Harness: Pros.. Cons...

[GreytNut]

I used to use a snugly-fitted 5-point Surefit Roman harness from Premier on Raven because I thought she couldn't get out of it. My spooky girl in her heyday was known as the Rubber Dog for her ability to escape from anything, including a martingale collar.

 

Then a tall man with a hat came up to pet her and she leaped into the air. Three quick twists and the harness was lying on the ground while my spook was shooting down the street like a comet. All turned out OK but after that we switched to a slip lead. It's the only thing she's never gotten out of.

[IAMs]

We bought Ashe's harness through 2 Hounds Design. It was a complete game changer!

 

We had lots of issues with him bouncing, tugging, pulling, sprinting, etc. After putting the harness on him and clipping his leash to the front of the harness, it felt like we were in control during his walks... for the first time ever. If he started to move towards something, we simply turned the other way and he was guided to turn with us... without putting strain on his neck. Then, once he had turned, we could attempt whatever we were doing again. This continued until he learned to calmly approach a wide range of situations.

 

Now that his walking has improved, we clip the leash to the top of the harness (above his back/shoulders) and he does well. It's like having the harness on just reminds him to behave a bit better.

 

-Joel

[Guest Rhea]

I got a harness for my greyhound when I picked him up, actually. It's meant for cars, and it has a strap that attaches to the back buckle so you can put a seat belt through the loop (he kept sliding off the backseat, poor guy!), but you can also attach a leash there and use that instead--which I have done. My guy is really good on leash, though, but I do wonder if I should sew the buckle in place since it's "free" but if I did that, I wonder if that would affect his mobility in the car. Anyway, since I'm planning on taking this guy with me pretty much wherever I go, it was a good investment. Harnesses are also nice because even though part of it might be loose, there's really no way he's going to get out of it. (Like when Dane backed out of his martingale collar when I was trying to get a tick off his ear!)

 

This is the brand of harness I got: http://www.kurgostore.com/categories/Dog-Harnesses/?gclid=CPqzhuymxrgCFSFyQgodAg4A9w

[Guest DMBFiredancer]

Might be a dumb question, but do you need to use both leashes for the WWW harness? Or is that just for added security? Im thinking of making the switch to a harness. My friend has the Gentle Leader for her dog and says it works really well.

It still looks like it is something they can slip out of - or am I just being overly paranoid?

[Remolacha]

if you are really worried about her slipping out, a spook harness is pretty much un-get-out-of http://www.majesticcollars.com/harness.htm

 

for most dogs, a "regular" harness works fine http://wiggleswagswhiskers.com/ you don't have to use the two leashes unless you have a puller, just clip the leash to the d-ring on the back.

[Guest DMBFiredancer]

What size of the WWW works well for greys?

 

edit: I see the measurement thing now, but you can still tell me what size you ended up with

Edited July 24, 2013 by DMBFiredancer

[Remolacha]

What size of the WWW works well for greys?

 

edit: I see the measurement thing now, but you can still tell me what size you ended up with

I got the biggest size, but it was for my Fletcher who was 90lbs! I was able to adjust one down to fit my 70lb girl, so it really does depend on your dog's size, but they are pretty adjustable.