A good, comfortable and easy to use harness is a key piece of gear for adventures with a dog!
When you think dog harnesses, most of us go to Ruffwear and so we were very happy to be given a few to test out by Go Outdoors.
Harnesses for ‘normal’ sizes: We went for the Front-range harnesses which are perfect for Hugo, but not quite for Spence (explained a bit later on!). The Ruffwear Front-Range, harness has foam padding for comfort and a reflective trim for visibility, plus 4 adjustment points to perfect the fit. We went for the bright orange which looks awesome against Hugo’s brown coat. I was worried about it getting dirty but surprisingly it washes off very well!
Harnesses for LONG BOIS: We joke about Spencer being particularly long for a spaniel, however his elongated body does in fact mean Hugo and Spencer need different harnesses! We found that the Front-Range harness didn’t sit quite right under Spennys armpits due to his length, and overtime caused a friction rub. Thankfully Go-Outdoors were amazing and recommended the Ruffwear Flagline-Harness, which we like to refer to as ‘the harness for long bois’. The Flagline has an extra two adjustment points (6 in total), so that it can be tailored to your dog’s size, allowing complete comfort. That being said, follow the size guide (a small will not adjust to fit a Doberman!!) to make sure you’re getting the right base size. The harness is easy to put on and is extremely lightweight, with some really great other features for mountain climbing like the balanced lifting panel. This was SO important for us – we’ve had a few hairy moments with the boys where we’ve needed to lift them up over a ridge or a climb that was too tricky so this is ideal for those lift and assist moments!
Ruffwear harnesses all seem to be designed with the ID pocket for dog tags and have the reflective trims for those early morning/ late night adventures. We like to attach a collar light to the harness as well for extra visibility.
Accompanying a good harness (especially for those dogs that get extra excited and tend to pull a bit) is a good bungee lead with enough range to allow your dog to roam, but also allow you to have your hands free. The Ruffwear Roamer Bungee Lead has an adjustable handle meaning it will work as a normal lead, but also lengthen to be a waist belt. It’s padded and adjusts to 48inches plus you have a wee accessory loop to clip on items. In case of emergency, there is a traffic handle, giving you short lead control. Ultimately, this is an expensive bungee lead and I’m sure there are cheaper alternatives out there that could work just as well, but one thing I would say is that of the 4 types we’ve tried now, Ruffwear’s quality is unmatched – the elastic in all others started to loose spring after a few uses but our Ruffwear bungees are still working perfectly.
If you’re looking to get a standard harness that will hold up to rough treatment, go for the Front-range. But if you’re also planning on hiking/climbing then I would suggest going for the Flagline as it gives you that extra grab handle.
And to complete the look... the very cool Ruffwear Flat-Out dog collars. Its a running joke now that we never (well hardly ever) get good views from the tops of munros so at least with these we see a mountain landscape!! We stuck with our theme of grey for Spence and oranges for Hugo and I love them both. Aside from looking great they're super sturdy collars and have held up well to the tough treatment the boys have put them through.
The legal bit - just to disclose that we were kindly gifted the 3 items mentioned in this post (harness, lead and collars) by GO Outdoors. We chose them ourselves and are under no obligation to share our thoughts about the items. All opinions below are our own and we hope you find it useful! :)
Ruffwear harnesses all seem to be designed with the ID pocket for dog tags and have the reflective trims for those early morning/ late night adventures. We like to attach a collar light to the harness as well for extra visibility.
Side note: One thing we often get asked is if X harness stops pulling. In our experience, no. If your dog pulls, then unfortunately no harness is going to solve it – using a figure 8 lead will help but ultimately you’ll need to do a lot of training to resolve it. We’re about 90% of the way there with Spence and 60% with Hugo when we walk them individually, but together they’re like sled dogs!! Fig 8s have allowed us to walk them together and our training continues!
Accompanying a good harness (especially for those dogs that get extra excited and tend to pull a bit) is a good bungee lead with enough range to allow your dog to roam, but also allow you to have your hands free. The Ruffwear Roamer Bungee Lead has an adjustable handle meaning it will work as a normal lead, but also lengthen to be a waist belt. It’s padded and adjusts to 48inches plus you have a wee accessory loop to clip on items. In case of emergency, there is a traffic handle, giving you short lead control. Ultimately, this is an expensive bungee lead and I’m sure there are cheaper alternatives out there that could work just as well, but one thing I would say is that of the 4 types we’ve tried now, Ruffwear’s quality is unmatched – the elastic in all others started to loose spring after a few uses but our Ruffwear bungees are still working perfectly.And to complete the look... the very cool Ruffwear Flat-Out dog collars. Its a running joke now that we never (well hardly ever) get good views from the tops of munros so at least with these we see a mountain landscape!! We stuck with our theme of grey for Spence and oranges for Hugo and I love them both. Aside from looking great they're super sturdy collars and have held up well to the tough treatment the boys have put them through.