Dog Harness Help

May 20, 2011 4:12 PM

I need a harness that won't hurt my dog who has collapsed trachea.

I have a large Pomeranian (17lbs) who lunges and barks a lot when I walk him. Problem is, he has collapsed trachea and the harness I have now causes him to cough and hack when he does that.
I'd like a harness that places no strain on his chest/throat area, while allowing me to restrain and control him during our walks.

posted by spacefire to Pets & Animals (15 answers total)

Take a look at the 2Hounds harness -- the chest strap is relatively low and may well serve your needs. I can vouch for their outstanding quality and customer service, NAYY.
posted by vers at 4:25 PM on May 20, 2011

My Terrier swears by her Easywalk Gentle Leader. Ever since she started using it, her annoying person stopped getting frustrated. More importantly, her annoying person stopped yanking from his end of the lead.
posted by notyou at 4:35 PM on May 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Seconding the Gentle Leader. Goes over the nose and behind the head, nowhere near the throat. I can control my 100 pound dog with it with hardly any pressure.
posted by mrfuga0 at 4:41 PM on May 20, 2011

The EasyWalk, definitely. It's a great harness in a million ways and shouldn't irritate your dog at all.
posted by Lyn Never at 4:43 PM on May 20, 2011

Note: the EasyWalk is a body harness, not a head harness.
posted by Lyn Never at 4:47 PM on May 20, 2011

I like the Halti but people sometimes have a tendency to think it's a muzzle.
posted by elsietheeel at 5:28 PM on May 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wiggles Wags & Whiskers is a goofy name but a great highly-adjustable harness that doesn't put any pressure on the neck.
posted by shiny blue object at 6:00 PM on May 20, 2011

2nding the Halti, we have this for our very yanky dog - it applies pressure to the snout instead of the throat.
posted by Wantok at 6:06 PM on May 20, 2011

Best answer: I love this harness. No neck pressure. The padding makes it very comfortable under the legs, and the mesh piece rests against the chest. It comes in small.
posted by bearwife at 7:38 PM on May 20, 2011

Harnesses, by design, cause dogs to pull on them and choke themselves (for reference, check out the harnesses they put on sled dogs and horses). That said, despite my skepticism, the EasyWalk is awesome and does seem to alleviate some/most pulling. It for sure stops the gagging/choking aspect.
posted by LyndsayMW at 12:14 AM on May 21, 2011

My dog also has a collapsing trachea (27lb pug mix). I switched her harness to one similar to the one that bearwife linked to and it works great. Her loud goose cough frequency has dropped dramatically, almost to none.
posted by notcreative at 3:29 AM on May 21, 2011

My bulldog is a lunging spaz, and I use the Puppia Soft Harness. Doesn't seem to cause any trouble for her.
posted by brand-gnu at 10:54 AM on May 21, 2011

We use the puppie harnesses for our dorkies and it works pretty well.

Something that's non-traditional for this kind of thing but can work is to use a prong collar. They look very cruel, but they're not that bad, but it can really keep a dog from pulling, until they choke themselves.
posted by jefftang at 12:20 PM on May 21, 2011

Response by poster: thanks for the replies, I'm gonna buy the Sporn and see how it goes...
I already have both the Puppia (not enough chest support, he still chokes when he pulls) and the Easy Walk (he goes crazy when I try to clasp it under his belly)
posted by spacefire at 12:20 PM on May 22, 2011

I have a harness similar to the Puppia harness and my dog hates it. She's a really furry dog (Sheltie/Eskimo mix) and I think it pulls on her fur. I really like the looks of the one bearwife posted and am going to try it.

Thanks for asking the question, spacefire.
posted by deborah at 12:01 PM on May 23, 2011