Oh, that dog o'mine

March 17, 2012 9:44 AM

I need a dog harness that doesn't touch the neck.

So, the little beast has developed a benign mass on her neck. Unfortunately, it's right on the collar line. Plus she's got a lot of scruff, so the thing can travel. The doc gave us oinment and cleaning solution and says it should go away on its own as long as we make sure that the spot isn't irritated. However, if it does get irritated, she's going to need to get surgery. We would like to avoid for obvious reasons.

At home she's going to be naked from now on, but we need something for her walks. Unfortunately, the best I could do at the pet store was that pull-training harness in the image above. It's hard to tell in the photo, but it's loose around her neck area if she isn't pulling and tightens at the shoulders if she is. That said, she's young, an adult rescue and half beagle so she regularly pulls wherever her nose takes her (and sometimes needs to be pulled out of god-knows-what.)

So, as it's unavoidable that the one I got will be touching her neck sometimes, I need a harness that doesn't go anywhere near her neck. Preferably something available either in Brooklyn or on Amazon. Thanks!

posted by griphus to pets & animals (10 answers total)

Easywalk harness.

Off the neck and best of all, a miracle when it comes to discouraging pulling.
posted by notyou at 9:51 AM on March 17, 2012 [5 favorites]

I was just coming here to suggest that Easywalk Harness, too. Consider it seconded!
posted by DingoMutt at 9:52 AM on March 17, 2012

Thirding the Easywalk. It can be kind of weird to put on at first, but it's easy if you just remember that the alternate-colored part always goes underneath the dog.
posted by mireille at 10:01 AM on March 17, 2012

Sounds like a consensus, thanks! The sizes seem to have slight overlap, though; is it better to get a size where the dog's actual size fits on the smaller end or the larger end? That is, if she's, say, 15" (I'm ballparking; I have to wait for my girlfriend to get home to actually measure her) am I better off with the 14"-18" or the 15"-20"?
posted by griphus at 11:40 AM on March 17, 2012

I'll 4th the Easywalk and say that you should go for the smaller size as that'll result in less harness. It'll be a bit lighter.

My beagle mix was cured of pulling by one a few years back and now as a dog walker I recommend them so often I should be on a commission.
posted by merocet at 12:09 PM on March 17, 2012

Yeah, assuming she's full-grown, go as small as possible. It should fit comfortably tight across the chest to ensure that it doesn't creep up towards her neck and to maximize the no-pull effectiveness. I know because I bought one too big for my puppy thinking she'd grow into it, but I ended up having to get a smaller one because the looseness stopped her from getting pulled sideways when she tried to pull forward.
posted by mireille at 12:35 PM on March 17, 2012

I was never able to adjust the Easywalk harness correctly, so we use the Sporn "Mesh Non-Pull" harness for our two. Available at Petsmart. Does not involve the neck except for putting it on it over their heads.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 1:32 PM on March 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

It works! Thanks everyone!
posted by griphus at 4:52 PM on March 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

You have it on backwards, though. The connector to the leash should be on the front of her chest, right below her neck. There should be a snap on the top (we never unsnap this one) and one under her chest.

Super cutie doggie!!
posted by two lights above the sea at 2:28 PM on April 3, 2012

It's on backwards if you're worried about pulling, but it works like a regular harness "upside down" too.
posted by Pax at 7:49 PM on April 5, 2012