I recently purchased two Front Range harnesses from Ruffwear, a dog gear company known for quality products for active lifestyles. The quality of the harnesses is excellent, but I have a few issues with them -the biggest being they are too thick for wearing in a hot climate -fall and winter they are great though. There are some Pro's and Con's to consider. If you want to see them in action, check out my video below! Indie is wearing the size Small and Tulsi has the Extra Small. She got big enough that I think she could wear a small now as she weighs more than Indie! (Because she eats his food!).
PROS:
1. Two clipping locations! Perhaps my favorite feature about these is that there are two sturdy leash attachment points: one on the top and one in front (which is great for pulling).
2. Ergonomically designed for movement. One of the main things that attracted me to these harnesses was the openness and minimalism of the design. It was easy to put on and contained large spaces for their legs to move around.
3. Reflective and bright colors. On top of having reflective strips (not that that does much good on a super fluffy dog), the colors are quite nice and help them to be seen.
CONS:
1. Harness is too thick for hot days/climates. The harness is high quality. Unfortunately it's SO high quality it's quite thick. Even though the harness is not very large in terms of surface area it covers, it's large enough. Pretty much I can't use these in the South for the whole summer and early fall. For cooler temps, your dogs should be fine and can even hike while wearing the harness.
2. Awkward fit. These just don't seem to fit well up front. I tried tightening them and they still seemed to ride up some and not sit as well as I wanted them too.
3. Twist around when using front attachment point. I don't think this a design flaw. If you use the front attachment point and your dog is actually pulling, it pulls the whole harness around.
4. Hard to clip a smaller leash to the front attachment point. So, I think they just the attachment point for bigger dogs and used it on the small dog harness. I can barely clip my leash onto it and I am not even using the smallest leashes out there!
I love your blog! I have two mini's myself and our little girl we suspect is pregnant....YAY MORE MINIS! haha. I could relate because our male dog was older and our female still loves to this day to just take his toys....not necessarily to play with but I swear just to drive him nuts. She is about 2 years younger than him but she is definitely the Alpha of the household! Look forward to hearing more of your stories!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Your girl sounds just like our Tulsi...she's the Queen-B for sure even though she's younger, lol!
DeleteI'm so glad you posted again and hope you keep it up! I've depended on this blog to help me through this first year with my mini :-) LOL! They are a handful but SOOOOO worth it! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes, such a handful, but so awesome! I have been working long hours and I hope to post more after this coming summer if I can adjust my work schedule. I have lots to update and so little time to do it :)
DeleteHave I mentioned how much I love your blog?! It has been so helpful for the first year of raising our mini! I've come back to it countless times and it has helped tremendously.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if either Indie or Tulsi had issues on the leash? Our mini, Moose pulls like crazy and can get a little too excited when he sees other dogs. We’ve been trying to correct it, but we haven’t found anything that has made a huge difference. We even use a front-clip harness, but still no success. Wondering if you have any tips/advice!
Thanks so much!!
Thank you!! Yes, omg, they totally pull. Getting dogs not to pull is very difficult and requires lots of dedicated training time. I was using the method in this video, which is where you practice changing direction if they start pulling which gets them to have to pay attention to you...problem was, I just could not keep up with the training. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT8VDgR_Koo
DeleteEventually I just wanted to go for walks. What I try and do is take my dogs to places a few times a week where they can be off leash. But anyways, I've pretty much given up on trying to do no-pull training :-(
Okay that alone makes me feel so much better! (Bummed that it happens with your guys, but a little relieved that Moose isn't the only one) We did the exact same method where we've sort of given up walks and just take him to the dog park every morning.
DeleteAre either of yours very leash reactive? I swear Moose loses his mind whenever he sees another human or dog. Whining, pulling, even barking sometimes. I'm hoping it's a puppy thing, but now that he's almost a year old I'm starting to think otherwise :)
Thank you again for your help! I don't know anyone else with a mini, so you're blog has been a godsend :)
I want to get a toy Aussie for when I go to college in a few months and want to know when to get it whether it is June July or August and how to adjust them to new environment because during summer I am staying at my parents house.
ReplyDeleteHey Indie-Roo! This Harness Review has been great with the detailed pros & cons. I love your content very much. Keep up the good work. Some tips about dog vest right here if someone wish to check!
ReplyDeleteI am very happy when this blog post read because blog post written in good manner and write on good topic.
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