[nagdu] Sport vs standard harness

[Tami Kinney]

Tracy,

For Mitzi, I have her original red On-the-Go sport harness, from when
Julie was making them. /smile/ That was the harness we both learned to
guide in, and I always thought it was appropriate because my poodle is
an on the go sporty girl! Also, the design of the sport harness is great
with my poodle because of the way her neck is set on her body. And that
extra shoulder action in the way she walks. So the sport harness gives
her shoulders freedom for all that extra forward action, while the point
of the V meets down at her sternum without putting pressure on her
trachea. I had to learn to keep the martingale strap short enough to
prevent the shoulder /chest straps from riding up, though. 

The communication from that style, which is still pretty much the same
Sport harness now under the Pawpower brand, gives super communication!
And it is great for sport, like hiking or heading off across a field or
whatever, because the unrestrained handle provides that communication
with allowances for more independent motion as you travel uneven ground
side by side. 

For civilized city travel, then, greater attention and discipline in dog
and handler are required to avoid too much independent movement. /lol/
For me and my bouncy, dancing poodle to learn to walk around well when
there were a lot of people on the sidewalk made things very interesting
for both of us. /lol/ Indoor work also required a lot of practice
because that sort of work really highlighted where we were  both just
sloppy because of the freedom the harness and handle allowed in more
open settings.

And, yes, the handle does just flip over the head if you overwalk the
dog. Oh, how well I know! The flip side is that it does require the
handler to learn to pay attention to the communication from the dog or
else! Well, the worst I got from overwalking was a badly sprained ankle
and a bruise or two. A bit of wrenching in the arm from hanging onto
that harness handle for dear life while my poodle dug in on a slick
floor to pull me right backwards -- or to keep herself from being taken
down the short flight of stairs with me. Poor kid. Well, after that
incident, she took it upon herself to body block me at stairs, and I had
no problem encouraging, rewarding and refining that. /lol/ As a newbie
handler with an owner-trained guide, that free and easy movement I love
so much in that harness did add spice to my learning process. But it did
teach both of us to be very attuned to each other's movements through
more than the handle, which I think is generally good. This is not to
say we don't both space at the same time, resulting in minor
awkwardness, but then we both correct and get back into sync. So I do
like that.

The handle does remove and go back on super easily, which is great. I
have discovered that for, say, bus rides where you want to leave the
handle on for when you get off at your stop, it does tend to wander on
its own, which has occasionally left me feeling frantically for it in
the movement of exiting the bus and feeling very awkward indeed. Well, I
learned to find a more graceful efficient approach, although when I
forget to tighten up the harness after the woolly one has been trimmed,
dropping the handle when we stop to chat or something, does end up with
the harness being amusingly askew. It doesn't hurt anything, and the
poodle carries off the look with her usual flare, but... It is
definitely more sporty at that point than professional. /lol/ I decided
finally to quit worrying about that and just do as she does and carry it
off with flare like that's how we meant to do it all along. So we're
cool because we assume we're cool, right? That's a pretty small quirk
and certainly not a big downer, but my trying to figure out how to be a
slick, professional guide dog user always seemed a little absurd to me.

So somewhere around last December or January, I was finally able to
order a grape purple Laveau style harness from Pawpower. This is an
adaptation of the sport harness, modified by Rox and Julie (and maybe
others) for the dobie guide Laveau. Since her build is so similar to
Mitzi's, I wanted one since I first heard of it! The handle is set on
the shoulder piece differently, and there are handle loops to keep the
handle from going all over the place. They seem to be different from the
usual loops I've felt on other harness types, but the principle is the
same.  When I drop the harness handle on that harness, it lies neatly
along the poodle's back where I can just know where to reach down and
pick it up. So for formal occasions, I appreciate that; it just looks
neater. The loops also keep us two sporty girls on the straight and
narrow for indoor work or crowd work, so we're less likely to get sloppy
because it won't let us. 

The handle comes off just like with the sport harness, no problem. I do
find, though, that I am not as prone to take it off because of the tidy
way it lies on her back, so I don't have any real experience beyond
practice with whether getting the handle back on through the loops would
be more difficult say, on the train or plane before disembarking.
Probably it wouldn't be to o much different than with the sport harness
without those loops, although for me if I was having trouble with my
hands, I don't know. That's why I've practiced doing it, so I would
stand a fighting chance of not taking half an hour because my hands
weren't used to making the movements whether I could feel them or not.
Sigh. That used to drive me crazy, and while my healing isn't completely
stable there, things are much, much better most of the time.

It was an adjustment for us at first, using the new harness, because it
did require us to move more closely together. So we had to practice a
bit in easy, flat, uncomplicated places to get used to the slightly
different way of walking together. But then it clicked, and we ended up
agreeing that this was just great. In restaurants, it is definitely my
harness of choice between the two. We did fine in the sport harness, but
in the twists and turns and noise, I find that being able to let the
handle keep us close and moving in unison frees up some concentration
for me to figure out other facets of that kind of environment. 

At first, switching back and forth between the two was a little
awkward... But I quickly found that we were more disciplined and
effective in the sport harness the more we learned to work that way in
the Laveau harness. Which is cool, because I use each harness in
different situations. I had wondered whether the new harness would
provide the communication I valued so much in the sport harness... Would
the different handle placement and the loops deaden some of that nice,
clear feedback? Nope! In many ways, the feedback and communication are
even sharper or clearer. I was very, very pleased about that. The
difference was not so profound that we can't switch back and forth, and
I think the alterations in our habits have given us more communication
in the sport harness, which I would not have believed possible!So that's
really great for me. And for her, too.

So those are my observations with the two style of Pawpower Creations
harnesses. I've never used the standard harness style so can't comment
on that.

For you, being an experienced handler, the discipline you already have
in staying with your dog would probably go a long way to mitigate the
disadvantage of being so free to just keep on walking with the handle in
your hand when the dog stops. Or so I've thought when I wonder how many
advantages I would have had in making the transition from trainer to
handler without that prior experience. /smile/ As for whether you
personally would consider the added opportunity to get yourself in
trouble is something only you can weigh. This is just a guess, but how
any one person would find a real distinct advantage in the communication
with the sport or Laveau style over the other would also be very
individual. I like both and can now use either in our varied travels.
But that's me.

Let us know how you decide, and enjoy! Oh, and if you end up going out
in your Pawpower harness tramping through poring rain and splashing mud,
you really can just toss it in the washer! Comes out good as new. In
fact, our sport harness is now a little over three yes old, and it has
been through many adventures. Still in perfect shape. I plan for the
Laveau harness to do the same, as That way when I buy additional
Pawpower harness, I can have fun with different colors to choose from.
What could be better than that? /lol/

Tami



On Fri, 2011-09-23 at 10:56 -0400, Tracy Carcione wrote: 
> I'm thinking about getting a Pawpower harness.  It would be nice to have
> something I can throw in the wash, especially with winter crud coming
> along.  I'd also like something where I could detach the handle.
> What I'm not sure about is which to get, sport or standard.  I need to be
> able to tell instantly when Ben is stopping for traffic or dodging a
> pedestrian.
> I'm a little worried that, with the sport, the handle might flip over his
> head.  I'm a little worried that, with the standard, it would be harder to
> take the handle off and on because of the stabilizer loops.
> What do those of you with Pawpower harnesses have to say?
> Tracy
> 
> 
> 
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