[Dailydrool] Harness for Dafodill

[Katie Strobel]

We recently got a new harness for Watson. He weighs 60 pounds and has a deep
chest too so I was perplexed by trying to find a harness. I wanted to get
him one because his stubbornness on walks. When I have to literally yank him
off of a scent or "re-direct" his attention to the task at hand, I knew it
probably hurt his neck with the collar. The harness is perfect for this
purpose, and I think its much more humane on a stubborn hound who refuses to
budge off of interesting smells unless physically removed from the spot he's
located one.
After a lot of drool archive research and bank account considerations, we
decided on the Lupine Step In Harnesses. Watson has the 1 inch size harness
and it's the 'step in' kind. it has two straps - one that goes in front of
his legs and one that goes right behind his front legs - then they both meet
back in sort of a triangle on his back....the straps are adjustable and
Watson is pretty much in the middle of the 1 inch size. I love this harness
- it's durable, relatively inexpensive, strong, it fits great, and they come
in a great number of fashionable designs for boys and girls. I was going to
order Watson's from a rescue, but I decided to buy his first one from a pet
store in town so that we could "try it on" to make sure it was going to
work. I think it's great for deep chested dogs like bassets because it's not
so incredibly long as the regular "H-shaped" harnesses.

I do have two minor complaints about the lupine step in harness though:
First, when we walk and Watson is on one side or the other instead of
directly out in front of me, the harness will move so that the clasp falls
to one side. It doesn't bother Watson and doesn't effect how the harness
works, but it drives me nuts because I'm a bit retentive and it gets
crooked. A simple pull on the harness is all that is required to get it back
in the center of his back, and we can merrily proceed on our way, but it
does aggravate me. Second, I had a lot of trouble figuring out which strap
goes in the front and which goes in the back. I don't know that it matters
initially, but since Watson has such a deep chest, one strap has to be
longer than the other. Now that our harness is fit to Watson's sizes and
used, we have it figured out and marked to rid ourselves of the confusion,
but there were a lot of initial re-sizings and flipping around of the
harness when we first started to use it.

Anyway, it's our first harness ever, so I have nothing to compare it to. I
have pictures, but I won't attach them to the drool email just email me if
you want to see examples. It's not anything special but it works for Watson.


Katie and Watson (who went to the vet for his annual check-up and was deemed
in "beautiful" health by the vetlady! Phew!! I'd better knock on wood...)
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