Dog harness cornucopia

Through no fault of my own I found myself in possession of approximately a dozen different dog harnesses. Some are for specific types of sports, but most are just for normal life. To make the most of it, I thought I make a quick guide through the bewildering land of dog harnesses.

Let’s start with my baseline, the Ruffwear Frontrange, solid, tested, popular. I have two of these, in two spectacular colours, which do not look quite as spectacular anymore after a couple of years of hard use. The geometry is simple — a loop around the neck (on the top), one around the chest (bottom), connected by a back plate and a chest plate. There is a D-ring on the back plate to connect the leash. That’s it.

Let’s start with the most obvious feature — this is a so-called Y-shaped harness, which means it leaves the shoulders free to move, which is exactly what you want for your dog. The alternative is a harness with a strap across the chest. Here a comparison, Bunny, please come forward:

Y-shaped is on the left — you can see the Y below the head, one strap down between the legs, two up around the neck. On the right is Bunny’s first harness, which has a strap across the chest, and nothing between the legs. I didn’t buy this one, and this harness is not manufactured anymore, so, I won’t even name it. It was solid and useful for a while. But it clearly inhibits the shoulder movement. You want to see the Y, always.

Next topic: How to put it on. The Ruffwear Frontrange has two buckles, on either side of the chest strap, but none on the neck loop. Which means, the dog has to put his head through the harness. Bunny struggled with that for a while, so, I got him a harness with a buckle on the neck loop, the Woofles Endurance. Here in comparison with the Frontrange.

Still two buckles, but now one is in the front and one in the back. Which means, the head does not have to go through, but instead you have to get the dog to stick one leg through the chest loop. That might also be complicated. The point is you can accomodate your dog’s preferences, a bit at least.

Buckles are to some extent a weak point of the harness. They can break, but maybe more importantly, people like me can forget to clip them properly. Therefore I like to think that fewer buckles are better, and no buckles on the neck loop is good, too.

Just quick on front clips. Both of these harnesses have some kind of front clips. In theory you can clip the leash to that loop, and whenever the dog pulls, it will be pulled sideways, which must be very annoying. I don’t use these, and I don’t recommend using them, but some harnesses have them, some don’t.

And a word about wear and tear: All harnesses shown so far have been used at least a year, some more, every day, in every weather, in mud, sand, saltwater, storm, forest. They have stains, some decorative stitching has become loose, and they will never have their original colour anymore. But the substance is still robust, in particular the straps, the buckles, and the attachment of the D-ring is still solid. I have no doubt that all these harnesses would last a lot longer. Having said that — since the harness keeps us safe, I check all critical parts regularly. Any sign of a problem, and the harness should be replaced.

This is the Ruffwear Frontrange (right) in comparison with the Manmat Smart Harness, my new favourite. The only two issues I have with the Frontrange is that it has a lot of fabric, and therefore takes a while to dry. And it is a little short for my large, strong dog. I always thought that the movement of the front legs is not entirely free.

The Smart Harness is a couple of inches longer, and as a result the chest strap is way behind the shoulders, which means more freedom. My dog seems to like it, too. The harness is very minimalistic, so minimalistic, you have trouble attaching a dog tag (for which the Frontrange has a little pocket).

Also, in contrast to the Frontrange, there is no way here to adjust the length of the neck loop. Being able to adjust something is great, but it also adds a weak point. I actually prefer a harness that can’t be adjusted. If you can’t adjust, buying the right size becomes more important. The head has to fit through the loop after all, with ears and everything. Fit is really critical— you want to be able to stick your fingers through the loops when the dog is in the harness, but not much more. The harness should not have any slack, but it also shouldn’t be restrictive. I spend a lot of time agonising, trying, and experimenting with the fit. Once I have a harness that does fit, though, everything gets easier. Next time I buy a new one I just do the measurements on the first.

Harnesses like the one just shown are sometimes called ‘halfback’, because the attachment to the leash is (not quite) half down the back. They have the advantage that they are okay to use for a the occasional pulling. I have a few more of these:

On the left is the Line Harness from Non-stop Dogwear. On the right the Distance Harness from Howling Dog Alaska. I haven’t tested them yet, but I have every reason to believe that they are also good choices. The Line Harness is a little stiff perhaps, and I had to tape the straps to avoid them from slackening during use. The Distance Harness only has one buckle, which means, one leg has to go through the loop. But apart from that it is incredibly similar to the Smart Harness. Once my dog is a bit more patient with his legs, we might use that one. Another one of this nature I happen to have is the Second Skin from Howling Dog Alaska , very fancy, very cool— but that one is too small for my giant. If you want it, tell me.

Update six months later: It turns out that both the Distance Harness and the Smartness mentioned above have some rings that are not stainless steel. Which means, if used in saltwater, they will start corroding quickly. I contacted the manufacturer, but didn’t get very far. That’s a major problem for people who live in wet places near the sea.

I don’t really do proper pulling or mushing, because my dog is not interested. But just for completeness, if you really ask your dog to pull something, regularly, you need a special harness for that — an X-back. Here is an example:

This is the X-back Dog Harness from Manmat, now the head loop is on the left, and the attachment point way to the right. These are really not for walking, because they give little control. They are made for pulling. X-backs go all around the dog, like a pyjama, so that the weight is distributed all over the chest. They also tend not to have any buckles or options for adjustments. They really need to fit straight away. And the dog has to be okay with legs and head going through loops. Watch professional mushers putting on harnesses to their dog teams, and you get an idea how it works. Bunny, needless to say, hates it.

Depending on what type of pulling sports you do, you might need different type of X-backs. In general you want to minimise the angle between dog spine and leash. Mine has the attachment point on top, which means it is good if the other end of the leash is a foot or two up — so, a bicycle, a kickbike, or my waist harness. If you want to pull something closer to the ground, the harness needs to have a slightly different design with an attachment point further down. Here we end our excursion to X-back harnesses

But maybe a comment on pulling: Harnesses obviously don’t cause pulling, but they certainly make it more comfortable for the dog to pull. You can often stop or inhibit pulling by putting on a collar or some other contraption, but then the dog has to pay the price — through discomfort, choking, pain. To stop pulling you need to teach your dog how to walk without pulling, believe it or not. The harness is just a way to keep the dog comfortable and safe, that’s it. Also, dogs can totally learn that they should pull in some situations, and should not pull at all in others. They are clever people.

For completeness, this is the Ruffwear Webmaster, kind of the Cadillac among the walking harnesses. In contrast to everything I have shown so far, it has THREE straps, an additional one way back around the belly. It is known to be absolutely impossible to escape. It has a solid, huge back plate, and attachment points for a backpack, which I rarely use. With only two buckles for three straps, it needs the head and one leg to go through loops and is a bit of a fuzz to put on for us. It also tends to slide a bit to the side. But if you want safety and comfort on long hikes, this is the king.

And now let’s finish up with some more obscure examples, which I really never use.

On the left, a harness of unknown provenance designed for use in cars. The interesting feature is that it doesn’t have any backplate — the neck loop and chest loop are just strapped together. I guess that works, too. It doesn’t look very comfortable, but then again, the dog is not supposed to move in it. On the right a blast from the past, in design not very different from Manmat’s Smart Harness, but made from thin leather, and with old-fashioned belt buckles which I haven’t seen in use in decades. I can’t imagine asking my dog to stand still while I try to put this thing on. But it probably works just fine!

And here my dog with the Smart Harness, and a martingale colour as well. He looks very professional, waiting for his sausage roll, doesn’t he.