[nagdu] Review: On The Go Sport Harness

[Sherri]

I really appreciate your review of the sports harness. I am now seriously 
thinking about getting one. I also have a problem with a dog who gets board 
with our walks and would like to be more aware of her movements. Thanks 
again for such an excellent review.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Buddy Brannan" <buddy at brannan.name>
To: "the National Association of Guide Dog Users NAGDU Mailing List" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 3:33 PM
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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