[nagdu] leash and harness question

[Bob Hicks]

Hey Buddy, being new on the list, I do not know who or which "Julie" is. 
Can you clarify for me.  I am interested in the sports harness and I'd like 
to know if the strap between the front legs is the defining characteristic 
of the Martingale.  I am kind of old to be  such a rookie, what can I say! 
grin  TIA

Sincerely yours,

Bob Hicks,
The Seeing Hand Association, Inc.
<bob at seeinghandassociation.com>
304-232-4810
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Buddy Brannan" <buddy at brannan.name>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 3:29 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] leash and harness question


>
> On Feb 20, 2009, at 12:54 AM, Nicole B. Torcolini wrote:
>
>> The GDB harness does not have a strap between the legs; I do not see  the
>> reasoning for this.
>
> I can actually think of a couple, apart from "Well, they've always  done 
> it that way". I, personally think you get more feedback through  your 
> harness if it has a martingale. I've worked with both harnesses  with and 
> without, and I really do think the extra strap for the dog to  pull into 
> gives you more feedback. Hard to explain any better than  that. But 
> besides that, the extra strap gives your dog a bit less  opportunity to 
> squeeze out of its harness. (Yes, I've picked up a  harness with no dog in 
> it while retrieving my dog from under a chair.  Yes, it's happened with my 
> martingale-equipped harness. Yes, it is  somewhat disconcerting.) I note 
> that Southeastern issues a harness  with a martingale to one particularly 
> nimble breed, which has a  propensity for putting its front feet through 
> the harness and getting  out---quite the contortionist--but I can't 
> remember which breed this is.
>
>> It also has a handle that can be easily removed by
>> pressing a button on each of the connectors.
>
> Now this is a feature I'd really like for the Seeing Eye (not to  mention 
> other schools that don't) to implement. It's one big reason  I've decided 
> to order one of Julie's: my (two) Seeing Eye harnesses  are both getting a 
> bit ragged, the corners of the handles are coming  apart, and so on. This 
> wasn't so much a problem with my last dog, but  my last dog was longer 
> than his harness Handle and Chet isn't. (Chet's  handle sticks out past 
> his butt about an inch! Had to have the longer  handle because I kept 
> overstepping him. Fast dog, but pretty short  front to back, and I have a 
> fairly long stride, I suppose.) So getting  in and out of cars and 
> squeezing under chairs has done my poor  harnesses in.
>
>>
>
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