Well, I didn't touch on training because I assumed this was a thread about safety, but okay.
Again. Use a collar. Use it while tracking. No one is saying you cannot or even should not use the tool you feel is best for you and your dogs. We're disagreeing that it's also the tool that's best for everyone else and their dogs, and with the ludicrous idea that we're somehow wrong for disagreeing with you.
The summary of this study says harnesses change gait. That does not automatically equate "cause issues". If you have other studies or access to the full article that shows evidence that the change of gait causes long-term physical issues for dogs who wear harnesses an average amount of time (or even all the time), let us know. I, at least, am open to learn, but what you've presented so far is not convincing.
For training my dogs, I can communicate just fine with my voice, body language, and rewards. The harness and lead with my preferred training method are not communication tools, but safety tools. And yet, the puppy has learned very quickly that pressure on both collar and harness mean the same thing; circle back to me. Ideally he'd never hit the end of his lead on either tool, but he's eight months old. His brain's all over the place. Stuff happens.
And again. Attaching the dog to me is 95% about safety when it comes to my training and handling. If I have a dog who might pull because they:
- are young and excitable
- have come to me untrained
- have had trauma that causes fearful and/or aggressive reactions
- have high prey drive that causes lunging
- obsessively chase cars, bikes, etc.
- have a genetic disposition that inclines them to reacting fearfully and/or aggressively (to dogs or people)
- are highly excitable and easily frustrated, causing frustration-based reactive behavior
- have not been exercised in a while (e.g. post injury recovery or when weather has been unsafe for several days)
- has been mishandled in the past, which may or may not have caused or exacerbated any of the above issues
I'm darn well going to put them in a tool that means I can control them. For my safety and for those around me. What tool that is will often depend on the dog and the issue, but I find front-clip harnesses (NOT the ones that actively tighten around the dog's shoulder) are often the least invasive, most effective method for me. I'm sure some people use them instead of training. Many, many do not. Just like some people use prongs or e-collars instead of training. I'm lucky in that my reactive dog is ~8 kg (under 20 lbs) which means I can often get away with a regular harness, but a front clip does make managing (not training) him when he gets over threshold easier.
But as you continue to insist, despite all evidence, common sense, and writing by noted professionals, that reactivity is super easy to 'fix' by showing leadership and suppressing reactive behaviors, I doubt any of this will sink in. I truly hope that you never have to manage a genuinely reactive dog.
PS: nobody said collars cause reactivity. The point several people made was that the symptoms of reactivity can make collars more dangerous for a reactive dog than average. But bad handling doesn't cause all (or, I would argue, most) reactivity, either. See bullet list above.