padded, soft, comfy dog harness?

Polly05

Hi,
just wondering if anyone can recommend or even know where i can find a soft padded dog harness?
I dont need it to keep control of him, but he refuses to go walks sometimes or when on a walk, he gets scared of something and refuses to walk past it. if i try to pull him, he pulls his head out of his collar. i dont want him getting spooked and go running off without his collar on. so i thought if he wore a harness, i could pull him past certain bits..
but in my head, im picturing basically a nice little dog coat, nice and soft and comfy, with a clip at the back for his lead. but all i can find is harnesses that are like cord stuff that looks uncomfortable and sore.. i dont want it to rub on him and want him to be able to run about in it..
has anyone saw any nice harness like this, or have i imagined these exist?
thanks!

bethie

do you mean like one of the fleece harnesses ? i use one on my cross breed, but if she really wanted too, she could get out of it.


the bodywrap version of it (http://www.tessie-dogs.co.uk/ ) is much harder to get out of, but ismore expensive...


a lot of people use rogz/red dingo harnesses and those are a bit harder to get out of.

krlyr

Fleece harnesses look pretty comfy and you might find that with two points of attachment, you can help confvince him to move on without dragging him too much. Something like this
http://dog-games-shop.co.uk/harnesses-fleece-lined
The idea is that you use a double ended training lead to attach to both the ring on the back of the harness and the ring on the front/chest area to gain more control than with just one point of attachment - it can help to gently veer a dog around to another direction. The Halti training leads are fab for this
http://canineconcepts.co.uk/en/fabric/2834-the-halti-training-lead.html

Be careful of how secure a harness is though, one of my dogs (similar habit of stopping and refusing to move) learnt how to tuck his shoulders in to allow harnesses to slip over his head. I would suggest using either a double-ended lead attached to both the harness and the collar, or if you're using both points of attachment on the harness with the double ended lead, use a Halti safety link or similar to join the harness to the collar for a precaution.
http://www.vetuk.co.uk/dog-accessories-halti-headcollars-c-628_909/halti-link-for-halti-harness-p-2963
I ended up buying a harness with 3 points of adjustment as the third strap goes tighter around the belly than the circumference of the chest and cannot be slipped. They seem quite comfy on the dogs, but not cheap though!
http://www.4activedogs.co.uk/ruff-wear-web-master-harness-5-point-adjustable-harness-1141-p.asp

I have seen "vest top" style harnesses for smaller dogs but not sure what size they go up to or how comfortable or secure they actually are
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-BLACK-Small-13-Comfort-Vest-Dog-Harness-Toy-Dog-/251023376695?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Dogs&hash=item3a7228c137


You could perhaps consider a martingale collar, you may recognise them as greyhound collars but they're perfectly safe to use on other breeds. The idea is that they sit quite loosely most of the time but they tighten just smaller than the skull, so they cannot sit over. I do think harnesses are more comfortable on dogs though.
http://www.collarsrus.co.uk/#/martingales/4531030419

You might want to do some specific training to help him deal with his fear though. I'd recommend the "watch me", the "look at that" and the "touch" (nose to palm of your hand) command for starters. The first is about making eye contact with you - some dogs find it reassuring if they're not looking at the trigger of their anxiety/fear. The second can help dogs that feel the need to watch the trigger but the point of the command is to just have a glance and then focus back on you. The third can help as a sort of inbetween - you're not asking the dog to look away from the trigger but encouraging them not to stare at it either, you're asking them to concentrate on keeping their nose touched to your hand and in their concentration they will hopefully pay less attention to the fearful item.

Watch me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHLvt6TQzqA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgGi2CqQ8Xw

Look at that
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdraNF2hcgA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POprQmrJ2Bc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuV3MOvvyr4&feature=fvwrel

Touch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWSJVwZybwo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs8p4oxphrI

rising_from_the_ashes

Thanks for all the links Krlyr - think I'm going to have to look into something like this for Maisie.

She's fine most of the time but if we come across another dog(s), she is very hard to hang onto - honestly, I'm no lightweight & she can pull me!

PollyOnAMission

Here is another link to some fleece harnesses that I would recommend:

http://www.dog-harnesses.co.uk/

Oliver14

Polly05 wrote: »

H but he refuses to go walks sometimes or when on a walk, he gets scared of something and refuses to walk past it. if i try to pull him, he pulls his head out of his collar.

Rather than trying to stop the problem after the fact you may be better off addressing the problem before it happens. IMO it may be worth talking to a behaviourist or Trainer to work on this behaviour so you can get him to walk past things.

Also just a word of warning sometimes harnesses can encourage dogs to pull.