[nagdu] Review: On The Go Sport Harness

sblanjones11 sblanjones11 at sbcglobal.net
Sun Jun 7 22:48:10 UTC 2009


I have the more conventional harness, also with the detachable handle, which
I absolutely love!

My only reservation is that those squeeze buckles can be a challenge, and
would not be very convenient for someone with arthritic fingers.
I definitely give it two thumbs up, but think perhaps more research should
be done into making different kinds of fasteners available.

Rhoda seems to like it very well, too, as it's lighter, and probably more
comfortable.
I love taking the handle off at work, as she is in harness all day on
tiedown under the desk.  
Susan & Rhoda
 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Buddy Brannan
Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 3:33 PM
To: the National Association of Guide Dog Users NAGDU Mailing List
Subject: [nagdu] Review: On The Go Sport Harness

Hi all,

Just in case anyone was thinking about buying one of these, I'm throwing
this review together.

Back in February, I ordered an On The Go harness from Julie Johnson.  
As these are individually made and she had some backlog, it took some time
to arrive, but arrive it did, and I've had my new harness for about three
weeks now. That should be plenty of time to give it a fair evaluation, I
thought.

First, if you didn't already know, Julie has sold livingblind.com and,
separately, her harness making business. These harnesses, now from Pawpower
Creations, can be purchased from (interestingly enough) Pawpower Creations.
Email pawpower at cox.net for latest info and pricing.

Find information on these at:
http://www.livingblind.com/guide-dog-harness.html

So what's the deal with these harnesses, anyway?

First, to avoid confusion, I will henceforth refer to the harness company by
its new name. Meaning no slight to Julie and her excellent work, naturally.

Pawpower Creations harnesses are a great alternative for the owner trainer
or anyone who, for whatever reason, wants another harness than the one the
school provides. Some people just want a generic harness with no school
names on it. Others want features that their school harnesses do not
provide. Others may want a harness that's easy to clean and care for. In all
these cases, the Pawpower Creations harnesses fill the bill nicely. Being
made of nylon instead of  
leather, they are easy to clean (machine washable, I'm told), and   
lightweight. Take them to the beach and get them all wet and icky and it
isn't really a problem. Moreover, the harness is made to fit your dog with
measurements you provide as instructed on the harness Web page. Also, and my
main reason for buying, the handle is easily removable. No more wrenches!
You see, I've been wanting an easy to remove handle for ages. It's
especially been a problem with Chet. I have two harnesses from my school,
and both of them, from getting in and out of cars and getting stuck or
bumped or whatever under the dash of too many cars, have the leather coming
unstitched and raggedy lookin'. This is a problem, since the handle sticks
out roughly another inch off Chet's rear end. So I really wanted something I
could pop off easily without removing the whole harness.

Also, they are inexpensive, costing around $100 for one with all the extras
(extra padding and reflective tape).

Description:

I chose the sport harness. I understand this is a more european design.
Unlike the traditional American harness, the handle does not pass through
loops on the back, instead moving freely. This can be a disadvantage if
you're not careful. The handle can literally swing over your dog's nose! Not
in the course of regular work you understand, but it really does have
complete freedom of movement. You could, potentially, more easily overstep
your dog, but by then you would notice your handle at a very odd angle.
Anyway, the handle attaches pretty well right at the dog's shoulders. Where
the harness you're used to has a strap that goes around your dog's middle
with another one going from there all the way around his chest and perhaps a
martingale coming off that down between his front legs, this sport harness
has the girth strap around the dog as you would expect, but then has two
straps coming off the back strap, over the dog's shoulders, meeting then in
the middle of the dog's chest with the martingale between his front legs, in
the shape of a print letter Y.  
The handle attaches to these two straps by means of plastic backpck
fasteners, the sort of thing that snaps together and that you squeeze to
release. A similar fastener buckles the harness closed.

Going For A Walk

Putting the harness on goes about as you might expect, with one small bit of
challenge. Since there are no loops to hold the handle down, you'd better
keep ahold of it along with the back strap as you put the harness on, or you
could turn it inside out! This isn't a huge deal, since it just flips right
way round again very easily, but it is something to be aware of. You put it
on as one would expect, by putting your dog's head through the open part of
the Y, then threading the girth strap through the martingale and snapping
shut on the right side of the dog. You'll note that the shoulder straps fit
nicely over your dog's shoulders. Some adjustment of the martingale and
girth straps may be necessary. Both are threaded through a buckle, and feel
a bit stiff. That's OK, though; once they're adjusted, they'll pretty much
stay put. Remember that these buckles make the straps infinitely adjustable;
there are no holes, so you really can make the adjustments very fine if you
need to and they should stay put. The handle lays flat along your dog's
back. At least, right at first. You may find at times, depending on how your
dog moves sometime or how it's put down, that it lolls off to the side, a
consequence of the total freedom of movement in the handle. I may sound like
I don't like this, but really I do. having that much freedom of movement
also means your dog can really make a very tight turn without any real
discomfort either to you or to him.

Now here's what I really like about this harness. Chet is mostly very bored
with my neighborhood. This means that, as he walks, he has almost no pull.
With my school harness, the handle would feel just slack and as though we
were crawling instead of walking. With this harness, you can really feel
your dog's shoulders moving as he walks, and even with a light pull, you
feel a very steady pressure in the handle, and it's very easy to detect even
the smallest change in speed, whether it's more pull or a slackening of
speed. I felt that I was getting a quicker response and could more easily
tell when a distraction was coming; feedback felt more immediate. The handle
always felt "engaged", even with the lightest of pull, instead of feeling
slack. This was an unexpected and welcome surprise.

Is having a removable handle really that handy? I'd have to say that it is.
There's nothing like having a handle stick into your shins!  
Nuff said. Just pop the handle off and put it somewhere handy, then pop it
back on when you get out of the car. No more re-threading martingales, and
you only need to stick something over your dog's head once.

Construction:

These harnesses are very well made. I don't feel like they'll come
unstitched any time soon. Seams are double stitched and sturdy. I got extra
padding, which was very nicely stitchd in foam, and I don't think it's going
anywhere soon. the handle is similarly stitched. It's obvious that real care
and time were taken to make sure these harnesses were put together right the
first time. Also, high quality buckles and fasteners were used throughout. I
don't think we'll be in danger of losing a handle clip or something like
that, and I don't think the adjustments of girth strap or martingale length
will slip when you don't want them to.

I give this harness a definite 11 out of 10. You really can't go wrong with
this one if you have a need for a new harness for your guide dog, or even
just want one. I don't think you'll find one better.

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