door, where he can do his business freely. He can get an hour or more of exercise playing fetch with us indoors. We've tried using clickers, without much benefit over a verbal "Yes!".
submitted by /u/kagamiseki
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