Crew Safety - Size Matters

The crew looking sharp.

Our first task was to sort through the various options for dog harnesses and there are quite a few. Many of you sent us suggestions which was very helpful. I spoke with several manufacturers and we decided to test several options from Kurgo and RuffWear. I believe both are committed to providing optimum solutions and were open to hearing our honest feedback.

We tested 5 different harnesses including the original Kong harness that had failed for Dee Dee. Here is a brief rundown.

Dylan in his Kong harness.

The Kong Harness was our go-to harness for years and the one we wrote about in Dyna and Dylan's most popular blog entry ever, All That Dog Gear. Check it out for more info about the gear we use onboard for the crew. The main attraction for the Kong harness was the large "traffic loop" on the back which made grabbing it by hand or with a boat hook easy. We had a Kong harness for Dylan and one for Dee Dee.

Dylan in his Kurgo Pinnacle harness

I liked the Kurgo Pinnacle Harness as soon as I saw it because it had a large padded chest plate and back plate, and a traffic/safety loop like the Kong. With less webbing and more of the mesh material I felt it would be less likely to stretch. We had one for Dylan and one for Dee Dee.

Dee Dee in her Kurgo Tru-fit harness.

I wanted to try the Kurgo Tru-Fit Harness because it is also crash-tested as a car harness. Living on a boat makes one really appreciate any item that can do double duty. We never have the crew in a car without being strapped in for safety. The Tru-Fit has a very broad chest plate and a strap running down the back. It also has a traffic/safety loop. We had one for Dylan and one for Dee Dee.

The crew in their RuffWear Web Master harnesses.

The RuffWear Web Master Harness was interesting because it had two different safety loops on the back. This harness was designed for hiking to allow the owner to help the dog scramble over obstacles. I also found the 3rd strap interesting as I felt it might afford more security in a lifting situation. We had one for Dylan and one for Dee Dee.

Dee Dee in her RuffWear Front Range harness.

I originally tried the RuffWear Front Range Harness for Dee Dee to help train her to pull less on normal walks. But harnesses don't provide enough correction for a pulling dog and so I decided to try it as a boating harness instead. This is really more a failure of us than the harness - we have spoiled dogs. The Front Range comes in a lovely shade of pink, even if she is a Tom-boy.

We began acquiring harnesses and realized that the first issue was sizing. The fit had to be both comfortable and secure. As we learned from our rescue of Dee Dee, a harness that becomes too loose will not serve its purpose when you need it most. However, a harness that is not comfortable will mean an unhappy crew and is less likely to be used.

Both companies' websites had sizing charts that provided information about the dog's weight, girth/chest, and/or neck measurements. We dutifully took out the tape measure and made careful measurements. 

This is where things first began to get interesting. It became obvious that we were not going to find a "one-size fits all" sort of harness. Even though we had two dogs of the same breed who were closely related, we found significant differences.

Check out those 6-pack abs!

The first harness we received was the RuffWear Web Master which has 3 straps: one around the neck and two around the torso. I immediately ran into a problem fitting the backmost strap. Labs are very deep chested dogs. Looking at them from the side you can see how the chest is large but then the belly curves sharply upward.

The problem was fitting the back strap for all day use. I found that if I made it snug when Dylan and Dee Dee were standing up, it would dig into them when they sat. If I loosened it to be comfortable sitting, it hung loose when they stood up. I finally selected what I hoped was a good in-between fit.

Next we tried the RuffWear Front Range Harness on Dee Dee. The Front Range Harness is what they call their every day harness designed to be comfortable and used for walking. I selected the size based on the chart and this harness fit like a glove. The only thing I didn't like was the absence of a traffic/safety loop on the back but more on that later.

We turned to the two Kurgo harnesses. Dylan fell between sizes so we obtained a large and an x-large for the Tru-fit  and a large for the Pinnacle harness. For Dee Dee we received two large harnesses. The large harnesses fit Dylan perfectly. Dee Dee turned out to be more of a challenge (is anyone surprised?).

Why is Dee Dee always the problem...

All four harnesses adjusted easily and at first seemed to offer a good fit. However, Dee Dee's harnesses kept riding up on her back. After several attempts to readjust the harness, we determined that because of Dee Dee's small size, the girth strap was not hitting her on the chest. Instead it was coming across her belly and because of that sharp curve it would ride up to her chest creating a big pucker on her back. The length of the harness was just too long for her.

So we got another Pinnacle and another Tru-fit harness in medium for Dee Dee. This solved the length issue as the girth strap now fell nicely across her chest. Unfortunately, the girth strap was too tight on both harnesses. On the Pinnacle, the girth strap is sewn into the chest and back plates, so that eliminated that harness for Dee Dee.

Fortunately, they designed the Tru-fit so that the girth strap could be interchanged. Perfect. We took the medium harness and replaced the girth strap with the strap from the large harness and had a perfect fit for Dee Dee. Kurgo Customer Service told me that they will work with dog owners in these situations to help obtain a good fit.


The Lesson Learned
The lesson I learned is that a dog is more than just a weight or a girth. It would have been helpful to have more measurements such as the lengths of the back and belly pieces.

When you are looking for a harness, consider all of the dimensions of your dog as well. You want something that will fit snugly but comfortably and that will stay in place especially when you are lifting them. Make sure you can easily return what you purchase and if unsure consider getting two different sizes to try.

Two hardworking product testers.

Now we had several good fitting harnesses, it was time to have the crew put them to the test. We'll let you know what we found next time.