Dog collars make it easy for some to identify your pet if it gets lost, and provide a place to attach a lead for walkies. We offer a large choice of stylish dog leads and collars to suit your pet.

Is a Harness Right for my Dog?

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Dog Harnesses

Harnesses are an increasingly popular option for dog owners. They’re beneficial to both humans and pooches alike, offering improved comfort and better control when walking. If you’re considering investing in a harness for your dog, you’ll need to reflect on whether it’s the right option and which type of harness you should go for. Here, we’ll run you through everything you need to know.

Why Choose a Harness?

Many people use only a collar and a lead when walking their dog. However, this gives your dog plenty of scope to pull on the lead and, if they’re big enough, drag you forwards. It’s a battle of strength that many owners will know all too well.

With a harness, your dog will struggle to pull like this, as the better positioning of the lead attachment means their legs will simply come off the ground whenever they try.

Over time, your dog should learn that pulling is ineffective, and this should teach them to walk alongside you in a much calmer manner.

It can also be much more comfortable for your dog. Rather than all the pressure being centred on the neck, a harness spreads the pressure around the top half of their body. This is particularly important for dogs who tend to jump.

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Brachycephalic dogs – that’s dogs with short skulls and flat muzzles – can suffer breathing issues when too much pressure is placed around the neck, while in some breeds such as pugs, it can cause the eyes to protrude. In these situations, a harness is the obvious alternative.

Lastly, harnesses can be much more secure than collars. If your dog is something of an escape artist and has managed to break free of their collar before, they’ll find a harness far more difficult to wriggle out of.

Is a Harness Right for my Dog?

Ultimately, whether or not a harness is suited to your dog will come down to them.

There’s no point continuing to make your dog unhappy or uncomfortable if they just don’t seem to take to the harness, but it’s certainly something worth trying out, and it’s important to give it some time to see if they get used to it.

Dogs will be more likely to take to a harness if they’ve worn one from puppyhood onwards. You’ll need to be patient with putting on the harness and it might be a bit of a struggle at first, but it’s very rewarding if it means the rest of your walk goes without a hitch.

Of course, while it can help, a harness alone won’t fix all your problems if your dog has serious behavioural issues when out and about.

But the benefits of using a harness can go beyond walkies, too. They’re great for older or injured dogs as the harness can be used as a lifting aid.

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M o r e

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Types of Dog Harness

If you’re looking into getting a harness for your dog, it’s important you find the right type, as there are many options out there. These include:

Puppy harness

These wonderfully soft harnesses are ideal for puppies as their skin tends to be more delicate than fully matured dogs. They make for a practical introduction to harness wearing, and they’re a great place to start with teaching your puppy the process of putting the harness on and taking it off. To put them on:

• Fit the harness over the head

Step-in harness

These are suitable for dogs of all sizes. They’re simple but effective, often made of a comfortable yet durable mesh fabric that stays soft and is breathable. This material is also reflective too, helping make your dog safer when it’s dark. They’re particularly easy to get on:

• Wrap the harness around your dog’s front legs and body
• Fasten on the top

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Nylon padded harness

This kind of harness is suitable for almost all dogs. It features padding around the chest and underneath the tummy to avoid any rubbing, and it’s easily adjustable for the perfect fit. To put it on:

• Open the top clip
• Place your dog’s front legs through the two leg openings
• Bring the two top clips back together on your dog’s back
• Fasten or tighten, then attach the lead

Car harness

For your safety and theirs, it’s important to keep your dog restrained when they’re travelling in the cabin of your car. These harnesses are specially designed to do just that, while keeping your pooch happy and comfortable. They feature a reinforced chest plate and a detachable seat-belt loop. To fit and secure the harness:

• Open all the clips
• Place one front leg through the leg opening
• Pass the strap under the dog’s body and attach at the other side
• Just before you’re ready to roll, fix the seat-belt loop to the seat-belt
• When it’s time to get out of the car, simply remove the seat-belt loop and use the harness and you would any other

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Stop-pull harness

Suitable for almost all dog breeds, a stop-pull harness does what it says on the tin. If your dog is prone to pulling when out for a walk, the design of this harness will help teach them not to. As they pull, the harness will tighten and only release once the pulling stops. To fit:

• Release the first button on the lead attachment, which will open the harness out fully
• Pass the whole harness over your dog’s head
• One at a time, lift the front legs through the leg openings
• Hold the release button to open the lead attachment and move it down to sit on your dog’s back, so that the harness fits snug around the body

Mesh harness

This type of harness is especially suited to smaller breeds of dog and those with delicate throats. Like the puppy harness, to fit it you’ll:

• Place the harness over the head
• Lift one front leg into a leg opening
• Pass the lower strap under the body and fasten to the other side

Trying a harness could help make your next walkies more comfortable for your dog and more manageable for you. Browse our full collection of harnesses online today, we’re sure to have something perfectly suited to your dog.

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