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Dog Harnesses - Best For Jogging?


Guest crazydoglady99
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Guest crazydoglady99

I swear I searched first haha!

Any recommendations on dog harnesses that are best for jogging (ie not restricting movement at all), but also don't create pulling?

My doggie school instructor suggested the 'Sensible' harness was the best, just wondering if others agree? Or have other suggestions?

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Have you run with your dog yet? You may find, as I did, that pulling stops being an issue.

In any case, the following harnesses may be suitable if you're looking for a front attachment point:

Ruffwear Front Range

Perfect Fit Harness

Alpine Outfitters Urban Trail Harness

Lori Stevens Balance Harness (not the Black Dog one)

I'm pretty sure that the Sensible Harness restricts proper movement.

Edited by Papillon Kisses
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Guest crazydoglady99

Thanks PK!

I have been running with my female dog for 4 years, I taught her to walk without pulling and she and I have perfect jogging pace.

But.. now I have 2 dogs and he is like a bull trying to pull. I have taken him out seperately to try and teach him how to walk on a loose leash but he is too anxious on his own and just velcros to my leg!

So our trainer suggested a front clip harness for him, perhaps both dogs so they aren't having any neck pressure, but said most in aus restrict shoulder movement and that she felt the sensibility one was the best. I swear I have every other harness invented haha!

I'll go and Google your suggestions.

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Have you run with your dog yet? You may find, as I did, that pulling stops being an issue.

In any case, the following harnesses may be suitable if you're looking for a front attachment point:

Ruffwear Front Range

Perfect Fit Harness

Alpine Outfitters Urban Trail Harness

Lori Stevens Balance Harness (not the Black Dog one)

I'm pretty sure that the Sensible Harness restricts proper movement.

I know very little about harnesses - but googled "bikejoring harness" (yes - I know you said jogging not bikejoring) and the Alpine Outfitters Urban Trail Harness came up really high in the results.

http://www.alpineoutfitters.net/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=189

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Thanks PK!

I have been running with my female dog for 4 years, I taught her to walk without pulling and she and I have perfect jogging pace.

But.. now I have 2 dogs and he is like a bull trying to pull. I have taken him out seperately to try and teach him how to walk on a loose leash but he is too anxious on his own and just velcros to my leg!

So our trainer suggested a front clip harness for him, perhaps both dogs so they aren't having any neck pressure, but said most in aus restrict shoulder movement and that she felt the sensibility one was the best. I swear I have every other harness invented haha!

I'll go and Google your suggestions.

Yeah, as I understand it the aim is to avoid anything with a horizontal bar across the chest, as it puts pressure on the biceps and stops their arms/shoulders moving properly. Or something like that.

The Perfect Fit Harness is so cool. It's modular and comes in three parts that can be mixed and matched to a total of 39 different size combinations!! It is also supposedly calming for anxious dogs. Unfortunately out of those 39 different combinations the only one that fits my dog is unsuitable for dogs over 2.8kg. Sigh.

Anyway, all of the above harnesses except for the Alpine Outfitters one are available in Australia, but aren't seen in many pet supply stores.

I know very little about harnesses - but googled "bikejoring harness" (yes - I know you said jogging not bikejoring) and the Alpine Outfitters Urban Trail Harness came up really high in the results.

http://www.alpineoutfitters.net/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=189

Yep, people use that one for bikejoring too. There's an adjustable and a fixed version, but both are custom made either way. The front d ring is an optional extra.

Edited by Papillon Kisses
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I would go canicross gear - a waist belt and a bungee line - rather than a front attach harness, and just embrace the pulling for now. Weird gaits are how runners get injured. I would assume the same for dogs, so if the equipment changes the way the dog would normally move, then I'd be worried they are heading for injury. In fact, I just bought my girl a bungee leash today for running. Thought she might prefer a bit of give in the leash. She is running in a very light and cheap nylon harness at the moment, but has a custom made one coming from Indidog. Someone recently broke the world record for fastest mile run with the help of a pulling dog!

Incidentally, I had an Alpine Outfitters flyball harness made for one of my other dogs in the never ending search for a harness he tolerates well. This was NOT it! He loathed it. They are quite stiff and heavy with the fleece lining. Not bad for a big dog, though. If you are sure you can't make the pulling work for you while you're training cues like slow down, I would consider a Wiggles Wags and Whiskers Freedom harness and use the back ring. It's attached to a martingale that tightens when the dog pulls. Sometimes it's enough alone to slow them down. They sit a bit higher than most front attach harnesses, so less restrictive, but still go across the front of the chest. As much as I hate seeing runners with dogs on head collars, you could consider using one that attaches at the back like the NewTrix and attach it to a separate, light line so it's there if you need to slow him up, but you can mostly leave it loose so it's not in play. At least if they are ahead of you, you won't get strung up around a pole, which is why I think dogs should run on harnesses.

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I would go canicross gear - a waist belt and a bungee line - rather than a front attach harness, and just embrace the pulling for now. Weird gaits are how runners get injured. I would assume the same for dogs, so if the equipment changes the way the dog would normally move, then I'd be worried they are heading for injury.

Excellent point. :)

This reminds me animallover, that you may find that your boy pulls less in a harness than he does in a collar, even without it being a 'no pull' one. It goes completely against what everyone says about harnesses but it works that way with my anxious dog. He is a strange little creature though so your mileage may vary.

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Guest crazydoglady99

Thanks all. Thanks for your input corvus - much appreciated.

I think I am going to suck it up and teach him to walk loose lead before I jog with him. I usually give my girl a 3m leash for jogging so she has extra room, once he is walking loose lead I will do the same.

He was very responsive this morning on our walk :)

Edited by crazydoglady99
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(Hello, I'm new btw thought I'd introduce myself) :-)

We managed to grab 2x Ruffwear front range harnesses for $40 for the pair on Gumtree!

Best thing EVER! Really good harnesses, they are clear of the shoulders, have a front and back clip and have two snaps so it does up like a collar essentially and they are awesome quality.

LOVE our front range harnesses!!

Also if you are looking for a springy lead for running I'm selling an Ezydog one, I tried it once and I don't really like it for walking.

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Guest crazydoglady99

Hi!

I'm thinking of ordering the ruffwear ones. I like the look of them, and they 'appear' to not restrict any movement.

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How funny Huski - I was looking at those ones too!!

I really like them as they are very versatile and I like that you can choose to add the saddlebags to make it a back pack later, as the other harness/backpack combos have to be bought as one product.

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Guest crazydoglady99

Great to have your feedback on them Huski. I am really torn which ones to order from k9pro, I can't find any reviews on the internet for the EQ Pro :( plenty on the ruffwear ones though!

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Great to have your feedback on them Huski. I am really torn which ones to order from k9pro, I can't find any reviews on the internet for the EQ Pro :( plenty on the ruffwear ones though!

The Webmaster would be my choice over the Front range, it's a really great harness. EQ Dog is a new brand we bought into Australia. It's made in Europe and is a relatively new company.

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We have Web Master harnesses for all three dogs. The handle is awesome, but they are kind of bulky. The older dogs are on their second ones. They go through the wringer, here, but they didn't last as long as I hoped harnesses that cost that much would last. I think ours lasted about 4-5 years and then the D-ring on the back started pulling loose. I have switched to using lighter nylon walking harnesses when walking the dogs on leash. Just seems like overkill otherwise. I must be really fussy about harnesses, because I have explored far and wide trying to find the perfect harness and couldn't find it. I think I might be giving up and just getting people to make them for me. At least then I can get the design I want. The WM harnesses don't *seem* to hamper the dogs at all, but they just don't seem right for active pursuits.

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