Harnesses: Form, Function & How To Choose The Right One

One of our followers requested we write a piece on harnesses, which is something we feel we are always talking about!

Harnesses  have been rising in popularity for several years which has led to  countless styles, colours, customisations, brands and beyond!
Whether  your dog is in training, pulls a lot, is reactive and likely to lunge  unexpectedly, is easily spooked or it is just because of your personal  preference, harnesses have a great number of benefits for the dog.
Security  is often the cited reason for people choosing to use a harness, over  the traditional collar, as well as ensuring the dogs comfort in taking  the pressure off the neck!

The  latter is of particular importance as long-term pressure, restraint, and  impact to the neck from a collar can cause health problems.  Greyhounds  particularly, as a deep chested breed, hold 60% of their body weight in  the front legs with their centre of gravity just above them which means  that head and necks are out with this central base of support.  Which  is probably why they lay down so much!  Their neck muscles are in  constant use to keep their heads up and maintain awareness of their  surroundings.

Under these  muscles, in addition to the oesophagus and trachea, are a host of other  vital features such as large blood vessels and glands.  Which, should  your hound be prone to lunging, pulling or other unpredictable behaviour  on the lead, could be damaged over time.

However,  some harnesses can cause more harm than good due to their shape,  especially if not fitted correctly, and you really do see dogs wearing  all manner of harnesses these days, but it isn’t a case of one size fits  all…and very few harnesses on the market are truly escape proof,  particularly on sighthounds.

There  truly are countless options available and while we have tried and  tested a wide variety of styles, our preference and recommendation will  always sit with the 3-strap harness (as pictured).  
The  last thing anyone wants is for their dog to spook and be left standing  holding a lead that is no longer attached to dog…and we have not (yet)  had a dog escape out of a 3-strap!

Due  to sighthounds shape and flexibility, that quite often defies the laws  of the skeleton, most other harness types such as the H-shaped and chest  (power) harnesses are easily slipped out of.  They also do not fit the  sighthound body shame causing restrictions of the shoulders, putting  pressure on the lower neck, and creating tension into the spine through  an altered walking gait from being unable to properly extend their legs.    

Other common 2-strap  harnesses often have fixed body and back sections that limit the  adjustability of the harness, often resulting in it sitting too close in  behind the front legs and rubbing.
Another type of  harness to avoid are those that are advertised as ‘no pull’ or  ‘anti-pull’ as they are quite often designed to cause uncomfortable  constrictions around the dog to deter them from pulling on the lead.   This can create negative associations with the harness itself, going for  walks and their overall surroundings which can lead to other unwanted  behaviours down the line.

3-strap  harnesses are definitely the way to go!  But there are so many  options…where to start?  We’ve only ever seen one 3-strap harness in any  pet shop, and that is the 3-Peaks Excursion Harness available at Pets  At Home…this one is perfectly serviceable for intermittent use or as a  car harness, but there are others that are sturdier with a longer life  span but you have to head online to find them!

These  are just some of the ones we have tried and tested, including ones we  use on our own personal dogs as well, which we have found very reliable:

- Ruffwear Webmaster and Flagline Harness
- RabbitGoo Anti-Escape Harness
- Belpro Multi-Use Support Dog Harness
- Dry Dogs Sighthound Escape Proof Harness
- Haqihana Pettorine 2H Harness
- Trendy Whippet Triple Strap 2 Point Harness

There  are numerous harnesses available from crafters on Etsy who produce  custom-made and fitted 3-strap harnesses to which we have heard great  things!

The Ruffwear is by far the most expensive, but they are phenomenal and of high quality!

While  they can be a bit more of a faff to put on and take off than other  harness types, their reliability and the dogs overall safety over rule  this minor inconvenience!

However,  if you are looking for a more straight forward harness that fits  comfortably on the sighthound shape, you can look to the 2-strap harness  by CosyDog.  They are very commonplace in the sighthound community, are  nicely padded and come in a range of colours.  

The  only catch being that they can be easily slipped, but should you have a  perfectly behaved dog that you trust to just plod along, not spook or  try to escape…they are a lovely and good quality harness!  We do love  them, but only for particularly confident and laid back hounds!

Thinking  of switching to a harness?  There is one more very important thing you  will need to know before you do!  While wearing a harness is a great  alternative to a collar, they cannot be used as a full substitute to  your dog wearing a pet collar with appropriate ID tags.  They must be  used in conjunction, as is required by law.

The  collar can be a nice soft and comfortable collar used purely for the  tag when in public, or you can have the legal requirements embroidered  onto the collar should you not want to use a tag.
This  is not something to ignore, because you be caught walking your dog  without a collar and tag you can be slapped with a fine up to £5000!