We had been searching high and low for a harness that wouldn’t limit movement, wouldn’t put pressure on the neck, and something durable as it would need to be washed frequently. After trying five very different harnesses, I was about to give up because it was apparent there were no harnesses out there that satisfied our criteria. After giving up the search, I was drafting a pattern to sew a harness and had a Zak George training video playing in the background. He was demonstrating something so I looked up and one of the puppies he was working with was wearing this harness! I hadn’t seen one quite like this before and was so impressed with how unobtrusive the harness was and how well it moved with the dog! I pored over the video description and comments and found nothing so I went through the video frame by frame and saw “Gooby”; success! Upon receipt the harness looked and felt very well made. No loose threads and no frayed/unsecured edges. We have a lot of Ruffwear products which, in regard to durability and thoughtfulness of design, have substantially outperformed everything else we’ve had or looked at in person, and as crazy dog people I’d say the majority of our income (after bills) goes toward things for our dogs. However, our puppy is growing very fast and I didn’t want to spend an obscene amount on a harness that would only last a few months (though shelters need donations like this so if you end up with products you don’t use, please consider donating!). We hike and paddleboard with our dogs a few times each month and they get into some abrasive plants that have really damaged previous harnesses and collars. We also live downtown in a busy city and want harnesses we can trust to keep our dogs secure and safe. Our puppy has severe allergies to grass and some other vegetation and requires at least three baths a week to remove these allergens from her fur, otherwise she’ll chew her skin raw. She also is taking extra time to house train as she learned in the shelter that going to the bathroom where you sleep and eat is just how it is. Due to these factors, the harness needs to be washed at least three times per week because we wanted one she would wear continuously so that we could rush her outside straightaway if she showed any signs of needing to go. This is also why we wanted a comfortable, unobtrusive harness. We tried several different designs (step-in/clip-behind, Easy Walk, the slip-on t-shirt looking ones, and the ones that have a thick panel in front) and all were clunky or itchy, leading her to chew on them or itch constantly. This one is a miracle! She doesn’t chew it while it’s on (she has attempted tug-of-war with it while I’m trying to put it on) and she doesn’t seem bothered by it at all, unlike the others. It is durable, breathable, and very soft. We did purchase the black color, which I was worried was a bad decision in the humid triple digit summer. However, after a 30 minute walk on a 97F evening, a laser temperature gun indicated only a 7 degree difference from the black strap and the white fur next to it. The chest strap has a wide range of adjustability, which we really appreciate! We’ve gone from the smallest to the largest length in five weeks. The non-adjustable neck portion was slightly too big the first week she wore it, but the X design kept it on her shoulders and she could not slip out. She’s growing like a weed and it fits perfectly now with room for her to bring her neck back when playing or looking up at the squirrels that taunt her. There are now a few stray threads from her grabbing it with her sharp little needle teeth while putting it on, but the fabric weave is such that they haven’t unraveled and trimming them off is an easy fix. For background, I am a researcher in a microbiology lab working with pathogens that have the potential to infect canines and I sew as a hobby, so I am very hard on clothes when washing to sanitize after work and I have studied fabric care and quality relatively in-depth. I typically saturate the harness with Oxy Clean Max Force to aid in spore and allergen removal and this has often faded and weakened fabrics in the past. I throw the harness in the wash with our clothes 3-4 times per week and it still looks as good as new! Except for the D-ring, which has a gunmetal gray coating. I wish the D-ring had been left the silver that is underneath the coating so that it didn’t look worn, but if that’s the only issue we have that says quite a lot as this harness has been through the ringer! The only other downside is the big white Gooby text on the back—everyone thinks that is her name. We’ve actually started calling her Gooby as a joke because everyone who meets her says “hi Gooby”. We are so sad that she is about to completely outgrow this harness and wish they made larger sizes (please consider this!). We don’t even like our seventy-dollar Ruffwear harness this much as it puts a lot of pressure on the neck when our big guy is lying down, and the panels are so thick they hold in a fair amount of heat. He also lost a lot of weight during chemotherapy and we had to buy a new one as it wasn’t adjustable enough. I’m looking to sew my own version, but I don’t have the machines that would allow the professional seam work this harness has. I’m just going to cross my fingers and hope Gooby decides to extend their size range to include 80 lb deep chested dogs! I would highly recommend this harness to everyone and because it is such a high quality at a low price point I will be including it in the care packages I give to friends with new dogs. Tl;dr: This harness takes the abuse of a clumsy puppy like a champ and holds up to 3-4x weekly washing with extra hot water on the “sanitary” cycle, which has destroyed other items. It seems to be very comfortable (thin, breathable, broad straps so that pressure isn’t concentrated when restraining), doesn’t hinder movement in an active puppy, and the back strap has a large adjustability range for dogs gaining or losing weight. It is comparable to Ruffwear products which, in 22 years of owning dogs, has been our golden standard for performance and durability. Overall this harness has made training during puppyhood less stressful because she can keep the harness on at all times and it is very secure, so we don’t have to worry about her slipping out and running into traffic.
