Recommendation of harness

[Bulu]

I have 2 basenjis and have these nice leather harnesses for them. We switched from collars, because of their pulling, and these harnesses have worked for a while, but just in the last couple of days, I have noticed that they are getting balding spots from rubbing right behind their shoulders. I'm not sure if they just hit another growth spurt (they are 15 mos and one seems a bit fuller) or the weather warming up and their fur is changing, or a bit of both. I want to switch, but wondering if anyone knows of a good harness to switch to that is a) comfortable for them, and b) will help keep them from pulling so much. We have tried several options going back and forth from collar to harness, and can't see to find one that works well. Does anyone know if there is anything that exists that's got the comfort of a Puppia, and the control of the Easy Walker?

[jonny b.]

Be interested to hear this too. Jonny pulls also, sometimes a lot and sometimes not at all! depends what there is to chase on our walks....

[nobarkus]

I used harnesses with my 2 all their life. Works great verses pulling with just a collar on and chocking. I don't remember any bald spots from it.

[Bulu]

Do you remember the brand? I just went to one of the Doggie designer shops, cos it happened to be right by my vet, which they had their annuals today, and I found some step-in harnesses in which the fabric is a bit softer than the regular ones. The walk back seemed fine, considering it pouring rain (I had to carry Lulu for a bit of it...the lil diva!)...:o They are made by Trish Hampton, so we'll see...

[basenji_fan]

IMO the best harnesses are Ruff Wear Web Master (http://www.ruffwear.com/Web-Master-Harness?sc=2&category=1131) harness. They are a great all purpose harness. Dogs can't back out of them like they can with just about any other harness there is. The way they are designed they don't rub or cause any friction marks o the dogs, and they also sit lower in the front so they won't ride up into the dogs neck.

I also bike with my dog and he uses this harness, and sometimes pulls me and it doesn't cause him any discomfort to pull me and the bike LOL (I still pedal though).

My boy wears an x-small

[Shaye's Mom]

The "Puppia" brand of walking harness is very good - lightweight and easy to find if you just type "Puppia harnesses" into your search engine - they can cost a lot but they are also very reasonable online if you check various sites.

[bcraig]

We have had the same two problems--the harness chafing at the shoulders and pulling. We went through 4 harnesses in the first 3 months we had Ella, but the one that finally worked for us is the Premiere Easy Walk, size s/m. They make a small and medium but they also make a tweener size of s/m that seems to be the best Basenji fit. Because our girl is such an escape artist we also have her hooked to a martingale collar too. The leash clips into both rings together and she is totally secure.

The nice things about the Easy Walk is that it does not go over their shoulders so chafing is not a problem. It kind of goes around the side of the shoulder. But because it does not go over the shoulders we did not feel 100% secure that she could not get out of it, hence the addition of the collar. She wears a collar with her tag on it all the time and we just put the harness on for walks. Also, the Easy Walk is really easy to put on the dog. The Easy Walk has the clip in the front instead of on top of their shoulders. When they pull it sort of pulls them a little sideways, which seems to be a decent deterrent. This does make it a little awkward and you have to guard against the leash getting caught up in their legs. You get used to it quickly. I will also emphasize that we were (and still are) working on leash training and that is thing that has had the most effect as far as pulling. I don't think any harness or collar will stop pulling without training but a good harness certainly can help.

FYI-Our training was basically rewarding (with treats) walking correctly on the leash, even if it was only for a few seconds at a time on a 30 minute walk. On some walks she didn't earn any treats. But after about 3 walks a day for about 3 months, she really started to turn the corner. She will never be perfect (and she has her moody days) but she has already gotten good enough that the walks are pleasant. On a day last week when she was backsliding and being bad on the leash it reminded me how quickly a pulling Basenji can be so frustrating. As with everything related to Basenjis, the keys are time and love.